The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1919-01-11

trleQ TO forget tllaI nall Ol NIIlS-
tendon was plunged in great
war. Leaving the fighting line,
wandered about in the lovely freedom
of the hill country of Tuscany, past VII
las which are surmised rather than
seen through the long vistas of grave,
still Expresses and around smiling, Sill
vergreen olive slopes from whose sum-
mits beckon dignified palace fortresses
of the MediciS or Sterner and more
aged ivy-decked towers, writes Tus-
cany correspondent of the New York
Evening Post Finally, / reached the
road Of my mornings quest and
stopped where high wall, after many
turns and twists, suddenly opened to
a vision Of green terraces. II was the
gate to the pOdere upon which Ton
inc and his forebears have labored Tor
the last century and half-the fam
lily "going to the land" not as serfs.
but as willing servants Of the soil.
Entering the terraced farm, | skirt
ed a stout wall with Ivy spreading low
ingly over its gray stones; hedge or
winter roses followed me in fragrant
cOmpaniOnship all the way to Tonino's
farmhouse, structure poised brsvely
over a precipitous ledge Of rocks:
/ The house itself might be called an
architectural slant of walls, chimneys,
stone flags and steps running of and
down In all directions till they seem to
merge with the vines and the olive
tree and the green sod. l fingered mo-
ment, then followed In the wake Of a
primitive oxcart, painted bright red,
on which the empty grape watts rumb-
bled generously as the plodding beasts
dragged their draft over the stony
road.
Harvesting the Grape Crop.
II was pagan-almost bacchanalian
picture. as those huge cattle. white
and big-horned, moved slowly and pro
cessionally down the way, fianked by
grape vines in endless. festive wreaths
and festOOns strung from tree to tree
At the lower terrace host OF neigh
bors was busily at work cutting TIT
dew-mOist grapes, dropping the lus
cious lunches into picturesque bas
kets lying all about. The sun PLAYED
in glad. shifting shadows in and on
of the vines and olive trees, while thu
damp soil. drinking in the sofa
warmth, exuded a moisture heavil.
odorous with the Astounding vitalit.
of Mother Earth.
The harvesters included many WON
nj
and a few children. No one. old o
young, gave signs of fatigue; the labO
was pursued slowly and easily, not a
all as q struggle In overcoming time
or resistance. II was this seemn
slowness of the laborers in Italy whic
often gives to the outsider. especial
to the nervous and strenuous Amer
can observer. the impression Of
vastage of time in the accomplishment
of things This apparent slOwnes
however, is rather a wise restraint an
distribution of effort, coupled with TT;
: ditional skill or special hardines
which bring about results by defines
as well as by mere expenditure {
= force.
So. at this harvesting, all OF th'
E crowded. terraced acreage had bee
: shorn of its grapes by shutdown. an
all the fruit carried away to the viii
F. press.
Supper for Tonino's Laborers.
r At nine In the evening we gather'
ut Tonino's house for the harvest su
per, to which, by immemorial custol
everyone who has labored in the win
\ Yards must be invited. We entered
. the kitchen door, near which hung
: little oil lamp patterned after tho
a of the Etruscans; at the long table
; the main room of this casa coloni