Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-25

anu are SHOWH 10 SlSltOTS. Uey are COHi-
| fortress, like most royal palaces. and con-
| sist of a long corridor twenty feet wide
| or more, with rooms opening into 1t on
| either side The furniture is old-fashion-
| ed and shabby and shows the neglect of
| years: the hangingS are faded and every
| thing has melancholy appearance. The
/ walls are decorated with many quaint,
| old-fashioned engravings, Autograph por-
| traits of members of the royal families of
| Europe. photographs of the HapSburgS
and pictures of MAMMALIAN and Carlotta
taken at different periods and in different
| costumes. There Is signed photogfap pin
| of Queen Victoria and another of Albert,
| her cOnsort, hanging in one Of the rooms
| and large engraving of the royal family
| of England, Victoria and Albert, sur
rounded by their numerous brood. But
| the most interesting of all the pictures,
| to an American is a Autograph OF the
old side wheel steamer Mayflower, which
| used to run across the lakes between Buff
! falo and Chicago in the 40s. Hanging be-
| side it is a similar picture of the Star of
! the West a famous side-wheeler of the
same period, and printed below it is an
advertisement of its sailings between New
York and Greytown, Nicaragua.
Tablet to Editor Bennett
| In the chapel is marble tablet in
scribed as follows:
Munificentissimo
d. Com. j. Gordon Bennett
Fl F. PraedicatOres
A. D. MCMIV
and bust of the editor of the New York
Herald sanctifies the garden.
Padre Luka, jolly monk. who showed
us around the place, explained that Mr..
| Bennett. who has visited Ragusa several
times while cruising on his yacht, has be-
come a devoted admrer of the place and
made generous gift of money for re-
pairing the chapel. Hence this acknowl-
edRment of his munificence.
| There are only two monks now regu-
larry in residence. Padre Luka and an
other. with several lay brothers, who
| look after the garden. the olive grove
and the grounds and a family of care
| takers occupy the chateau adjoining.
| But there are always several visitors,
| clergymen from Austria and Italy, who
| come here for their vacations, for rest
| and for health. because of the delightful
| climate. We met very agreeable and
gentlemanly priest from Poland. who is
| threatened with tuberculosis and Is TAX
| ing a fresh air cure here at Lacroma ::
| and it would be difficult to find a more
| delightful retreat.
| There are several delightful drives
around Ragusa, but you have to climb
| the mountains wherever you go because
| they come straight down into the sea.
The rocks are bare and forbiddng. but
| with great courage. skill and expense
roads have been cut in both directions
| and are kept in perfect order. After
IOllOWlilS these ZlBZdS highways over
the crests you drop gradually down into
a fertile valley, where olive groves and
| Towering trees, peaches. cherries and
| almonds abound. and Woodworking farm
ers and their wives labor side by side in
| the fields and elsewhere sharing their
| tolls as well as their joys, l hope, on an
equal basis. The oleanders, which grow
| to a large size, are now in full bloom
wistaria vines cover the pergolas and
climb among the branches of the trees.
Fleur de Lis in Abundance.
The feur de lis grows out Of the rocks
as thick as sagebrush in Arizona in a
my sterious way / had always supposed
| that it needed much moisture and lived
| In swamps alone. The natives call it
| grotka. and its wonderful blue makes
| an artistic combination with the gorse
which is as abundant here as it is in
Ireland and as yellow as gold. The
agave, sometimes called the century
| plant, is common. but no use is made
| of it. and a modest purple flower, like the
| forget-me-not. known to the natives as
| "cerncovitza,' grows in beds by the road
| side.
| When strangers are driving through
| the country children throw punches of
flowers into their carriages. as in Nor
| way and Switzerland, and then scamper
along chattering for pennies.
| The Blue Adriatic" is actually blue
and changes it's tints with the movements
| OF the SUM- IN the morning HSDt the wa
ter is the same shade the overcoats of
the Austrian army officers. known as the
cadet blue" Late in the afternoon it is
a deep violet and toward sunset an in
| tense indigo.
A mysterious river called the ''Ombla'
bursts out of the mountain side in a tre-
mendous' volume at the head of q gorge
and flows into the bay with a rapid cur
rent. A similar subterranean stream ap-
pears seven or, eight miles distant on the
other side Of the tOWn-nOt an ordinary
spring. but a torrent. strong enough to
turn the wheels Of the largest cotton fac
tory in New England. pouring out of sew
eral crevices In the mountain side. There
are various theories as to its origin. That
most generally accepted makes 1T the out
let of an isolated lake called Popovopolie
in the mountains which cannot be drained
in any other way.
Quaint Old Monastery.
Up the Ombla valley, near this outburst
of water. is a quaint old franciscan mon
astery that resembled La Rabida, where