Evening star., 1949-10-20
Ear|y-korning Snack
OF Raw Octopus Meat
IsFayorite in Bari
By John P. Leacacos
North American kswspopsr Aliiores

North American Newspaper Alliones
BARI, Oct. 2. Few Americans
visiting Italy ever get down this
far to the out-of-the-way corner
Of southeast Italy where several
million Italians look to this BOOM
ing city Of 100000 as their natural
capital.
Thousands OF United States Air
Force veterans probably recall
Bari better. So do thousands more
who themselves or their fathers
same from here or from the tiny
villages which crowd the Apulian
countryside.
But what will make Bari men,
orable at least to this correspond
ent Is a Bari breakfast custom.
The Barese eat raw octopus for
an early morning snack. OF course,
1t Is tenderized or well beaten first.
They also eat raw anchovies. The
delicacies have a real salt-sea taste
and besides provide phosphorus
for the brain. That is what the
Barese say. ~
Not that the Bari brains need
touching up. Barese are noted as
among the shrewdest traders of
the Mediterranean. Only the
Greeks appear as rivals. How the
Barese and the Greeks joyfully
come to grips may be illustrated
by q story.
Barese Enjoy Life.
The Greeks send over a shipload
OF wine to be mixed with the
stronger Puglie wines. The outer
TASKS seem to hold the real product
all right. The inner ones are full
Of . fine mixture of water and wine
vinegar. The Barese say nothing.
But their next shipment Of fruit
to Greece is beautiful at first sight.
Inside most of it is rotten. This
goes on all the time.
Like the rest of the world, Bari
1 waiting for freer trade and an
easement Of international ten
stons. They hope to recapture
their role as chief trading center
Of Italy with the Middle East, the
Balkans and Russia. Soviet rep
resentatives recently showed up
ut the Bari for the first time and
promised such trade, but did not
add when 1t would start.
In the meantime the Barese
enjoy life. Called the North
erners OF the South" in Italy, they
play as fercely as they scheme
for an extra lira. The city has
one Of the most beautiful sea
promenades In Europe. The new
section of the city has streets on
the American block system. with
tnterpsersed parks, and bustling,
modern stores. The opera house
Is the second largest in Italy.
Dancing for Diversion.
Favorite diversions are singing,
folk dancing and fireworks. Even
outlying villages blow as much as
$4,000 on one nights display. This
area, in fact. is one of the few in
Italy where original lyrics. music
and costumes dating from the
17th century and earlier. are part
Of the ordinary recreation of the
citizenry.
The music is surprisingly mod
ern to a visitors ear. One famous
melody, "The Tarantella With al
Sigh" sounds like the latest radio
torch song. A classic dance is the
'Koopi-Koopi." It is very muchI
like the "hootchy-kootchy. Other
songs seem to have come right out
Of Tin Pan Alley, yet are original
museum pieces. Such songs in-I
clude When She Washes Her
Face In the Morning" and Pinch
Me, Pinch Me, Sweet"
A peculiar aspect of Bari life is
its politics. Being off the main
stream, political currents hit here
after their crest has passed over
the rest of the peninsula. Bari
City is Christian Democrat except
for its old quarter, which Is as
Red as Red can be. /
Noted Red From Area.
And probably with some reason
If one saw how the 10000 persons
there crowd together in a squalor
Of sinking alleys. houses with no
windows or electric light, no toilets
or running water. =
Nearby is the Red Town or
Cariggnola, whose most famous
son Is Giuseppe di Vittorio, the
Communist leader of the most
powerful Italian labor group. Old
sters relate that Communism was
brought first into Italy by rich
nobleman of this Puglie area. a
Marchese Califero, in 1870. They
add that he died broke.
Yet, say these same oldsters,
give a Red here piece of land or
. vested interest in some COM
merce and he becomes at once a
die-hard reactionary. This is said
to account for the fact Bari is a.
stronghold of the Fascist-tinged
italian Social Movement.
Smooth golf balls do not drive
rs far as dimpled or mesh-surface
balls. The explanation is that the
rough surface enable spin to lift
the ball more.