Grand Forks herald., 1917-03-09
PALACE IS now ].
SOLDIERS HOME
Former Quarters Of Bourbeh,
Kings of Naples Now Filled
: With Wounded.

Naples, italy. March a.-(coe1se.
spondence OF the Associated Pre9)
Tho war has turned the palace of
the Bourbon kings OF Naples tnt9sa
homo Of mutilated soldiers. Aro1fd
the exquisite marble table whore the
dined in the garden on hot summer
nights-the ladies in powdered head
dress and panier skirts, the men with
lace at their sleeves and embroidered
coats-today are gathered the pfttable
fragments OF humanity that war han
left in its wake. There are neither
candles nor massive silver. neither
ian government allows 20 cents Yer
day for their lodging and main
tenance, and food is high in Naples.
The marble table on warm days In
the garden is the recreation center
Of the mutilated. in their worn and
faded uniforms. Before each is An
oblong cardboard placard. some of
the men (he must be one Of those
who have lost a leg. for the one.
armed cannot do the tricky shakes
a basket-bottle and turns out q num-
bered counter. In tho sing-song Nea-
politan dialect. he cries the number.
The one whose placard bears 1t, COW
ers the space with a bit of glass.
wins a cent from each Of the 9TH
ers. ~"
Those who have no hands at all
have grown wonderous skillful at
Tipping their bits Of glass onto the
placard by means of bent pin stuck
In the empty sleeve.
This is recreation. There are also
chambers Of the royal palace have
been turned into school rooms. in
the month that the hospital has been
running. In one. those who wish
are taught tailoring. in another shoe
making-the legless naturally. for
one must have two hands to make
shoes or clothes. Those who have
typewriting. But many Of the latter
must begin farther back than that;
and learn to read and write first For
reading and writing in Southern Italy
are not common accomplishments, so
there is a school-room-a primary
school-room, where the alphabet and
multiplication table ngure on the
children who have known only to
give an arm or a leg to their country.
And an arm or a leg to these simple
peasants is livlihood-their own and
their families.
Which is why some do not study.
Iney are Suspicious. Mutllated, tney
are entitled to government pension.
and they are afraid that when they
have learned a new trade by which
they can live. the government will
say: You no longer need help
make your own living" So they sit
all day in tho sunlit, royal garden.
with its faience fower-pots marked
with fieurs de lys, and watch the
changing lights on the bay Of Naples
and think Of what life used to hold
for them before the war came to
change it utterly. 49,
Tho sea once came to the very wall
Of the garden where they sit. Be-
low the balustrade, was a seapools
where tho courtiers Of Carlo III:
fished from the terrace. Later, when
the people Of Naples voted the Bour.
bons out and the House of Savoy fn
as rulers Of United Italy, Garribaldi
gave the palace to Alexander Dumas
And the government Of Italy had no
end Of trouble to get it back from
the famous author. But the soldiers
who wander through the spacious
rooms Of the palace today know none
Of these things. They know only
what they have given to their coun-
try. They merely wait the issue Of
war, ...