Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1906-05-23
Correspondence.
FROM OVER THE OCEAN.
Interesting Letter from Judge l.. A.
Emery, Now in Italy.


To The Editor Of The Ameriean;
Lest you think me Indifferent to your
request, send you short report of some
things have seen in and about Naples,
but not of the scenery, the history, the
pictures, the statues, for the books are full
of those.
We arrived Friday, April q, after a
rough, disagreeable, though not tenn
pestuous passage, being day and half
late. We found the harbor gay with
bunting in honor, not of our arrival, but
of that Of King Edward and Queen Alex
andra, who had arrived a few hours before
us on the royal yacht, Victoria Albert,
from the Piraeus. We anchored nesr
them, and our ship was soon decked out
| with flags. While waiting for the health
officer and the usual formalities, we were
entertained by the animated appearance
of the harbor. The big p. & o. liner
Orontes was at anchor near as. Three
huge English battleships were near by,
and boats were darting everywhere.
| We came ashore in crowded tender,
and were glad to get on land after thirteen
days at sea. ! have done the usual
stunts-visited Pompcii and vesuyius,
taken the ride from Salerno via Amalf
to Sorrento, and gone into the Blue
| Grotto at Capri.
| This latter was exciting, as the sea
was rough and many of the Adventures
were drenehed. The entrance is very
small, and the rising wave viii dash in,
completely closing IL. The boatman has
| to watch his chance to rush in as the sea
goes down and get in before the sea rises
again. My boatman succeeded admirably
He mads me, and lady with me, lie down
| fiat in the bottom OF the boat, where We
could only see the sky. He then calcu-
lated his chance, and rushed US in with
only little wetting from the spray.
In many cases, however, the sea over
took the boat and soused the people thor
oughly. Once in, the spectacle was most
beautiful, but you have seen pictures OF
it. The coming out was like the going in,
exciting and wet.
| Naples has not yet cleared away the
ashes that fell here during the eruption,
though thousands Of small donkey carts
and men with baskets have been at work.
In some OF the streets the ashes are now
ankle deep, and the dust is sitting.
| The appearance of the streets and shops
| here interests me much. Outside of the
| few fashionable streets where the expen-
sive shops are, the people fairly live in
the streets. ! have seen women sitting
fat on the iagstones nursing their babies
| almost under the feet OF the passers-by.
Girls comb one another's hair unconcern-
| eddy, right ON the narrow sidewalk, so
| near that | can touch them as ! pass.
Small children toddle and crawl about
under the feet of men and donkeys, and
get mixed up generally.
The stone sidewalk Ia very narrow one)
is the favorite place for siests by the
men and boys. have seen them sound
asleep right in my path, though the racket
round them was fearful. Shoemskers,
blacksmiths, carpenters and other trades
work partly in small rooms and partly on
the sidewalk. Macaroni is cooked and
fish are fried right in the street, and
clothes lines hung with sheets. towels and
| underwear are frequent sight to. the
passer-by.
The carts are very amusing with their
diverse propelling power. Little donkeys
are everywhere, and when several set ont
to bray together the din is deafening.
Small horses, almost ponies, are also used,
and white oxen and cows are not infre-
quent. All these are yoked up together in
every combination. / saw one cart drawn
by a white COW, a donkey and pony all
hitched abreast, the COW in the middle.
The drivers of these carts, the vendors of
fish and vegetables, etc, are continually
yelling. These Italians OF the South seem
to love noise.
At the small town of La Cava, where i
spent the night on the way to Salerno, /
saw a family in one room consisting of
the mother, three small children, a goat,
| a lamb and two hens. In the room were
also a bed, a stove and table. The fam
| lily seemed crowded but harmonious.
At this same village l came upon little
! bare headed, bare footed and bare-legged
girl and about eight years of age with
Greek features but Italian eyes and COM
plexion, and with bright, winning smile.
gave her a soldi Zone cent OF our
money!, and she trotted along by my side
talking volubly and pointing out differ
emit things for me to see. could not I'M
| derstand a word she said, but her beauty
and animation were enough to interest
me. At the end Of the walk l gave her
another soldi, when she kissed her hand
to me and ran OFF with hair streaming.
| Don't think have devoted all my time
| to the streets. i have done the museum,
the cathedral of st. Januarius, where
they say the blood OF the Saint is kept
and will liquefy, but / did not see the
| blood. The cathedral is magnificent.
have also been to the courts-now held in
the old castle of Capreno. The police
courts were thronged with men, women
and children. The judges seemed con-
scientious and careful, asking questions
and finally giving Judgment. The supe-
rior courts including the court of appeals,