Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-12-20
THE
IA ~
RIVIERA
Especial Correspondence


Pegli. Italy, Nov. 2S.-What is the Ri
the name is applied to that part of the
northern coast of the Mediterranean
from little eastward of Marseilles.
France. to Spiezza. Italy. All the Rivi-
era was formerly Italian territory, but
since 1859 that part of it which in
sludes Nice has belonged to the French.
MentOne is the border town. The shore
west of it is the French Riviera, east Of
it the Italian Riviera.
Beautiful little Pegli is q suburb of
Genoa. reached by train from that city
in n few minutes. The English have
long known Pegli as a quiet, old fash
Toned winter resort where the temporal
ture for the months of December, Janu-
airy, February and March averages 30
degrees. For the reason that it pos
sesses so unobStructed Il view OF the
Mediterranean to the westward its in
habitants claim that it enjoys an hour
more of daily sunshine than some of
the other Riviera resorts. There are no
mountains or shore Instructions for the
sun To sink behind early III the after
noon.
For centuries probably the Italians
have looked on Pegli as Il summer sea
bathing place. and il fits this descrip-
ton. too for even in hot weather the
waters of the blue and purple Mediter-
ranean are of bracing GOODNESS because
Pegli is so far north as to latitude.
How far north it is difficult for Ameri
cans to realize when they come here in
mitlwinter from Boston and New York
and take sun baths with the thermome-
ter sometimes at 40. The actual fact is
that Pegli, the half tropical winter re-
sort. is latitudinally 40 miles north of
Boston and only about forty miles
south of Halifax, Nova Scotia. If the
American Atlantic coast had such eli
mate as that nature gave to the coast
of western Europe, it would be the
paradise of earth, with it's clear sun
shine and ocean purified air. Our Pa
cific coast is more like the shores of the
Mediterranean.
All the world travels now. a new
migra ton of nations has set in, not now
to seek relief from oYercrowded condi
tions or from love of adventure. There
are no more adventures. Present day
people travel through sheer restless
love of novelty or from the even tanner
motive of getting into Il place where
they are comfortable in body-warm in
winter. cool in summer.
The migratory clans sthat desire to
be warm in winter are already gather
ing at little Pegli, and numerous Amer
leans are among them. Professor Le-
dochOwski the meteOrOlOgiSt of Wen
ma, says the coming winter will be the
coolest in fifty years, with snowstOrms
and violent winds. Tourists TO Pegli
are getting in out of the cold early.
Well. we shall see.
All winter long the gardens here are
green. There are two principal ones,
the alIavicipi and the ROstau. They
belong to private estates, but are open
to the public. In the Pallavicini is Il
camphor tree of exceeding beauty and
symmetry. The Rostau gardens are
quite two centuries old and to this day
show how away back in the early
eighteenth century trees and shrubs
were stunted and pruned into various
artificial shapes like the court dwarfs
of the pharaohs. And little Pegli it.
self is older than Rome, SO old that
nobody knows who it's aboriginal in
habitantS were.
Pegli is like Genoa, Turin, Milan and
other western italian cities. a collec-
ton of glistening, whitewashed stone