Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-24

! dinner and come into the smoking room
| to drink their coffee and liqueurs and
| smoke their cigarettes and continue the
chatter that has been going on since
| morning one observes signs of breeding
and distinction that are not notlceab- &
while they are wearing their shooting
| Jackets and knickerbockers.
| This is a favorite resort for officers OF
! the Austrian army stationed a I the many
| military barracks along the coast. Their
uniforms are gorgeous; their breasts are
covered with medals and decorations;
| their waists are small and their manners
are graceful but they do not stand erect.
and they wear their swords a the dinner
| table -.-.e
There is quite large military force
scattered through the many ancient for
tifications that were erected by the We
netians in the middle ages to defend RAJ
] gusa against the Turks the Saracens,
the Genoese and other invaders. and are
now the most picturesque feature of the
most picturesque town l ever saw. l do
| not believe that there is much mill
tary masonry anywhere else in the same
area that may be found in the walls sur
rounding this dear old town. What
makes 1t the more delightful is that
every one Of the castles and towers and
fortified walls remains in perfect condi-
| ton. Time has been gentle in its deal
| ings with Ragusa, although they tell us
that five thousand Of the inha bitants were
! killed by an earthquake in 1867.
Solid Rock, followed in Center.
The little city is built upon a tongue
| of land that projects into the Adriatc;
and it is a solid rock. wiA deep hollow
| in the center and rising on either side
about a hundred perhaps hundred
and fifty feet. The center of the hollow
| is occupied by short but broad street
| called the Corso. where the best shops
| are. the principal churches and the ven
cradle old custom house. and where every
| body promenades in the evening after
| their days work is done 1t ends in a
piazza or square. upon which a beautiful
old Venetian building. perfect example
of the pointed Gothic. is dignity as
we'll as an attraction. This is the rector s
! palace. SO called because when Ragusa
was republic the chief magistrate bore
that name and occupied that building.
| On either side of the Corso are narrow
little streets not more than five or six
feet wide, running parallel and at right
angles far as the ground is level. and
| then they begin to climb by zigZag and
| curves and twists. as if a goat surveyed
| them, to reach the dwellings that have
| been built one. above another upon the
| precipitous rocks that inclose the business
section of the town. And browning these
rocky ascents are the ancient walls of the
city, some of them old as the seventh
century. but most of them dating from
Tic l"tlItH duu ltctLlIi Centuries.
Ancient Fortifcations.
On the seward side is a sheer drop of
300 feet or more into the Adriatic, which
has been beating necessarily against the
base of the Notifications for 700 years
On the landward side the wall is a solid
mass of stonework that rises in places 300
! feet without a break except the wide en-
oro loft fnr ha
! There are towers at all the corners and
| curves and angles and other exposed
| places, and four or five great turretlike
| forts have been built at the highest point
with caStellated tops and protected by
parapets and other engineering devices
| that are always associated with fortifica-
| tiOns. One of these castles is SO lofty
| that the soldiers who occupy it have to
climb thousand steps TO reach their
barracks. There may be more formida BILE
and picturesque looking defenses than
those at Ragusa. but l don't know where
they are, and, what is more interesting.
the walls have seen service. While this
masonry would not prevail against mod
ern artillery it has not been exclusively
ornamental. for since the eighth century
Ragusa has been successfully defended
against five sieges. one of them lasting
four years. Nearly every soldier in the
garrison was wounded or sick. and many
OF the inhabitants persisted from starya-
ton and other hardships when they were
relieved by Lewis. the son. of Charlie
magne, and an army of iMacedonians.
Collection of Customs Duties.
There are two entrances. two great
gates in the walls. One of them opens
| upon the docks on the water side and
the others through two parallel walls and
across a moat by a zigzag passage into
the outer world, and through the main
highway along the shore of the Adriatic
Collectors of taxes preside at each gate
and every old woman who brings dozen
eggs or cabbage or a bunch of rad
ishes to market is required to pay duty
which may seem tritiing to us, but to her
is as odiouS and as onerous as the AL
drich tariff bill to the insurgents of the
United States Senate.
The fisherman who brings in his catch,
the boatman with his cargo of oranges.
and casks of wine. the donkey driver
who brings baskets of dates from the
southern coasts of the Adriatic each
pays tribute to the Austrian empire when
he enters these gates, and there ought to
he some satisfaction in paying taxes in
such a beautiful old building as the
dodana, or the custom house, now occu-
pies was built in 1920, in what is
called the Venetian renaissance and Is
adorned with statue of st. Biagio, the
patron of the town
Ragusa is q growing town, but 1t cam
not grow any more inside the walls
Outside. in both directions. particularly