The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-12-30


The above j. the head that any up
to-date newspaper man would put
! over such a story as that claimed 20
/ have been secured by the enterprising
/ Mr.. Dante Alighieri, on the occasion
| Of his alleged tour through He'll and
| interviews with many Of the inhab-
itan-s thereof II must not be inferred
however that Dante was out Of date
| For his time and place ne showed 4 n
enterprise and imagination that now.
with a little modern addition would
make him big money on q Chicago pa
| per. which IS about The warmesc
proposition 10 print that We know Of,
| There was a good-sized crowd a the
Temple last night. TO see the Hlustra-
| ton Of the Inferno. The stage SET
tings had been made as Dantesque a.
possible. The white picture screen
| was surrounded by frame that look
| ed like X might have been cut ont Of
the dismal wood in which the poet
| lost himself the beginning Of his
trip. The few fooJlights allowed %
| burn east a lurid CLEAN, and Mr.. Al
exander Park. who lucidly explained
the poem, appeared in a garb some
what similar to that which Mr.. Al
!
sion. The body Of the house was. "a
soon as the reels began 10 run, as dim
as the ante room of Purgatory, and the
fact that the first OF the month was
only two days off made the editor and
many others in the audience feel like
Isaying, "Ain't il -" The only har-
monious discord was the music by
Mrs. 3. F. Condor. who will never be
allowed TO go TO the bad place as long
| as there are any musical instruments
upstairs.
| The pictures were superb. especially
to be appreciated by those who had
read the poem; and those who had not
were given the best Of it by Mr.. Parks
lucid explanation, All that see the
Inferno" can well claim to be posted
| on one Of the masterpieces of liter
allure. The pictures were taken in Italy.
| which is as near Hades as any other
place. and some of them, the Apennine
wood and the tower of Pisa. were TAX
en- on the spot The others looked
very much like Dante had taken a
moving picture machine with him on
his trip, and he might have done SO
for all we know to the contrary.
! The world owes great deal to
Dante. Up to the time of the dis
|
idea of He'll was very emphatic but
somewhat Indefinite 1t was conceded
to be a place of high temperature. and
quite uncomfortable, and the lack of
pleas antness In its boundaries was ex-
cessvely accentuated by the extreme
monotony of the scenery. The indus
tries OF the entire country were close
~ confined to weeping and wailing and
n
fants and very old people, who had to
gum 1t.
| Dante discovered that there was
considerable variety in the topography
of He'll. Judging by his accounts,
there are some places in it where peo-
pie can exist without any greater dis
comfort than that equal to a severe
toothache, which might be mitigated
by their observing what a very siren
uous time other people; were having.
We have noticed that, here above,
other peoples misfortunes attract a
more lively interest than their good
luck, and if the rule works the same
way in He'll, quite a number of folks
are going to have a passably plea sant
time down there. In fact, some will
be more at home there than elsewhere.
Alliteratively speaking, however, this
| article Is not INTENDED as an aOVer-
tisement OF the attra ctions OF Avernus.
When all in it's favor has been said. i.
seems quite inferior as a place OF res
idence even to Baldwin. which we once
heard a F. c. & P. conductor say was
the next place to 1t.
Dante met in He'll a number of peo-
pie who on earth were supposed to be
going in the opposite direction, which
experience Of his will probably be
: duplicated by those of US who may
follow his footsteps without coming
out on the other side. very dis
couraging feature of He'll to Florida
} people is that large portion Of it
seems to be situated in an excessive
ly cold climate When Dante reached
this part of the territory, his guide
found a back door thru which to lead
: him out, but for all We know to the
contrary, this way of escape was i'm
mediately closed and hasn't been re-
opened. If it hadn't been, We are quite
sure some people we have known
} would have been back among US by this
time.
1 It's the Stars disinterested advice tc
;, all who haven't seen the Inferno
that they go to the Temple this eve
ming and repair the omission. Seeing
I the pictures is not only interesting
>, and impressive, but is a necessary part
= of education, as one finds illusions &c
the Inferno" in almost every part OF
literature We do not see how it could
be better illustrated than in the pic
. lures now at the Temple