La Junta tribune., 1908-08-01
CAvA. ITALY, July 4. 1903.

Here ] am under Italian skies.
surrounded BY the mountains of
Italy and the sea. in sigh, of We
suvius. this Fourth Day OF July. 1t
is now half past seven in the morn
ing. You are all asleep this mo-
ment, or you should be. for it is now
half past eleven of the Sd. | will
wear the stars and stripe on my
coat lapel. to celebrate with you.
We arrived at Naples. the largest
city of Italy. night before last at 8
p. m. after one of the finest yoy-
ages ever made across the Atlantic
and through the Mediterranean.
Not a storm and hut two or three
days of the fourteen scarcely to be
called rough. II took Us three
hours to land and pass through the
custom house The steerage pas
sengers were permitted to land first.
much to the disgust of the first
class passengers shy | did not
learn. But these poor people had
little of our comfort and needed to
get ashore sooner than we. Passing
through the custom house was easy
for us,as in our party of thirty-four
but one or two grips Were opened.
Guards, soldiers. and custom off,
cials We're everywhere. But the
steerage had to open every bag and
box. They came with carpet sacks,
bags, valiSes. suit cases. boxes.
trunks. some immense, which they
slung over their shoulders, carried
on their backs or heads, and at
times staggered under. The din
was like the Chicago board of trade
and almost deafening. Everything
is placed on counters on each side Of
the great passage way. for the in
spector to examine. He comes
along and marks each package.
which is again marked With blue
chalk as we pass to the outside.
Naples reaches from the shore
upon the high hills. much Of the
site being abruptly steep. A thou
sand lights CLEANED like stars out
upon the sea as we approached the
city. q beautiful and enchanting
view. From our hotel. the Britain
nique. we had fine view Of the
city. Upon the high hills and hill
sides are the fine villas or homes of
the wealthy and the aristocracy,
many of them of wonderful magnifi-
cience, ornamented with finest
sculptor and statuary. with beauti-
full parks and gardens. filed with
vineyards. oranges. lemons. palms,
plants. vines and flowers. These,
like almost all the buildings and
houses. are built of brick or stone,
and plastered with stucco or cement
and look almost white at a distance.
The windows are few, and those
great houses with their solid, and
almost bare walls look prison like,
they being all as rule of square or
rectangular shape. with fiat or red
tile roofs, lacking the variety and
beauty of form of the homes Of
wealthy Americans. As We passed
along the business houses or shops
1t midnight. they were all closed,
with seldom an exception, with solid
bare iron or wooden doors. looking
like warehouses not like the glass
and lighted fronts in America. In
Fact. the houses. even the homes Of
the wealthy. as well as the business
look as though they were
built more for war and protection
against mobs and thieves. than for
comfort or display of goods.
The streets are full of carts laden
with fruits.v vegetables. wines, bread,
charcoal and everything. drawn by
the smallest donkeys ever saw,
by a little. poor bony
horse. The potatoes are small,
many OF them only a little larger
than marbles, and the tomatoes
small and gnarly. Men, women
a
and children drive these carts and
cry out in harsh voices. run after
you on the street. if you but look 1t |
them. to get you to buy. even : boy |
driving herd of goats, when l |
looked at him. at once reached his
tin cup towards me and uttered |
'ome foreign word which | took tol