Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-09-27
Short Trip to Europe-From Ma.
pies to Rome.
BY X. Il. McCLINTIC.

| cidad upon the route over which
was to travel making it as exten.
sive as my time would permit.
| could have selected many Others,
| but the one / chose was from Ma
Piles to Rome, thence to Florence,
thence to Venice, thence to Milan,
thence via the St. Gothard route
over the Alps to Lucerne, thence to
Bale, thence to Paris, thence across
the English Channel via Calais and
Dover to London, THENCE to Liver
pool, thence on the Baltic of the
White Star Line to New York. /
, bought all of these tickets at once
from Thomas Cock & Son.
They we're not sold in the shape
of the long tickets that we buy IN
the u. S. with coupons detachable
for each road, but separate tickets
! for each road and steamship line.
As a matter of curiosity, | asked
them to give me the rates to Rich
mond. Va, via N. Y. over the
above route and they did so.
Foreigners coming to the u. 5.
buy tickets that way for they are
rs much at a loss when they get
here as we are when we get there.
The II. r.. of Italy are all own.
ed by the government. The IL lis.
are not up To those Of the U. S. in
elegance oe equipment, but so far
as safety and freedom from acct
dents, they are away ahead. You
may almost say that the Italian
Il. Rs. have no accidents. They
are marvels Of construction and
built in the most substantial man.
ner. The bridges are all built OF
stone by a series of arches. No
iron spans like We use. The
coaches are all entered on the sides.
The route from Naples to Rome
runs through rather level coun-
trs, the plains of Campania, with
the Appenine Mts. running paral.
lei with the road and in sight fon
will be impressed with the close
and intense cultivation of the soil
and the economy practiced by the
people in the country. Nothing is
lost or wasted. Timber is exceed
ingly scarce and valuable. Most
all the trees. if they are needed for
use, are cut off up about 10 feet
from the ground, so that they may
sprout out and grow again. If
they are destroyed entirely, they
are grubbed out by the roots
There are no fences, and stock
when~it is permitted to Craze must
be herded by some one. There are
quite number Of sheep and you
may see herd of 400 or 500 with
apparently no one in charge, but
il you attempt to approach, you
will find two or three dogs around
there somewhere. They watch
them and keep them where they
belong. Southern ITALY has no
work animals except few oxen.
You may see them working to the
plows, sometimes half dozen to
one pillow and very crude and prlm-
tive looking plows they are.
About like the forked trees by us
long discarded. Nearly all the
work is done by hand and by the
women's hands at that. About
one half Of the Italian male p0pu-
lation is enlisted in the army, and
from the number Of men in uni.
form aud the companies that seem
to be drilling in every city, you
think that the per cent. is more
than half.
The other half are loafing or are
busy making the women work.
[ was there when they were pre-.
pairing background for the spring
crops and | have counted as many
as 40 women out in the field with
spades spading up the field, possib-
ly so acres, while with them we're
three or four men keeping them at
work. In the quarries, most Of
the work is done by women and
their heads are quite fat on top
from the burdens Of heavy rocks
that they have spent their lives
carrying on them.
They seem to be more skilfnl
than even the southern negro in
carving burdens on their heads.