Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-03-10

prepared by the Nationai Geographic So
| cisty, Washington, d. c.,
! Capri, once the beautiful island
pleasure home of Roman emperors,
lies like an hour-glass on it's side in
the blue waters of the Bay of Naples.
The glamor of its old associations still
kpersisfs, but its appeal to the many
tourists who now swarm to its shores
sis the same, no doubt, as that which
drew great Romans to tits delight
tfnl climate, neither stimulating nor
Generating, and its wonderful scenery
df land and sea and sky.
L Capri itself is OVERLOOKING with
strange interest and beanty-crags,
sterraced. hills, the blue sea ruffied
comparable sunsets and among all Of
natures beauties the scattered works
sOf man from the ruins of ancient mar
sble palaces to modern villas.
I Only few miles across the sap
kphire bay Naples and the Neapolitan
Scpast are spread out in all their be-
Iwildering features. One writer has
ldescribed Capri and the neighboring
lscbast as more like miracle. than an
Isaecident of nature, while another has
complained that the scenery is too
much like theater curtains come to
life" Nevertheless, every person who
arrives at Naples under fair skies and
beholds this littoral for the first time
must be affected by its loneliness.
Capri is an esthetic wonder of the
world. It's area is but six square
miles; but surely nowhere else in the
wbrld are so much loneliness and so
many interesting things packed in so
little space. Artists have always
f10cked to Capri, each year bringing a
fresh brood, confident in its ability
: to paint the unpaintable cliffs and sea,
Some of these fingered on, some to
marry the handsome Capri girls, and
HDwelrs Englishman who came to the
island for three months and stayed
|. for thirty years is not a unique case
! I'M this respect. -
The fame of the Blue Grotto has
made Capri a. show place, and for up
I ward of a hundred years, day after
n day. the tide of seasick tourists has
i flowed and ebbed. In spite Of these
;, daily caravans, however-in spite OF
N the Anacapri road, the Funiculal
rohd, the Strada Krupp, much taste
less villa-buiIding,l and--before the
Wharf.-The vast hordes Of Germans
Capri Is still essentially unspoiled.
1t is true that the Capri women gave
up wearing their costume thirty years
ago: that the old Greek forms hav,
drbpped out Of. the island speech; tina
the old days have gone forever; but
despite this, there has been a gain II
convenience and comfort Of living TO
both Capresi and foreigners, even at {
loss of picturesqueness, and the com
fotting fact remains that Capri
ehuty is rugged and perennial, not t.
be destroyed by man.
E1 Acquired by Augustus.
Capri was the first point in Cam
| pania where the Greeks obtained
foothold, and Augustus possibly did
l far-sighted thing by securing it 70
the empire In b. G. 90. thus prevent
1 ing it's seizure by enemies or b
pirates. There was certainly the mai
ter Of pirates to be considered, The
4 have: always been a pest Of the Med
I tetrahean. At the time Of Pompey
| celebrated campaign against the Med
! terranean pirates. 81 b. G.. they wer
weli4 organized and intrenched !; the
y had naval stations and beacon tower
L in various places. Centuries later tn
a English actually did --selze Capri, !
n 1SOd and called It the Little Gibra
e tar.' 10y plight ,tffe Hid S/Pe
n hapal to this day but for the Ill lue
t ana Incompetence Of Col. Hudsc
y LowM later NapoleoRsAs jaiIeg 81 .sys
= HeldAa. --sss< " n 81 q
Tbk ruin Of the Capri ph6ros, "a
4FanciBbt~ 5fkhtAbhsey-t0 eiSse- stesd
Elarg}}t of the ruined palaces on Cap %
Il is a paramount point HI tie archaet
" oey lf the island. The selection
Capia by Augustus was most like
rbiasM tsYrYpsiderabif qeHfeIby Il
d fact lkhnt. It Yves Ideally Situated +
the Pharos. This was one Of the mo
Important lighthouses of antiquity