Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Mrs. Ennett Writes of What Saw in Naples and Venice "' Hotel Saveia & Jolanda, Venice, Italy, . Feb. 16, 191 My Dearest Mother: When it comes to cities Italy cam Mr. Heintz with his 57 varie Each seems absolutely unique, and .only thing of its kind on the gi Yet with all past experience. Ve was such a surprise that it fairly 1 my breath, I had read about it, heard about it and sean pictures o: but the real facts had not touched brain cell of comprehension. Just agine a city of nearly two nunc .thousand people, and not a horse carriage, an automobile nor a sti .car, and no dust The silence is bro .only by the sound of human voices . the plash of the oars on the water, all the traffic is either on foot or i boat. Yesday when we got off the trail was the most disconcerting situ?t possible. We set out as usual to fin hotel, which heretofore had been e; .enough with your feet on ''terra firmi but when it comes to water, as the .woman said, "where are you." Nei -er knew any Italian, so I pressed i I poor French into service and asked s< eral by-standers if it were possible reach a hotel by walking. The answ was, "It will be difficult," and diffic it was I can assure you, as we rowed and out of little ailey ways, trying )find a place to rest our weary bodii Both of us were thoroughly disgust and had visions of catching the fn train out leaving behind any su "fool town" with water ways f streets and boats for street cars. Finally we gave up the struggle, a surrendered ourselves to the tend mercies of a wicked looking boatm to be robbed or fleeced, so long as 1 got us to a hotel, but as a matter fact he steered us around in a few mi ?utes to the most beautiful scene th .eyes can picture. There was the grai .canal with marble palaces fronting < its waters, and at St Mark's Squa (which is the center of interest in tl life of Veqice) we were put off, tho oughly enchanted with our surroun ings. We lost no time getting locate at one of the hotels, and now feel lil we never wanted to leave it again. As it is easy to understand now wi Venice is called the "Queen of tl Adriatic." This is a broad, beautifi square, with plenty of room for wall lng and fine buildings on every sid? while hundreds of pigeons circlin around and overhead, gives a pi? turesque old-world touch to the seem which is unique. To the front we hav a wonderful view of blue waters covei -ed with ships, from small sailing crai to battle ships of the nations. Best c all are two American battle ships fille with our own boys, many of whom ar from North and South Carolina, and a we had an opportunity for talking t some of them, we found them nie? .fine fellows. The Olympia, the flag ship of th fleet was here until to-day, and it mad me quite home sick to sit on the qua . and watch her steaming out of the hat bor bound for Trieste. I hear thing are looking rather war-like around tha city, so the little Olympic must sho^ herself :'on the job." After getting settled and ready fo sight seeing, we started"" with St Mark's Cathedral-of course. I though I had already seen all the best io th world, but according to local authori ties, I have seen none worth the nam . till I saw this one. When jit comes t mosaics, I am not sure they are no right It is very gaudy inside, am \ looks quite oriental-in fact I thinl rmuch of the work was done by artisan brought from Constantinople, and man; .of its treasures were captjred fron that city. St Mark himself is burel here, and is the patron saint of tb city. After that we fell into the hands o a member of the Salviati firm, wh< make mosaics and all sorts of beautifu works of art for sale. This poor de luded gentleman saw we were Ameri cans, and as all Americans everywheri are supposed to be lined with gold, hi gave us the whole afternoon, thinking us good prospective buyers. We hat no desire to deceive him and told hie we were tourists, not buyers, but am way he showed us a most beautiful ar ray of works of art for sale, while w< watched the artist at his work. With all these works of art arounc us, nothing interests me so much as th< people themselves. They have won derful manners and are so kindly am gallant that I am at a loss to know how to respond, and whether they wil exp?ct me to stand or get to my knees They can do things which in ' Americi would put them in the lunatic asylum but here seem quite "comme il faut.' For instance, last night I was awak ened by a man singing out in th< street. He had a good voice, but it was at an hour when Caruso himsell would not have been welcomed, so Mr, Ennett yelled to him to "shut up." ] tipped to the window and could see hin: with one hand on his heart and th? other pointing to the window of his lady-love, no doubt. Now the idea oi any man in this twentieth centurj ? having nothing better to do. I find that the most American-Amer ican I have met, is the Italian who has been to the States a few years considers himself one of us. We m them over here every once and a wh and they always come up in a confid tial way and assume we are all felli countrymen over here in a fore land. It would make you laugh to h them abuse Italy, and say how mi better "we Americans" do thin Sometimes I say, "But arn't you Italian yourself?" and