The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1902-08-21
Letter From Athens.
PROF. GILL WRITES FROM THE GREEK
CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND LEARNING.

Which he Was Amply Repaid
Italy, Past and Present, Its Noun
tains and Its PIains-Ancient and
1odern. Athens Contrasted-inter-
esting and Attractive Ruins in the
Midst Of Scenes Which flake the
Stranger Feel Very Much at Home.
Nj DEAR MR MANNING:-Just US
other things mortal, trip in Rome
must have its end. The 10th of July
came and with it the time appointed
10 set my face still Eastward. The
morning was that OF depressinglv
warm summers day and gave little
prospect of pleasure from an all-day
ride. Yet did gain much pleasure
by allowing myself to recall the his
torical incidents suggested by this
name and that as we crossed the leg
of the Boot" to the South aud East.
Rome disappeared, one hill after
another, until at length even the
globe of ST. Peters spire and the five
old Roman aqneducts across the Cam
pagna were lost sight of. The first
| half Of the ride was the same that |
had made in going into Rome from
Naples. Hence the better opportun-
ity for recollections. / recalled that
in the days when there were no rail-
ways. the Romans were nevertheless
great travellers. Two of their finest
roads led in this same direction. the
one to Naples, the other to Brindisi,
my own objective point. The modern
road follows the former rather more
closely as far as Capna. Leaving the
Campagna, il skirts the Alban hills
where Virgil places the earliest
legends of the Trojan heroes in Italy.
Seventy miles from the city the Liris
is crossed and | remember that on
its upper waters stands the old Vol
scian town of Arpinum, the home of
the warrior Marius, and also of the
suave but eloquent Cicero. This
little river too, aided one Of the most
gigantic feats Of engineering which
has come down to us from the classi
, cal period. The Marsi suffered great
/ damage from the frequent and de-
r structive overflows of the lake Fuci-
| nus. This lake, fed by the mountain
2 torrents above, had no outlet; hence
7 the danger. julius Caesar conceived
! the plan Of draining it, at least in
> part, by conducting the water into
the Liris, which at it's nearest point
is 80 feet below the bottom of the
. lake. by tunnel through the inter
vening mountain. The work was not
begun, however, until the reign OF
Claudius, 100 years later. After eleven
= years Of hopeful work, the result was
only partial success and by 1900,
A. d., the channel had been SO OBJ
structed that the lake was rapidly
gaining it's original size, about 81
miles in circumference. 10 Prince
Torlonia of Rome belongs the credit
; of undergoing the derison of the ma
tives and of reopening the outlet and
: now the lake is model farm, its
F waters flowing under Monte Salviane
through tunnel four miles long and
at places nearly 800 feet below tn,
surface Of the earth.
A little further the town Of Aquinun
!, is passed whence the satirist Juvena
came to Rome to pour the Walls of hi
wrath on the eXcesses OF the court o
Nero. Here, too, Thomas Aquina:
was born. Near here is one of tn
most celebrated OF monasteries, Mont
Casino, from whose lofty seat fin
outlook may be had over the sur
rounding country. After anothe
tiftv miles we came to the town o
Capna. which is the modern repre-
sentative of the city of the same nam
that figured so prominently in tn
Hannibalic war. The modern towl
sprang up three miles from the oil
J. site after it's destruction by the Sara
ii Gems in the 9th century. Caserta i
g the largest town between Rome an
st Naples, having more than 80, 900 pee
pie. At this point, our ticket take
re us by another road away from th
nd West coast and in general terms alon
Horacio route to Brindisi. From Ca
: serta to Foggia the road passe
LIE through tunnels and across valleys
perhaps in sight of the mountai
Volturus of Horace's bOyhOod reco
lections and on until we reach th
G.. Adriatic at Barletta and pass thene
. through Barium Gas tishy today s
: when Horace stopped there) to Bril-
disi, the ancient Brundusium.
Brundusium has always been tt
port for those going to or comm
from the East. Here Pompey mac
- his last stand in Italy when as Cicel
thought. ANONYMOUSLY deserting b
country. Here Virgil died when r
turning from Greece to complete h
Eneid. And here | ended as hot ar
dusty fifteen hour trip as | remer
ber. But had seen Italy, its mou
tains and its plains, its vines and
. olives, to some extent its lemons ar
its oranges | had seen Italy, pa
and present. So what mattered
little physical fatigue which so SOC
is forgottenP
l,r The Adriatic was crossed in thir
IN hours from Brindisi to Patras, Il
Western part of the mainland
Greece. The only intermediate ST.
was at Corpu, the chief town Of Il
island of the same name. Here Jot
Bull was present with thirteen me
~ of-war Twenty others had left Pc
n that morning going whittier no o
knew. Thus it is that England
apt to be on hand if an Englishm
needs her services. From Patras
"a. Athens, a railroad now skirts t
md Southern coast OF the Gulf OF Corint
ew eoy then crossing the isthmus follows t
,th- North coast of the Saronic Gull
Did Athens. Or practically the same rou
an NAV be followed in small SD
through the ship canal. connecti
.,o the two Cults to the Peirans whi
r now, as of old; is the harbour
a Athens. The larger ships prefer t
eet' longer trip around Peloponnesus
the risks of the narrow canal.
The town of Patras (or Patrs) in
outlet for the great quantity OF CT
ct. rant grapes which are raised in
Northern districts of the Peloponl