The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-19
OLD ETERNAL CITY" . FAST GROWING NEW

l The traveller who wishes to see Rome | the old Rome that dwels like a sacred picture in the minds of all civilized men
 would do well not to potspone his journey too long, or he bids fair to be disap- | pointed. says the Boston Transcript. At | the present moment the famous city IS busily keeping up its reputation of being | eternal; new town is in course of I construction, and is rapidly springng up, | with healthy disregard of historic asso- l citations and characteristic absence of all | tact and taste, beside the great mouu- 1 ments of the past, dating back as they do to the times of the Roman republic. With the eighteenth century Rome be- gan to lose its classic character that is I to say. as far as all fresh building enter l prise was concerned. The nineteenth cen tury brought with it the laying out of a park on the Monte Pincio and othre kim l dred improvements; then for 50 years no great change took place until, as the cap- | ltal Of new Italy, great period of change ensued, which developed into q perfect fever of new enterprise of all Kinds, only to be brought to a sudden termination by severe financial crisis. Now that a more prosperous period has ensued and that Italy is enjoying finan- cial and economic boom, the old city is once more going ahead. New buildings are arising on every side the great palace l of justice is finished; the chamber of dep- | uties Is to be enlarged by the construc- | ton of a new wing in the heart of the town; new hospital of vast dimensions | has obtruded itself into the soitudes or l the Caelius; vast business premises are rearing their heads on every side, even along the old Corso, that street of histor- cal palaces, where now, on the Largo Col | dini, the new Unione Militare, the Ro- man equivalent of the army and navy stores in London, has sprung up. The increase of population is causing the town to expand in every direction; the Pratt di Castello at the foot of the vatican are entirely built over, and a quite new quarter has developed in the neighborncod of the Pariolic hills; on the | other side of the Porta Pia where half a century ago the famous Villa Albani l stood with it's magnificent view over the 1 mountains, there now stand rows of the l hne villas and. on the other side of the town on the slope of the Giancoo more l villas are to be found.
 1 That much has been done of late to | bring the old city Up to the level of A l modern metropolis cannot be denied The 1 tunnel under the Quirnal, for instance,
 has greatly improved the traffic condi- l tions. and the wretched novels along the
 banks of the Fiber have given way to handsome modern quays. A fine munich pal park has been laid out on the vjaduct l 1 Pincio from the park of the Villa Bor-
 ghese Chow Umberto ID. It is only to | be regretted that all these varied improve ments should have been impaired by a 1 phenomenal display of bad taste that was quite unnecessary.
 The beautiful Piazza Colonna, with it's imposing Veji and Marcus Aureius col
 umns, should never have been allowed to be desecrated by the presence of a
 | cinematograph theatre, even though it
 only be temporary structure. The iubi-
 | lee of 1911 did much for Rome. but also
 brought with it that unhappy creation
 the Passeggiata Archeologica that un-
 fortunate boulevard that was to carry the poetry and charm of the Via Appia
 into the heart of the town. And finally
 we come to the Victor Emmanuel monu-
 ment, which occupies virtually the entire
 northern slope of the Capitolne and dom
 mates the town from all points of view
 This work has imposed a burden unon
 the city of 2,000O00 lire, and that at a
 time of severe financial depression. No
 one grudges modern Italy the right to
 celebrate its triumph in the most promi-
 nent and sacred position in the ancient
 city, but unfortunately the piga ntic nro-
 protlons or the monument are in no way
 matched by its artistic conception. and
 as 1t stands, it merely records urbi ct orbi
 the impotence of our modern artists when
 compared with the authors of the won
 derful creations of antiquity