they will ind nantly inform you they are America while their English is so broken it difficult to understand what they i saying. " . Still no letters from home, bul hope you are all well. With all my love. GRACE, Hotel Savoia & Jolanda, Naples, Italy, Feb. 17, 1921. My dearest Mother: The whole of Italy is one h Art Gallery, and more can be learn here in a day than from years study at. home, but when all is sai the most attractive feature of o life over here, is the habits and ever day life of the people. It is certain [the land of Ulysses' "Lotus Eaters and the many Americans I meet her are of the same opinion. Let me tell you about St. Mark Square, and its many surrundin beauties.. Napoleon called this squai "the most sumptuous reception ha known", and around it are built tr, most handsome palaces in the cit; All the ground floors are filled wit cafes and fine shops, but the coffe and tea shops are the places whic draw the crowds. They are built o most artistic plains and very elegar inside, while all around on the stree outside are placed tables and seat where those who prefer can hav their tea served in the open air. Th coffee is very strong and always sei ved with about three fourths boiler milk to dilute, while pastries ar passed around on large trays. Ai orchestra plays to the well dressei crowds,who throng there to drink te? and chat, as though there was not an other thing in life half as important Dark-haired, dusky looking womei pass in and out among the table: with huge baskets of flowers foi sale, and, it must be confessed, noth ing could be pleasanter. We spent the morning going ovei the Doge's palace. While it was mosl interesting it was hard for an Amer ican of the twentieth century to takt in these glimpses of life of the mid dle ages. Side by side with their ca pacity for creating beauty, were ex amples of. cruelty too horrible to de scribe. We saw banquet halls, senate chambers and throne rooms that sim ply would have to be seen to believe that such magnificence was ever put to use; yet joined to that same palace is a prison so horrible that you can not realize it also was put to use. As we.crossed the "Bridge of Sights" which connects the Doge's Palace with the prison, I tried to forget the torture chambers of the past, for the sunshine of the present. Later we went through the Arse nal of Venice where we met two de lightful, Americans. One was an offi cer from our battleship "Brooks" stationed here, while the other has charge of the sailor's order of "The Knights of Columbus" in Venice. Both spoke good Italian and inter preted much of the life arot?nd here for us, which heretofore was a seal ed book. They say there are three reasons why Italy does not love A merica: first, President Wilson thwarted their ambition in regard Fiume; second, the depreciation of the value of lire is laid to our door, and; third, Prohibition in America has killed their export trade in wines and the poor devils have little else to export. Italy has no wheat nor coal and the government is buying them at an enormous cost. In fact these be ing absolutely essential to human life, the government buys both and sells them to the people far below cost, thereby losing billions of lire to preserve human life. It looks like these nnations have a hard road to travel as long as the rate of exchange remains so low, and it is going to up set the world if things don't improve. Our sailors over here draw their pay, which when changed to lires.a mounts to a sum as large as the sal ary of an Italian bank president. On the other hand the Italian sailor draws the equivalent of about a quar ter of a cent a day. It looks hard, doesn't it?. There is one thing you will under stand after a trip to Europe as never before, and that is what a powerful institution, in one period of the world's history, the Catholic church has been. Such wealth and grandeur as exist in their churches even today is hard to grasp. Some of them are regular Art Galleries and treasure rooms combined and carefully guard ed from the crowds. Italy's public gardens, with their long flat pergolas covered with grape . vines, their tropical plants, and queer looking shrubbery, are always jects of interests to foreigners, many children are found playir the garden, and priests or moni different orders many of them bare feet slipped in sandals and M ing dark red robes, congregate. The emblem of Venice is a wi lion and everywhere you go, you find it stuck up somewhere.' Ai Mark is the patron saint', this lit connected in some way with his si though here my Bible memories a little vague. His remains are bv here in this Cathedral. Still another day and no letter i home. If I could only hear from I would be satisfied. With lots of to you most of all, GRACE. Hotel Savoia & Jolanda. Venice, Italy. Feb. 20, 1921. My dearest Mother: There is no danger of ever get bored in this land of sunshine flowers. One thing is not finished fore another is ready to be sta]? id if any particularly "big stunt ;o be "pulled off" it is always "p ;d" on Sunday. This morning we waked up v ?very intention of goingto the Cal Irai for services, but when we goi 3t. Mark's Square it was alive vi soldiers everywhere. Two bands' nusic were playing and from ey juilding floated Italy's beauti "lag