St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-10-10

IscElstc BEAUTIES OF SICILY.
Expressive Views and Historic; Dst-
tlenelds of the pearl Of the
- MEDITERRANEAN"
It is an important part OF the educa-
ton of an intelligent man to v1slt4taiy'
Greece and the Holy Land, says the New
York Tribune. A German writer says:
1T is impossible to understand ireek
and Roman history. without a knoWl-
edge of Sicilian history" Goethe wrote:
:Sicily is the key to all, and Goethe
studied it's history on the spot. Il
Sicily. that Pearl of the Meditef-
ranean." until recently was known TO
the average English-speak king traveler as
the land OF earthquakes, volcanoes ands
brigands, It was thought to be safe to
visit Palermo and Messina, but ta pen
citrate into the interior was DeneVeo 10
be foolhardy and dangerous. To-day II
ia as safe as to visit Niagara. 1t If
surprising that until recent years sc
little has been published IN England re-
garding Sicilian epoch making events
from prehistoric down to the Garibaldis
time, whose name Is revered In Italy as
warmly as Lincoln's is with us. An old
Sicilian who fought with Garfba.dl Tor
the overthrow of the miserable Bour-
bon dynasty said with great emphasis
that Lincoln and Garibaldi were tie two
greatest benefactors of the people that
ever lived. A street in Palermo has
been named after Lincoln, and all the
towns in Italy have d Via Garibaldf, and
his monument is conspicuous in al the
cities. A colossal equestrian monument
of Garihaldi looks down from the Janl-
culum upon the dome Of st. Peters, at
Rome, and dominates that part q the
city.
The history of Sicily, founded by the
Phoenicians. is contemporary with the
earliest record and legends of Greece and
Rome. It has been the key to the Med
iterranean All the powerful nations
of antiquity contiguous to this sea have
contended forsthe possession of It's ter
ritory.s, It has been the battle groand OF
the Carthagenians, Greeks, Romans, Sar-
acens, Normans, French, Spaniards and
bourbons, and is now. thanks to Carl
baldi, part Of united italy. Allthese
races, chiefly the Greek, Roman and
Norman, have left their impress upon
the manners, customs and habits OF
the Sicilians The people seem more
like Spaniards than italians, and traces
of oriental life may be seen. Geograph-
ically, this small island has no superior
in Europe for exquisitely beautiful and
grand scenery. All the hill-set cities
and villages are surrounded by olive
trees, which climb the rocky heights
and seem to have eternal life. The val
leys have numberless orange and lemon
groves, and Towering shrubs and bios
SONS at this season are everywhere in
view ~ " asis w. w.
Whenever one discovers the site OF
Greek temple or Roman theateT 1t is /,
sure to be on the most commanding hill
In its vicinity, and always looking out
upon sea and mountain. Sicily has
more Greek temples. either in good :.
or In commanding ruin,
than in all Greece. Her temples: the
aters and other monuments are not in
like those OF Athens. which .
have resisted the ssorms of centuries,
but are in native soft stone, which was
by an outward covering of
stucco. The old Greek theater of syria 1
cuse, built probably five centuries be-
fore Christ, and accommodating $4,000 e
spectators, in the open air, is sufheient- /.
ly preserved to show, what it was IN the s
days of the power OF the old historic
city. n
The view from this imposing nsonu- a
ment as we sat upon the seats hewn out &
Of the solid rock, at sunset. and lacked
out upon the sea and mountain, can
never be forgotten. In the barber of
Syracuse one of the decisive battles of.
the world occurred. 415 B. c., which
changed the course of empires.
The Athenian fleet. which invaded
Sicily, was totally destroyed, with d loss
Of 900 to 10000 killed and taken prison
srs. The fate OF the captives, whiah In
GUIDED the flower of Athenian manhood,
was worse than death, as death came
% them by starvation and disease in
ts most hideous form. This cattle I
caused the fall of iAthenian power, to
which Sparta succeeded and finally the
Inevitable march Of Roman CONQUEST.
You may visit the ruins Of the old fort
which overlooks the entire scene of
he battle In the harbor and readily
race the details of the struggle ss de-
'cribed by Theocritus. who was sup
,osed to have been an eyewitness The
heater at Taormina, originally Greek
md transformed by the Romans after
heir occupation, II majestic. One may
tand among the old ruins and through
is broken arches have full visw OF
Aetna's smoking crater towering uu
learly 11.O0O feet and seemingly near
nough to be reached by the shot OF a
modern gun. The theater is zoe feet
.bove the sea. Mountains Of various
leights are all around the old town
Excepting in the opening seward. Tow
RS and old ruined castles, converts and
nonasteries give variety to the enchant.
ng view.
Arabs Standing on Camels.
Throughout the entire world there IL
% more solemn or dignified being
han an Arab, and therefore it ii sur.