The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-07-28
yALLETrA, FROM THE nARnoR.
Frank Carpenter Writes About
His Visit to the Interesting
Islands Of Malta.
vALLETTA AND ITS HARBoR
How the People Live Maltese
Goats for American Babies.
Where St. Pail Lived.
by FRANK G. CARPENTER.

=. X NAL
- have come from Barbary north
I ward to the Island of Malta to
get ship for for Al ttsaa,! There qleg
Tripoli TO Egypt, and one must
go to Malta. Sicily, Italy or Tunis to
reach the Nile Valley. The trip to
Malta is one Of thirty-six hours. 1t is
made on little Italian steamer, and
1T ends at the port Of Valletta. under
the shadow of the great English for
tifications which guard this. John
Bulls outpost in the mid -Mediterran-
can. 1871, "a
Malta is just about half way be-
tween Gibraltar and Port, Said. It Is
scarcely hyspeck on the map OF
the world. but 1t is one Of the most
valuable of all strategical points. It
Is in the centre of the most Travelled
sea. a great station on the busiest Of
our commercial highways, and just.
where the steamers stop to take on
coal Malta is now. handling about
10000 tons OF coal a year. The coal is
brought here from Great Britain and
retailed to the steamers. AS we came.
in we saw several of the ocean liners
taking on fuel preparatory to their
start for the Far East. Most Of the
ships which go to Australia. India and
China by the Snez Canal call here for
fuel. and the port has q fleet of 500
lighters. which are used for that pur-
pose. Training vessels and other naval
ships are now coaling in the harbor,
and "a great English transport which
will leave for Suez tomorrow lies at
the wharyes. Malta is a strong naval
station. 1t has now half dozen Eng
lish grnboats anchored in front of it.
and the government is building
breakwater at cost Of So,Oo0,o oo 10
enlarge the harbor5 to accommodate
the navy. The island is the chief base
for the repairs and Quitting of the
Mediterranean fleet, but the fleet mas
already outgrown its capacity, and
for this reason the British are build
Ing the new docks here and at Gill
braltar.
The AInltcsc Islands.
But first let me tell you something
about the Maltese Islands. They, is
quite a number of them. but the only
ones Of note are Malta, Coco and Conf
no. and they altogether have an area
OF but 1T square miles. They are
mere rocks cropping out Of the sea
but they are covered with a thin rich
mold which mikes them the most
thickly populated part Of the globe
Malta is the biggest, and its area Is
just about that Of the District or Co
lumbia. It rises right up out OF the water
and as one looks at 1t from the steam
er 1t seems bleak and blare The
slopes are precipltous, but the land
lis so terraced and held back by stone
walls that all Of it is cultivated. To
look at it you would not think 1t could
raise anything. 1t seems more like a
| stone quarry or stone pile than q
fertile region; nevertheless everything
that is planted grows, and Malta alone
supports more than two hundred thou.
sand people. This is over two thou
sand for every square mile. and more
it is said, than any other part of the
globe.
The Cities Of Malta.
The two chief towns of the archi-
pelago are Valletta and Cita Vecchia
which are both on this island. Val
| letta has $4,000, and its harbor is where
iall the great ships stop. The town !:
built on q hill, high above the water
The streets ascend at all sorts of an
| giles, and one has to climb up, or dowr
| in going to any part of 1t. Lord Bea
consfield once said that the architect
ure of Valletta was equal to that o
any city Of Europe, but it seems t
me he overdrew It. The buildings ar,
|much like those of Naples. The streets
are narrow. and the tall stone houses
IeXtend out over them.
There ara many balconies. and a.
there are few back yards. the family
washing is generally hung out from
them over the streets 1t flaps to ant
fro In the breeze as one walks through
the city. and now and then the pearlS
drops from a newly-WahSed shirt OF