of red, white, and green, wit ?ross in the center. It seemed that today the soldi vere scheduled to take their oaths illegiance td king and country, s ?very division of the anny was rep tented. First came the infantry, next 1 trtilleryand laast the navy. The o? >ers were conspicuous, with their g miforms much decorated with ri ong" graceful capes over their sho lers, and a hat set. off with large I )lume. The band played and t xoops marched in review. Next i general in command (I took him >e) made a speech of which I ? lot understand a word, and then f owed the oath of allegiance. It w ill so martial, and of course attrs ;ive, but the pity of it is, that t jrim side of war has to exist. "V vatched it all until the last soldi lad marched away, and then we ;o St. Mark with the other spectatoi As usual it had no seats but w ;hronged with worshippers, most, vhom were on their knees befo lome shrine or altar. We stood wi he crowd-listening to a sermon- d ivered in Italian and, though I cou lot understand its meaning, I fe iwed and silenced by the beauty < ;he scene and the spirit bf the dev ions. You might infer from the militai ipectacle on the streets during tl norning hours, that these people hi jut a limited religeous sense.but risit to the churches would chang ;hat idea, for if anything there is tc nuch rather than not enough. T? Latin mind works differently fro: ;he Anglo-Saxon and we simply c lot look at life from the same angl Their churches are open all day lon ?very day in the week, so you ca ittend a service any hour of the da; just so you attend. Besides they ai riven a good deal of latitude in th idea that "the Sabbath was made fe man, and not man for the Sabbath' and proceed to live accordingly. After lunch we took a long wal and saw some of the. ugly sides c Venice, for believe me it has its ugl sides even if in other respects it: i the lovelist city of Europe. We strol ed down narrow little allies (I sui pose you would call them that where the sunshine rarely penetrate far and the sight and smells left b' the receding tide, would give yo nightmare in the broad daylighl You could see the bottoms of all th canals which was simply covere with filth of every description an rats too big to look real, were crawl ing along the walls. It seemed a pit; to waste so fine a day on such sights so we went back and spent the aftei noon on St. Mark's Square. There was a temporary band stam put up for the day, so we had a con cert all the afternoon given by i military band of seventy-five instru ments. We got seats in front of on? of the coffee shops and pastries am coffee served as an excuse for usinj them until the concert ended. Crowd of people of every nationality and al dressed for the occasion, were pro monading back and forth. There ar? always plenty of soldiers and priests Another conspicuous feature of tin landscape are the nurses of wealth: families dressed in pictursque cos turnes, and carrying precious look ing babies on snow white pillows You see there are no wheels of anj kind allowed in Venice, hence n< baby carriages are allowed. When it began to grow cold an< late, we came in to write letters, ant ? met all the naval officrs from the U jS. battle ship "Gilmer". They wen - playing pool and . getting drinks, and when we came in, they proposed a toast to "Josephus Daniels of N. C." This was done to please us, for we made no effort to concealthe fact that we both admire a9" ' approve of our secretary of the Navy, but we all know that his attitude toward whiskey, has killed him with the boys over here. I did not tell you how much we en joyed the opera at "La Fenice". It was jus: comic opera and a very light one at that (The Giesha) but the theater was perfectly splendid. It has about a hundred and fifty boxes, all decorated in good taste, and a large fine orchestra. The voices were every thing one could desire, but the cos tumes were not so good as New York theaters provide-but just think of going foreight cents apiece. "Aida" was given last night and it was possible to get to see this for two cents, but the best seats range as high as forty cents, though that is the limit. You would think from this that we would go every night, but you cee it is too much on us phys ically. These plays are long drawn out affairs, with intermission be tween each act, during which re freshments are served, so it keeps you out until one o'clock. It is pos sible to keep going night and day, so we don't try it very often. We leave tomorror." . for Milan which will be our last Italian city, but the prospects after Venice are not very alluring. Here during all this past monthi it has been so mild and pleasant that it is hard to believe it is still winter. Milan is right in the mountains so there can be no hopes of finding another Venetian climate. Tell Wallace I have been to the "Rialto" often, and thought of our "Merchant of Venice" days, but the oonly really familiar picture are the "Shylocks, which like the poor we have with us always". We know they fleece us every day, but in sight of their poverty, you find much to excuse. No bread, no fuel and in fact but I little of anything except fruit and vegetables, and, while these items may be very good to fill in with, they are a mighty poor diet for a main ?dependence. These soldiers who were sworn to day will draw one cent a day as their pay, think of it, though the government does not give them their clothes and food : hence many prefer to be assured of that much, and stay on in the service. I think the price of cotton and genc-r.l depression has a far deeper cause than what President Harding might do about the Federal Reserve Bank. It is the rate of exchange, and until their morney has a greater value in every land, they simply can not buy our raw materials. * With much love, GRACE. Flat Rock News Items. (Written for Last Week.) We regret to report that Mr. Charlie Parkman is partly paralysed, but the physician makes an encoura ging report of his case. We hope he will soon be all right again. Miss Mildred Bussey visited Miss Sadie Dow Sunday. Mrs. J. P. Holland returned to Greenwood Friday, being accompan ied by Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Agner and Mr. Wiley Agner. Mr. and Mrs. McKie Bailey have been visiting Mrs. Bailey's father, Mr. Elbert Dorn. Mr. and Mrs. James Hamilton and little Ruth spent the week-end with Mr. J. E. Hamilton. The children of the community en joyed an Easter egg hunt at Flat Rock school. Mr. Mat Doolittle was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Agner Sunday. Mr. Bob Agner of Augusta spent the week-end with his brother Mr. Sam Agner. . Mrs. Fannie Bell Coby and two children were guests of Mrs. Ed die Agner Saturday. Mrs. Carrie Doolittle visited Mrs. Eustice Thurmond Sunday. Miss Mamie Bussey and Her little daughter visited Mr. and Mrs. John. Griffis in the Cleora section. Notice to Stockholders. There will be a meeting of the stockholders of the Johnston Devel opment Co., at the Bank of Western Carolina, Johnston, S. C., at Five o'clock p. m., April 21,. 1921. The object of this meeting will be to pe tition the Sectary of State for a Dissolution ol charter of the said corpdration. H. G. EIDSON, President. G. G. WATERS, Secretary. March 28, 1921. FOR SALE: One hundred bushels long staple cotton seed for planting at 75 cents per bushel. A. A. CHEATHAM. ?-30-3t. THREE PRESIDENTS" " ASK AID FOR CHINA Harding, Wilson and Taft Appeal to Americans to Help Stricken Millions of Sister Republic. The President and two ex-Presidents of the United States have joined, for the first time In the history of the country, In an appeal for a philan thropic enterprise. President Harding, ex-President Wilson and ex-President Taft are all In the forefront of the movement to send aid from America to the famine victims of China. One of President Harding's first offi cial acts after his inauguration, taken j When he had been in the White House less than two weeks, was to renew the appeal made by his predecessor In be half of America's sister republic In the East. President Harding said In part : "At this, the earliest practicable mo ment In my administration, I desire to add my own to the many appeals which have been Issued heretofore iir behalf of the starving people of a large section of China. . . * "The picture of China's distress ls so tragic that I ara moved, therefore, to renew the appeal heretofore made and fro express the hope that the Amer ican people will continue to contribute to this humanitarian cause as gener ously as they possibly can." In appointing the American commit tee for China Famine Fund, with his own Immediate predecessor in the White House, ex-President Taft, as one of the members, and Thomas W. Lamont of New York, as. chairman, President Wilson said in his procla mation : "Not only In the name of humanity, but In that of the friendliness which we feel for a great people In distress, I venture to ask that our citizens shall, even though the task of giving Is not today a light one, respond as they can to this distant but appealing cry for help? LIFE SAVING STAMPS HELP FAMINE VICTIMS Each "Mercy" Sticker Purchased for Three Cents Provides Food for One Day for a Chinese? Sales of "Life Saving Stamps" by the American Committee for China Famine Fund for the benefit of China famine victims have reached a total of thousands of dollars at the end' of the first month, and already the money ls actually saving lives In China. Or ders during the first month aggregated more than 10,000,000 stamps, which will mean-at the rate of 3 cents for each stamp-$300,000 for the Chinese when the complete returns have been made. The stamps are Intended to se cure a multitude of small contribu tions from persons who will not have an opportunity to contribute In other ways. The campaign for China ls the greatest single philanthropic effort now before the American people. Every state In the Union Is now co operating In the life saving stamp sales, and special committees are at work In more than 2,000 cities through out the country. The circulation of the stamps Is being effected by sales organizations composed of officers of the Woman's Foreign Missionary So cieties, assisted by commercial organi zations, schools, churches, Boy and Girl Scout Camps, T. M. and T. W. Christian Associations, fraternal lodges, hotel associations, boards of education pnd other volunteers Inter ested In the movement to extend a helping hand to a sister republic lu dis tress. House to house canvassing for the sale of the stamps-which are