Evening star., 1925-10-12
LOCARNO PEACEFUL
TOWN FOR TREATY
Has SecIusion, Atmosphere
and an Easy Name to
Remember.

Acting on the acc-old European
tradition that Il peaceful town is the
place to produce Il peace treaty. dele
gates of the major powers preparing
the security pact have adjourned to
Locaruo. Switzerland.
.'LuCerne. where they are meeting,
has already lent ills name to Il
treaty" SAYS q bulletin of the Ma
tional Geo@raphic Society headquar-
;ers here. ''aud that detail may have
bad as much weight in moving to
Iocarno as the desire for Alpine Sc
Clusion
Europe has long piGeonholed its
treaties with the names of small
towns like Lausanne, SeVres. Ghent,
San Stephano and Brest tLitovSk, much
to the relief of the American student.
Exhausted by the task of meeting and
remembering Henrys ! to VII and
Louises l 10 XVIII. it is Il rare relief
IL come upon a dry treaty With the
musical name of AlgeciTaS. Treaties
hy other names than Paris. 1868, and
London. 18Th are certainly SW Weeter
as witness: 81. Germain. AiX-la-I ha-
pelle. Mudania and courtly Versailles.
Italian i'll Language.
THE diplomats viii not hc diSap-
pointed in the promise of the harmo-
nious name of Locarno. This Swiss
city blends with the beauty of the
snow capped Alps and the blue of
Italian lakes.
swiss hy boundary line, LoCarno
IS Italian in language and landscape.
Switzerland has long been taVorite
;reaty-making ground. largely be
cause of its Steadfast neutrality. Its
capacity to provide Il city neutral by
language must also figure. France
and Germany are the main parties to
the present questions. 50 by going
over the mountains the conferees
easily escape both French and Ger
man Switzerland and find themselves
in Italian Switzerland.
Lake Naggiure. sister to Lake
Como. is next to the largest of Italian
lakes. II stretches 81 miles from the
plains of the Po Valley into the heart
of the Alps Most of Maggiore lies in
ITALY, but the upper part, called Lake
Iocarno, is in switzerland. Locarno
itself is the head OF the lake. Though
tiny, it is the mother city Of many
small villages and villas. Numerous
beautiful Alpine valleys pay tribute
Of trade to it also.
Yellow Against White.
Travellers usually see Locarno in
Spring or Autumn. In Spring the
whole countryside is pervaded with a
delicious perfumed dampnesS: prim-
roses line the embankments and way
side hedges with their saffron en-
hroidery: and the oranges and lemons,
trained against white walls, hang ripe
for picking. Peasants call 10 one an
other from their Sloping fields OF trel-
Used vineyards. \ woman clinkS
along the cobbled ways in wooden Sdn-
l. 10 ..fr If
to the time of his stick whacking on
the uufeeling sides Of a donkey As
though to intensity this Snringtime
gladnesS. the church bells ring on
the slightest proV"cation.
"But the pact regotiatorS will flnd
Locaruo with Autumn on the air. The
atmosphere is now clear as LocarnO'S :
own church bells across the water.
Summer green's are Scorched into rich
reds and yelloWs Peace and tOlera-
ton should he easy. There is only
one railroad ana there has been only
one telegraph lne.
New Telegraph Lines.
But the uegot;ators reckoned
without the enterprise Of the Swiss
telegraph service, which threw 4
force Of Iinemen into the hreech. Lo-
carno's one telegraph line has grown
to ten. The last NeStige OF isolation
vanished with the announcement that
the MaTconi concern vii! install
radio station.
still there is no history to be pur-
sued and absorbed in Locarno. Ma
ture reisnS and only one contribution
by mankind is worth seeing. This is
the chapel OF the Madonna del SaSSo.
AS if in recognition OF its position as
LocarnO'S lone building of public in
terest, the chapel has been given
pinnacle of rock on which to perch.
The chapci's lines suggest Il delight
full. haphaZard mixture. from the high
foundations rising like parapets to
the logGIa and little tower. It's walls
are u rich Italian yellow with here
and there bits of red or blue freS-
Going under the red-brown tile roof.
In such a scene as this the Pact
of Locarno' may be born.