The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-03-24
Sight Seeing in Sicily.
An Entertaining Letter from Mrs. EN-
ma A. Fisher to Friends at Home.

HOTEL MITCHELL, ROME, FtD. ZVIIl.
/ My dear friends: am going to try and
make you see with my eyes some of
| the beauties of my beloved Italy. For
I like it SO much, both its people and
its scenery, that | want others to like
it. | have never been in Rome before
this winter and did not know that it
was such good place for winter res
idence. But l am not going to talk
about Rome; it is too vast subject.
will only tell you of some of the beauti-
full sunshine in which we are now rev.
cling. and the profusion of flowers
which we are enjoying. l think it is
wicked to be without flowers when you
can buy bunch as large as you can
hold in your hand for ten confines;
two cents of our money. So on my
table keep violets, lilies Of the valley
and jonquils. But l must not spend
time to talk of flowers when want to
tell you about my rambles. l think l
told you about my visit to Amalf and
Sorrento, but 1 want to take you with
me to. Sicily. We left Naples at 7
o'clock at night, and the next morning
at s, after very comfortable nights
travel, arrived at Reggie, and took the
boat across the strait to Messina.
From there we went to Taormina
Some one has said that it is one of the
loveliest views in the world. | don't
know about that, but | do know that
whichever way you look it is lovely.
We went to Hotel Timeo, where we
We're very comfortable, for there were
fires IL the house. During the day it
was very warm, but at night we found
the fire agreeable. Our windows faced
the south, so that we were looking to-
ward Mt. Etna with its eternal SHOWS
and fires. | had been in Sicily before,
but never in the winter. The white
dome of Etna seemed winter and more
Respondent than ever. The contrast
between the white snow on one hand.
and the luXuriant vegetation on the
other was striking. The trees all around
US were yellow with lemons and
oranges.
Taormlna is on a promontory 600 feet
above the sea. 1t occupies a narrow
strip of land that lies between the
brink of the precipce and a steep hill
100 feet high, on the summit of which
is an old castle, very famous, as it was
the Acropolis of ancient Taormina,
which was founded four hundred years
before the birth of our Savior. 1t was
built on land granted by Dionysius,
and in the succeeding centuries was
conquered by the Carthaginians; then
by the Romans, under whom for long
time it prospered. At last, after long
siege, it was captured by the Saracens,
and most of the people put to death.
Mola, too, which is on steep hill 9, 100
feet high, was captured by the Moors,
the town burned, and the inhabitants
massacred. In 1918 it was captured by
the Normans and under their rule it
again prospered. In 1876 the French
took possession of both towns. A few
hundred years after that the Neapoli-
tans took possession of it, That has
been the fate of the whole of Sicily.
until Garabaldi freed it and it became
part of United Italy. The people are
very poor and the wages very low,
especially in the mining districts,
where, owing to the low price of sui
phur, the men are only receiving at the
present time 80 centimeS per day. That
is ten cents of our money: and woman
washes all day for four cents. They
stand IN stream of running water all
day, and use stone for rubbing and
beating the clothes | was told that
nine-tenths of the people in Sicily never
taste of meat, and they have very little
bread. Sometimes in travelling we
would take a luncheon from the hotel,
and we always saved part of it to
give to the people along the road. They
devoured the bread and meat as if they
were half starved, and yet they are a
healthy looking people in the cities.
Their living is mostly greens, which
they gather in the fields and orchards
and cook, and that, with little goats
milk and macaroni, is all they have.
The physicians say they need better
food. can see a great improvement
in them in the few years.
l was there four years ago and there
were very few tourists there then, but
now the country is full OF them, and they
are building new hotels in many places.
OF course it is great help to the peo-
pie in the cities. l was told that many
families lived wholly on money sent
them from relatives in America. In
Taormina many of the people are very
beautiful, especially the children, with
their golden hair and large blue eyes.
In them seem to be blended the blood
of the Greek, the Norman and the
Moor. One young girl that saw was
beautiful enough for Madonna That
reminds me of a little incident here.
One Of the nurses of the Anglo-Ameri
can Hospital was on the street. when a