intended to be placed oh the backs of letters and packages-has proved the most effec tive method In the smaller communi ties. In the big cities the stamps have been sold to business houses, which are using them on their outgoing mall and packages. A nominal quota of ten stamps for every adult has been set by the committee, but in many centers this already has been passed. If un able to obtain stamps through a local committee write China Famine Fund Committee, Bible House, New York. BUY CHINA LIFE SAVING STAMPS LIFE SAVING STA IM P If each person buys ten stamps at a cost of 30 cents, this community will go over its stamp quota. Stamps can be secured from the loca! China Famine Fund Committee or directly from China Famine Fund, Bible House. New York City. FAMINE FUND WORK AT HALF-WAY MAI Thomas W. Lamont, Chairman, Tells of Relief Administered and Task to Be Completed.. The American Committee for China Famine Fund, according to a state? ment Issued by Thomas W. Lamont, chairman, has reached the second stage of its mission of mercy of send' lng funds from America to feed tn? millions of starving famine victims Ia the far eastern republic. At the low est estimate, the statement says, jost as much more is needed to carry "the last 5,000,000" through to the Juna harvest as has already been sent Mr. Lamont points out that quick response by. America to appeals made by Pr?sident Harding and his prede cessor, President Wilson, has resulted In such prompt distribution of relief that the threatened magnitude of the famine has been checked to a marked extent A continuation of the efforts; so far made, lt ls declared, will place, the famine relief for China among* America's most effective philanthro pies. The Waiting Millions There remain, however, the state ment shows, a "last 5,000,000" to be saved, and these people can be saved only by continuous and voluminous re lief resulting from American subscrip tions. ; * The statement, in part, follows : "Quick response to the appeal of t'he? American Committee for China Fam ine Fund gives us at the half-way point In our work the cheering assur ance that the subscriptions from gen erous America already have served a great humanitarian purpose, Inasmuch as relief already administered has held the famine in bounds and made lt pos sible for America to save a multitude of human beings. "Whereas early estimates made it seem that millions must perish, we now are advised that instead of the 15,000,000 who, It was originally fear ed, were doomed to death from hunger, relief at present in sight from all sources, American, Chinese and for eign, is sufficient to provide scanty ra tions until the June harvest for all ex cept 5,000,000 people. These Mast 5,000,000' are destitute, according to our latest reports .from the American Advisory Committee in Peking and ara dependent for existence upon new* help coming from outside sources, and this means America. Frem Air the People "It Is the earnest hope of the Corni mlttee that the number o'f contribu tions made as well as the aggregate; will be such as to ? make our humanita rian gift, in a real'sense, a gift of the; American people as a whole. ' "One way to make Individual effort and generosity contribute toward sav ing China's starving population ls for every one . responsive to China's need, In effect, to 'pick a pal In China for a day.' The thought behind this special appeal' In connec tion with the latter part of our effort wlll.be for American men, women and' children to choose, figuratively, a Chi nese famine victim as a friend for a day and to send what they spend, one day on ' themselves or an American friend to the China Famine Fund ei ther through local committees, banks or churches or direct to Vernon Mun roe, treasurer, Bible House, New York City. , "No American is so poor that he cann oi: save a life at the lowest rate ever quoted, one dollar a month. Life's quotations fluctuate, sometimes In one nation, sometimes In another, but the lower the quotation the greater the opportunity of humanity, the opportu nity of human beings to save human life. China Is far away-0,000 miles but hunger Is hunger, whether around the corner or beyond the Pacific "We appeal' to America to make ef fective the work already done. In checking the China famine disaster br saving until harvest' those already" saved from' death." "CHINA WEEK" IS SUPREME EFFORT OF FUND WORKERS As a practical and popular demon stration of the sympathy of the nation for a sister republic, a "China Famine Week,"- to be observed throughout the United States, has been set for the eight days from Sunday, May 1, to Sunday, May 8, inclusive. In this week it is hoped that the churches and civic, ?commercial and professional bodies will take an active part. The success of this week will determine largely the amount of re lief which can be sent through per sonal sacrifice to 5,000,000 starving people still dependent on outside aid. SEND What You SPEND ONE DAY To China 5,000,000 Chinese Famine Victime Still Need American Help Before June. $1 will save one life one month. PICK A PAL IN CHINA FOR A DAY To hasten the work of relief, this newspaper will forward contribu tions to the local Treasurer, or to the National Treasurer, China Farcins Fund, Bible House, New York City.