The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1922-04-14
Letter from Miss Washburn.
Arabian Sea, Feb. %, 1922.

Dear Ones In the homeland
My last letter to you, if / remem-
Der correctly, was concluded just as
we reached Naples, so l will try to
give you a little glimpse of what has
been taking place since.
We pulled in there Friday, Feb 3,
about five o'clock, and no sooner had
we gotten into harbor than a score or
so of little boats came out to meet US,
all intent on getting aboard and SELL
ing their wares or booking us up for
trips to various places of interest.
One boatload came up the rope lad
der hanging over the side of the
ship, but were promptly ordered off
by the captain, and the quarter
master instructed to let no more on
board till the pilot had arrived.
Soon the pilot came in response to
our whistle and directed us into port,
and when we were finally anchored,
the fun began. Post card vendors,
money changers, fortune tellers, sell
ers of various wares and sightseeing
agents were numerous, even coming
into the dining room where we were
having dinner, and they were tireless
in their efforts to sell. Jimmie FL"
as he called himself, (They are all
"Jimmies"), even came up the side
of the ship in his eagerness to get
ahead of the rest.
Some little boats drew up along
side and entertained US with violin,
mandolin and vocal music which
sounded very good on the water. But.
of course, they were looking for the
coin and soon held an umbrella for us
to throw our stray cash in.
Can you imagine how good it SEEM
ed to see land again and with pros
Ipect of putting foot on it? think
it was about the most exciting NOM
ent of the trip thus far. A beautiful
sunset formed a good background
for the city and made it all the more
pleasurable. Some went ashore
straightway, but the most of US pre-
ferred to wait till daylight to go
among strange people.
We were soon assured of first-class
elevator service for unloading our
1000 tons of wheat, so that we could
be out of there in SO hours time.
This, however, didn't materialize and
instead it was all unloaded by hand
and we were detained there until
the following Thursday, one day of
the delay being due to a strike of the
Italian deck hands.
The opportunity for seeing some
thing of Italy with no hotel bills,
was too good to miss and Saturday we
started out, three auto loads, to see
the interesting things of Naples and
then to the ruins of Pompeii.
l wish it were possible to give you
a vivid word picture of our general
impression of the city and perhaps
picture of ourselves as we whisked
through the streets in little old
3Stutz whose springs had suffered
overmuch from Italy's lava-stone
paved streets.
For the most part the streets are
marrow and muddy, the side walks,
so-called, scarcely wife enough for
one, SO the streets are filled with |
people as we'll as vehicles of various
sorts. There seemed to be no con-
of any speed limit or of |
human life, for we bounded on at |
about 25 miles per hour, honking our
horn continually, and somehow or
other, the way was always clear when
we got to it, although the length of !
the car ahead seemed always full of |
people. An American "joy ride" is
the only term l can think of to des-
cribe it.
The characteristic form of convey
ance is the two-wheeled cart drawn
by small horse with a small ass
tied to one or both sides. They use
tmeo-Wheeled vehicles almost exclu
n;.,oI., npJ +Lo .ooco,, &c oI,u;o,1c 11yhap
you consider the narrowness of the
streets. Nearly everything seems
years behind the U. S. A., even the
would cause comment
because of their antiquity. The
buildings, for the most part of stone,
looked weather beaten and old. They
have not caught the big department
store idea either, there being only
one or two stores of any considerable
size. They have one big building
called the Arcade which, has grand
promenade through the center like a
cross with stores of every description
on the sides.
Among the interesting things of
Naples which they showed us was a !
big Catholic cathedral, Santa CHAR,
containing some very old paintings;
the National Museum, with a great
manv relics taken from the Pompeii
ruins and some very famous statuary,
as we'll as a miniature of the unearth-
ed Pompeii ruins; the Aquarium. said
to be the finest in the world; the 5.
francesca de Paola church from
which Caruso was buried; the italian
Kings Palace and the Spanish Kings
Palace, Forte S Elmo, the Catacombs
and Monastery.
Pompeii is probably about thirty
miles distant. though they don't
state distance by miles, but by time
required to reach a place. This was
quite an interesting ride as it gave
US an opportunity to, see how the
people live, nearly all the way being
closely built up. l believe l should
have said "exist". for it seems it
must be a bare existence. Many of
them keep shop and have their living
quarters all in the same room, with
practically no light except through
the door and maybe one window.
One is not left in doubt as to what