The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1910-03-24
AROUND THE WORLD AND HOME
AGAIN.
Continued from Page One.)

Continued from Page One.)
bay to an elevation of 1000 feet rises
that dark threatening cone, Vesuyius.
To this bay the worshippers
OF nature have come from all lands
to render homage to it's matchless
shores. We go to Rome for sculp-
ture, to Milan for music, Florence
for painting, but to Naples for beau
ty; and to complete the charm of this
Vesuvian bay our boat is met by
bands of natives singing Santa Lucia
but we are soon awakened from our
dream of it's mighty past and the
pageantry of its ancient days when
the worlds commerce covered its
bay with ships to find that we are
in the noisiest city in Europe. The
driver of our carriage screams to the
people in the street and all seems to
be noise and confusion.
This city was founded 1000 years
before Christ, and it is the largest
city in Italy, having a population of
100000. The poverty of Naples is
distressing. and to most of these
poor vagabonds life is desperate
struggle for existence. The enyirons
of Naples are beautiful but the old
part of Naples is awful, so you can
imagine that drive through this
part presented to us some startling
surprises. .After that ride through
the Ghetto we had a new interpreta-
ton OF that old proverb See Naples
and die" Some of the streets or al
leys Of the Ghetto are but six feet
wide and on either side gloomy tene-
ments rise to an amazing height and
these give the streets very little light.
They swarm with men, women, chill
dren, goats, donkeys and rags, and
the windows are filled with hundreds
of unkempt beings. There were ropes
zig-zagged from one tenement to an
other, and these served as clothes
lines for the rags of all colors. 1t is
estimated that there are hundreds of
children who have never known eth
er father or mother and who live for
the most part on the refuse of the
streets. 1t is said that at least a
quarter of a million human beings in
Naples live from hand to mouth, and
that this great misery is caused by
heavy taxation. These people live
three-quarters of the year in the
open air and ply their trades outside
their doors. Thus we saw tailors
carpenters and shoemakers working
almost in the streets, but we did not
wonder at this when we saw the
gloomy building that they would 9TH
erwise have had to work in. A
characteristic sight in these streets
Is the portable kitchen and lunch
counter. Here the poor can buy fish,
fruit or cakes in portions costing
about cent, One also encounters
many times in the streets flocks of
goats, and these wandering dairies
halt at some door where the
signal has been given and they are
MIXED on the sidewalk. The city
proper is quite American in appear
ance.
The buildings are nearly all made
of tufa, volcanic rock formation.
We saw no wooden or brick build
ings The streets of Naples are
about 1000 years old and are paved
with lava marked off in squares.
When first taken from the lava beds
1t was hot but the sun and atmos-
phere have hardened it.
There was a statue in nearly all
of the street centers and parks, and
the fountains were all elaborately
decorated.
We went to the Aquarium, the
finest one in the world, and saw it's
many wonderful specimens. We
only had few minutes in the muse
UNI and SO had a hurried glimpse of
the relics of Pompeii and Hercula-
neum. Here we saw bread that was
made in 10 A ID. 1t looked like a
black rock with holes in it; and they
also had grapes and fruit that was on
tables at the time of the great erup-
ton. There were also many bronze
statues, pottery, musical instru-
ments, jewelry. canoes, and medical
instruments, many of which we re-