The Coolidge examiner., 1930-11-28

Society, Washington. D. C.)
UNIQUE among mans dwelling
houses are the trulli of the
"heel" of Italy's bOOt-strange
appearing, dry-masonry cones, each
separate room.
They are hidden away between
the obscure towns of Francavilla
and AlberObelO, on the edge of the
billOWing hills of the limestone
ridge, lie Murge. which parallels
the Adriatic, between two fiat
plains, the Tavoliere di Lecce to
the south and the Tavoliere di
PugIia TO the north. Literally, tavo-
liere means checkerbOard, and the
small rectangular farms in these
plains, contrasting with each other
in the varying colOrs of the raw
earth or the grain, or grass, or
trees. sustain the figure.
Francavilla is 21 miles east of
TarantO, on the railway line to
Brindisi, and here a leisurely sec
Ond-rate branch line meanders
northwestward 80 miles through
rolling country TO AlberObello, and
thence in the same direction to
Bari
Leaving Taranto, the train trails
eastward across green fields drip
ping with the blood-red of pop
pies; past orchards Of peaches,
plums, cherries, almonds, and
young olives. or comparatively
young olives, for the youth of most
any olive tree dates back by cen
turies; past grazing stretches mot
tied with yellow cows, and black
sheep. a level terrain, and rich, If
the numerous well-built farm es-
tablishments signify.
At Francavilla ii is necessary to
change TO another train, which
takes one deeper into the heart of
the country. The carriages on this
branch of railway, reaching into
the foothills of La Murge, are mere
toys in size. There are no second
class compartments so that the
traveller is tempted to cast his lot
with the third class. The carriages
are not sealed off into compart-
ments, but are unobstructed for
| their entire length. somewhat after
the democratic fashion of an
American railway car. The wide
open windows let in rain and air
onto well-swept floors and gleam-
ing vanished benches, and reveal
a simplicity and cleanliness of place
and passengers which are both a
surprise and an encouragement to
acquaintance.
In the Murgian Hills.
The train soon leaves the check
er-board of Lecce behind and
climbs into the rolling country of
the Murgian hills. Within a few
miles the whole aspect of life and
nature changes.
Ones first sense of this change is
when the brown soil becomes deli
cately fiecked with white, the first
outcroppings of these limestone
| ridges. Gradually the stones in
crease in size and number. and with
this increase the efforts of the peas.
ants to dispose of them come into
evidence with the low. loosely piled
walls which begin to line the land
| scape.
Mile by mile the walls increase
in breadth and height to size ridic-
ulously beyond what is practical
as a barrier, tapering slightly from
| a 5-fOOt or 6-fOOt base and rising
4 or feet high. AS they in
crease in size they grow in number
making the fields smaller and
smaller.
Though there is more and more
stone in these fences, scarcely less
seems to remain in the ever white
flecked soil, which nevertheless
supports grain and vines and fruit
trees. No less astonishing results
of the effort to rid the soil of stone
are the great cubical ricks of them
which rise in the middle of some
fields
And then, suddenly, one has his
| first glimpse of the trulli-strange
cottages with high conical roofs ris-
ing like pointed domes above low
perpendicular side walls.
From the car window it is seen
that they are built of small fiat
slabs or states of field limestone
One later learns that the construc-
ton is invariably "dry"-that is
without mortar or cement to hold
the stones together. This self-sup'
porting, 6ry-constructed conical
roof is one of the wonders of stone
masonry, and it's like is probably
not to be found anywhere else.
1t is small wonder that one comes
upon the trulli with surprise.
Science is dubious about them, and
so keeps a cautious tongue. 1t is
difficult to find even single map
that mentions the region.
Most Economical Houses.
Probably nowhere else in the en-
tire civilized world will one find
more economical houses. The ma
terial costs the builder nothing. He
is not even at the expense of cart
ing, since he finds the stones on the
spot where he builds. The stones
are used in the fiat. irregular form
in which they crop out of the soil,