Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-03
this beef is the very best beef Naples
ever gets 1t is not granted beef
like the American, and it is eaten al
a dead Refriqera-

THIS pcSi Is the very pSSL pSSt NdpiSS
ever gets. 1t is not a granted beef
like the American, and it is eaten al
most as soon as it is dead. Refrigera-
ton is almost a closed book here.
1t is possible to pay as little as IS
cents for two pounds plus of second.
veal costs SIS cents for two pounds
plus. Prunes of the first quality COM
mand As cents per kilogram. Two
pounds of best quality macaroni bring
of -four cents. best quality japanese
rice cents and a rare old Roman
cheese for cooking 56 cents for two
pounds. The importance of these fig
ures to Naples will be understood when
1t is realized that this is city of the
very poor. The man who works with
his hands rarely averages more than
$40. American, per month. On that
he manages to keep a family of from
five to a dozen in fair comfort.
Lest this should be thought an ex-
aggeration. it is possible to quote two
officially accepted budgets. The fac
chino of the American consulate main
tains a family of three adults and five
just little more than s3s. His larg-
est item is $40 for rent. and his prin-
cipal meal of the day is a plate of
macaroni with thin sauce. That is
his luxury. His salarV from the Amer
lean government for seventeen years
per month. He is able to keep on liv
ing and serving US because his wife
has a tiny vineyard, which just man
ages to pay, the difference between the
ing. A clerk in the consulate is paid
$500 per year. On this he has not only
been able to rear a family of eight fine.
lusty children, but to send one of them
to college. Further, his family would
be known among us as mice people"
So that what ra1a finr
ton of a cent on the cost of cheese
and oil makes to the happiness of
Naples.
Rent Question in War.
In other ways the government has
provided for it's poor. No moratorium
has been declared between landlord
and tenant, in France, but the per-
son who finds himself Impoverished in
Italy need pay only one-half his rent
during the war. The arrears must be
made up, of course. when peace comes
The net consequence of this paternal
care is that one can live quite as cheap
ly in Naples today as during normal
times. Prices have not been lowered in
the few hotels that remain open, nor
have they in the pensions that still
take guests. But 1t is possible to get
an excellent room in a good location
for $40 a month-that room would fully
satisfy the average American-and the
price may be shaded by one-half.
Board may be secured at a pension for
from FIVE to seven francs a day. For
ten francs day-s2-one would be in
the lap of luxury.
So it is that on the surface life here
is what it was before the war. Each
evening the wonderful drive along the
coast is thronged with carriages. while
the Neapolitan beaux stroll on the
pavement to ogle the beauties passing
by The music halls are fairly well
filled each night. and while the per-
Torrance begins before 10 o'clock. it is
with difficulty the management gets
rid of the enthusiastic patrons by 1880
o'clock. One is never out of hearing
of a street piano, Ministries by pairs
stroll the darker streets. while boats
filled with singers float upon the dark
waters, just out of range of the lights
that sparkle from the pier. Most of the
wonderful villas upon this charming
coast drive have been closed by the
war-and because many of them are
owned by Germans-and the restaurant
keepers who were once so naughty hail
you from the door and recite the bill
of fare while you are within hearing.
But these are the details. the black
back ground to a picture which seems
full of life and color
A Story of Won Tirpitz.
It Is true that the entrance to the
breakwater is closed by a chain net
hung from log boom. and that ships
may not pass out after I o'clock at
night and that vessels voyaging on the
blue waters that lie at Vesuvius' foot
muffle their lights at night lest the
German submarines attack. 1t is GER
tain there have been submarines in the