Smoke Bars
Visit…Writer Tells of the Difficulties Encountered in “Doing” Naples and Its
Surrounding Attractions and Points of Interest
Naples—The difficulty of “doing” Naples and its surrounding
attractions and points of interest within a positively limited time was
demonstrated, writes a correspondent, when with a trip to the crater of
Vesuvius in mind, I surveyed the cone from my window balcony. Thick clouds
enveloped the truncated cone, and there was no sign of a change of wind to
clear away the mist and smoke sufficiently to permit a view of the boiling
depths. So, inasmuch as there were other things that must be done to prepare
for the morrow’s sailing for home, I regretfully postponed my visit to the
volcano until some other time in the uncertain future. Perhaps the bronze pledges
given at Rome will prove effective in insuring a return, and then Vesuvius
surely will be seen.
But fortune was not altogether unfavorable, for by a good
chance during the day I met, at the office of the American consul, Mr. Jay
White, two scientists from Washington, who have come over for the purpose of
studying the volcanic activities in Italy. Prof. Arthur L. Day of the Carnegie
institution and Prof. Henry Stephens Washington of the geophysical laboratory.
They will spend several months here and in Sicily, observing conditions and
endeavoring to obtain specimens of the gases emitted from Vesuvius, Etna, and
Stromboli, in their research into the nature of the forces which cause
eruptions. It is to be hoped that they will have the good fortune to gain
information to aid in the evolution of a substantial working hypothesis
explanatory of the most baffling phenomenon now confronting natural science.
Later in the day Vesuvius cleared off finely, a tantalizing
trick that made the postponement of the trip to the top hard to endure
philosophically. But it is quite well assured that the big chimney will
continue to smoke for a long time to come, and perhaps when I come again it
will be performing more spectacularly than at present. As I write, in the
evening’s rosy glow that makes the bay of Naples indescribably beautiful, it is
smoking away grandly, rolling its white steam high aloft before the wind
carries it in a streamer off to the southeast.
I have been devoting part of this last full day in Italy to
a study of street conditions in this lively, noisy Naples. It is a continuous
torment of temptations. Every corner presents an inviting prospect of
interesting scenes, but it is hard to know whether to turn or go straight
ahead. One street is much like another, in general aspect, save that some are
practicable for vehicles and others are not. The latter ascend the precipitous
hillsides in series of stone steps, which swarm with humanity. At the end of
one of these “gradoni,” or steep streets, where it meets a thoroughfare, will
often be a group of flower stalls, giving a vivid dash of color to the scene.
Far above stretches the steep stone staircase, with the buildings so close
together that the clothing hung out of windows on sticks and on wires drying,
almost obscures the view of the sky.
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