The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1915-10-16

place but from other causes the same
name might be applied to the mod
ern PozzuOli.
Yet here we can look upon many OF
the things which st. Paul saw; the
sea itself. fresh and clean as ever
the encircling hills, no less beautiful
in their spring greenery than on that
spring day when Paul sailed within
their encircling arms. We can even
see the II piers of the great mole
which stretched far out into the bay,
within whose shelter vessels anchored,
one the Alexandrian grain ship on
which Paul had arrived. Today we
can see the ruins Of the temple OF
Scraps, or the splendid marketplace
IS it is now thought to be, which
very likely was in it's pristine glory
when Paul landed.
Tens of thousands Of travellers from
many lands sail into the famous har-
Dor of Naples every year, but COM
paratively few OF them realize how
near they are to the footsteps of St.
Paul, and hoT, after a short trolley
ride from the city they can plant their
feet where he trod.
Let us take the electric car from
Largo Nittoria, where the beautiful
park. Naples famous promenade and
Rotten Row, begins; park that
stretches for nearly mile along the
water front. Soon, however, we get
beyond the fashionable quarters and
the nnUmerable hotels. The car makes
its slow way through slummy re-
raucous cries for which noisy Naples
is famous. and the nose is assailed by
more than the seventy odors of Co
logne.
Tunnel Under Posiiipo.
Shortly a tunnel is reached under
the green hills Of Posilipo. tunnel
almost as ancient as Naples itself.
for it was dug by the Romans to
avoid the steep climb over the precip-
itous tufa rocks of Posilipo. Seneca.
we are told, grumbled at the dust and
darkness and the odor of this tunnel,
and they have not been improved since
his day. The noise is deafening from
the clatter of horses hoofs, the pat
ter of herds of goats, the grinding tor
ture of the electric car wheels, and
above all the brazen threats Of the Ne
apolitans who urge on their dOnkeys
with an indescribable noise, gutt'l-
raj and grating, which seems to come
from the innermost parts of their anat-
omy.
Another slum awaits us at the other
side of the grOtto, followed by vine
yards and orange groves and truck
farms, until, after ride Of four or
five miles, the last part of which
affords glorious views of the bay and
its islands, which never lose their
charm, we at last find ourselves in an
other slum, more hopeless than any
we have yet seen on the way. and find
that we have at last reached the old
Puteoli, and that the electric car
leaves us but few steps from the
spot where the great apostle must
have come ashore.
The immediate surroundings of the
great pier where St. Paul landed are
as filthy as any other part Of Pozzuoli.
Indescribable old hays leer at us from
the doorways; ragged and dirty chill
dren. wholly unacquainted with the
use of a pocket handkerchief, swarm
around us. Several small fishing
boats are drawn up on the shore, and
4 little church, called st. Paul's Chap
ell, stands Immediately behind the an
cient mole.
The modern pier, built over the an
Client mole, is truly magnificent one
of solid cut stone, which runs far out
into the sweet, clean water, and by
going out to the far end we get be-
yond the reach of the importunate
tout. If one can forget the approaches
to the pier, he can here enjoy the en-
chanting scenery of sea and shore.
while his mind Is stimulated by men,
cries Of the mighty past.
But the volcanoes have brought
blessings as well as curses, for the
ash which they pour forth becomes in
few years soil of almost incredi-
Bile fertility. like the volcanic soil of
the Yakima valley on our own Pacific
coast