Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-16
Snow-Covered Vegetation.

WHO nail from venice ana tney always
pray to Our Lady of the Sea- in bad
weather.
Snow-Covered Vegetation.
The snowstorm followed us for three
hours on the way to Trieste. We Travelled
through a typical winter scene on the
Goth of March, the wheat and other vege-
tation. which had been above ground for
at least two weeks. being buried under
the snow. The blossoms on the fruit
trees did their best to survive this unex-
pected and unprecedented attack, but
there Is much apprehension lest the crop
Of cherries and peaches might be ruined.
The railway parallels the coast line
very closely around the apex of the Adri-
attic and passes through fertile farm
ing country. with no cities of Importance,
but several villages which seems to have
contributed, each of them, some genius
to the world Of art. At the village Of
Bellunc, for example, Titan, the great
master, was born. A statue was erected
In the public square in his honor In 1850.
and the village church. in which he was
christened. contains an altarpiece which
lie painted in his old age as a memorial
gift.
The population seems to be all Italian
the entire distance to Trieste. We saw no
German names upon the signboards
after We crossed the Austrian boundary
and heard nothing but Italian spoken at
the stations.
The only evidence that we were under
the jurisdiction OF the veneral Emperor
Francis Joseph was that imperial eagles
took the place Of the white crosses We
had seen on the Italian side of the
boundary upon the shields that are hung
over the gateways and the -.oors to the
stations.
This is perfectly natural, however, be-
cause this section of Italy was wrested
away by Austria several generations ago
and still remains a part of that empire.
There is intense hatred of everything
still dream of the day when they shall
be back under the Italian flag.
ouarries of Ancient Venice.
From fringe Of mountains following
the coast line came 1.-The stones Of Ven
ice." Of which Ruskin wrote SO eloquent
ly. The quarries have been worked for
1900 years, and from the car windows
one can see the great gashes in the
mountain sides where the Venetians of
ancient well modern times have
obtained their building materials. 1t is
a curious stone, not unlike the Berea
sandstone or our own countryside and
easily worked when first taken out of
the quarry, but after few months of
exposure to the atmosphere it seems TO
solidify and finally grows as hard as
marble.
italy abounds in choice building ma
terial, granite and sandstone as well as
marble. and that is the fundamental rea-
son why she has produced so many great
| sculptors. You never find skillful sculp-
| tors where there Is no stone.
Our train was crowded and We have not
seen or heard Of one in Italy that wasn't.
Tourists are beginning to complain Sc
| rlously about the Inconvenience OF travel
in this kingdom, now that prosperity has
been sufficiently restored so that the ma
tives as we'll foreigners, can afford to
pay railroad fares. The roadbeds are
well constructed; the cars are comfort
| able, but there Is never enough Of them
the trains are too few and far between
to accommodate the traffic and we have
vacant seat, and usually the aisles are
filled with people standing. The railways
of Italy belong to the government the
fares are very high, compared with those
in the United States, and If the govern
ment ownership apostles and populists
vino are advocating two-cent "a -mile-laws
for American railroads would come over
here and inquire into the transportation
business, they would learn something to
their advantage.
Railroad Fares Are High.
First-class fares in Italy are about 80
per cent higher than in the United States,
and all baggage is charged extra, while.
with US. 136 pounds Is carried free with
every ticket. AS consequence, pas
sengers take as much Of their baggage
as possible into the cars with them, to
the discomfort Of their fellow-travelers
! as we'll as themselves. Second-class fares
are about the same as our frst-class
fares, and third-class fares are about
30 per cent less, but In the present
condition of traffic no one who
values his comfort or peace of mind will
travel on any but frst-class tickets in
Italy, because the accommodations for
the other passengers are SO crowded.
And when a person starts on a journey
here he Is never sure of a seat. He does
not know whether he IS going to be COM
PEELED to stand up in the aisle the entire
distance or not because there is no way
of reserving seats. And when train
rolls into a station everybody makes a
rush to take possession OF the first
empty place they can find. In the
| scramble foreigners usually come out sec
ond best. because they are not familiar
with the situation and they are often
left at the stations either from ignorance
or because they cannot find seats on the
trains.
A great deal Of complaint has been made
to the railway department OF the govern
ment but the officials offer the same ex-
cuse that is usually made under such cir
cumstances-that their locomotives cannot
haul any more cars: that they are unable
to make their advertised schedule time
now because the traffic is so heavy and
IAl g.