Evening star., 1943-12-02


O I pnomes and Thomas r. Henry.
elves and dwarfs where one-half ex-
poets at any moment to see a witch
rise and float away on her broom
stick over autumn -tinged wood
lands of chestnut and groves Of
coned pines melancholy in Novem-
Der.
Nearly two months ago, 1t had its
brief taste of battle as 9th Army
troops passed through, meeting lit
tie resistance on the way northward,
and now only blown bridges and
rare bombed or shelled houses bear
witness of the presence Of war In
the seemingly enchanted land.
Here is Halloween country. The
impression Is due in large part to
the curious architecture Of consider
able areas where fertile valleys OF
vineyards and olive groves are
sprinkled with tiny, white stone
peasants cottages, in the shape of
blockhouses, each surmounted with
three or four beehive shaped domes
Of brown stone with various cabal-
istic signs painted on them in white
to protect them against witchcraft.
Sometimes these are plain white
crosses. Sometimes they are spoked
wheels, ancient symbols Of the sun
god. Sometimes they are swastikas
but swastikas long ante-dating
Hitler and inherited by the Gala
brian peasants from ancestors who
were displaying the same signs gen.
erations before Rome was founded.
Fine white villas have copied the
same design.
Costumes CoIorful.
The impression is due in part also
to the peasant costumes, especially
those of the women and girls now
busy with the olive harvest while
their husbands are engaged in fall
ploughing in spring-green fields.
Each wears a vivid scarlet under
skirt, with the black overskirt
pinned up to her waist. Helping
the women gather the black olives,
fallen with the first frosts, are the
little boys with red pants made from
their mothers wornout dresses 1t
Is, compared with Sicily, a rich, we'll
watered land. One finds it difficult
to associate such a fairytale coun-
try, where everyone appears out
wardly prosperous, with the horrors
Of the goth century war which have
passed over its 18th century setting.
But in the towns, it is different.
There, with winter coming on, is
plenty Of evidence Of extreme pov-
erty and shortages of the essentials,
chiefly bread. Wheat has been hard
to pull loose from the bins of the
farmers. But, as was not the case
in Sicily, there is apparently an
abundance Of fresh eggs, goat milk,
and meat Of one sort or another.
The steaks we had for supper at
smau-town hotel last night were not,
the proprietor admitted, beef"
Neither, he said, were they horse
meat or mule meat, and they GER
tainly were not goat or sheep meat.
But they were steaks. There is an
almost total lack of leather. Few
have had a new pair of shoes in
four years. Most of the populace
have not had cigarettes of any kind
for months and this has caused
discomfort difficult to imagine in
any country where they are plenti-
full. American cigarettes especially
but even italian ones-are worth
just about their weight in gold and
will buy anything. Money, on the
other hand, has little purchasing
power. Calabria shares this phe-
nomenon with Sicily, Sardinia and
Corsica.
Claims Held Doubtful.
Calabria, where the government
of the new Italy is being set up,
claims always to have been a CEN
ter Of resistance to Fascism. Such
claims must always be taken with
a grain Of salt, but the fact remains
that none of the black-painted Fas-