New Britain herald., 1924-04-15
AMALH IS CITY
 WITH GREAT PAST
Is Picturesque Italian Village
 Nestled on Hillside

Washington, U. t-, ApIlI b. -Amalfl has had slides before," say: . bulletin from the Washington. D C., headquarters of the National Geo. graphic siciety concerning the pic turesaue little Italian town about which there have recently been dis estrous land-slips. "The sea has been remorseless in eating under the red rock cliffs on which the town and its neighboring villages perch" continues the bulletin; but more important has been Amalfi's figurative slip from it's position as the worlds first nayal power to comparative obscurity and unimportance.
 "The Amalfi district just south 0: Naples is one Of the most beautiful scenically, of Italy's beauty spots. 4 collection of views showing quaint Old World villages clinging 10 cliff-sides could hardly escape including Anal fl. It seems the archetype Of them all. The rough red cliffs spring steeply from the sea along this coast, and il must have been daring builder who first conceived the idea of planting his structures there. But there they have clung for more than thousand years, and when the sea, at times, has swal- lowed some of the buildings, the peo- pie of the region have stubbornly built others farther up the precipitous slopes.
 A City "Piled Upon Itself"
 Hans Christian Andersen. who be- tween fairy tales wrote charmingly Of Italy's lovely scenery, described Anal fl in a phrase when he called it "a city singularly piled upon itself Its little street run not only among, but through, the houses and some of its dark. torturous passages must be lighted in midday. Its main street with it's curious archways gives 8 touch Of the Orient. Behind the town in a deep rayine is the picturesque glen of the bills where a rolling stream leaps toward the sea in cas- cade after cascade, driving the ma. chinery of dozens of clanking paper mills. Paper making is one of the main industries Of Amalfi, and in ad- 6ition there are the inevitable maca- roni factories, and soap making plants.
 Tt is difficult to realize that little Amalfl. precariously stuck upon its cliffs, with population Of only about 5000, was once a wealthy independ- ent city-state whose might was rec nized throughout the Near East. In the early Middle Ages before Venice and Genoa and Pisa rose 10 power, Amalh was the great mercantile and naval power Of the Mediterranean. Its traders started tho order of St. John, later the Knights Of Malta, Its fleet was the scourge Of the Saracens in the trying days when their boats preyed on Mediterranean commerce. Under the elty's dogcs n maritime court was maintained whose code was the &C., knowledged maritime law Of Europe for centuries. And as a further con- trlbution 10 the nautical world an Amalnan citizen is believed to have invented the mariners compass, whose north seeking needle, though known 10 the Chinese. was not pre- Nlonsly used for navigation.
 Long Fight Against Sea
 Ribbons Of highway skirt the cliffs in the Amalf district rising over ridges. and falling into hollows. turn ing sharp corners and lodging into and out Of little tunnels. Always be- low lies the blue Mediterranean and tied together by inc balnstraded high way are charming little villages. It was among these villages and towns clustered about Amalfi-Airani, Null mi. Furore, Praiano-that greatest damage was suffered in the recent landslide.
 "Amals's dectine from its high me- dleval aate Is partly traceable to the inroads the sea has made upon 1t. The sea began to undermine the lower part of the town in the twelfth cen- tury. and about the same time came subtection from the Norman rulers or Sicily and Naples. In 1543 came a terrible inundation which destroyed most of the town and its harbor. From then the decline was rapid, and be- fore long the city Of 50.00o inhabi- tants had shrunk to one-tenth its for rner size. But picturesaueness and beauty have ciung 10 Amalf as ten- eciously as Amala has clung to its cliffs. Nothing can shake these assets. Boat loads of tourists sail from Naples between the sorrentine peninsula and Capri 10 enter what Is left Of Amalfis harbor and admire it's beauties from the sea: while other sightseers drive down along the shelving highways 10 enjoy the obverse Of the picture. High over the climbing town hotels are perched in hoifows Of tho-cliffs to com mand incompatible views. Guests. forewarnei. barely escaped from some Q, these aeriielike h0stelriss."