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Show MT. ETNASISLAND FT CT 7"" W rnr 1 tit T7rr t;t "tt PTT FTTfrrj-'" Tiff , ;.r Sicilian Boys Pressing the Essence From Lemon Rinds. (Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington. D. C.) WNU Service, SICILY goes back to work as the summit of lit. Etna, famous landmark of the Mediterranean Island, resumes Its peaceful, eternal eter-nal steaming. Recent rumbllng3 and explosions within the mountain have preceded devastating lava flows in the past. The present "threat" recalls the eruption of the huge volcano In 1928 when a lava stream, flowing like a 2,500-foot ribbon from one of Its craters, cra-ters, flooded the eastern slope, one of the island's most fertile regions. Orchards, vineyards and forests were destroyed ; also the villages and towns that thrived on their products. More than a quarter million people live on the slopes of Mount Etna. The eastern slope is the most thickly populated pop-ulated with one town almost adjoining adjoin-ing another. Almost every foot of ground not used for dwellings is cultivated, cul-tivated, yielding abundant crops. Etna has terrorized this district many times before. Whether the traveler trav-eler goes by train or automobile down the east coast of Sicily, he passes flow after flow of lava. Some of them are centuries old ; others more recently deposited de-posited from some of the two hundred craters that pepper the side of the cone-shaped mountain. The town of Acireale perches on a 300-foot cliff formed of seven distinct layers of lava. Within the Christian era, Mount Etna has boiled over its crater rims more than a hundred times. It has wiped out cities, towns and villages and spelled doom to thousands of homes. Almost daily Mount Etna rumbles, and its summit constantly emits steam, but It takes more than these "suggestions" of action even to arouse the Sicilian's curiosity. The homes of their ancestors are sandwiched sand-wiched between two of the lava flows, and many of the present generation, like those of Mascall and Nunziata, chief sufferers of the last decade, have watched their homes sink beneath a new molten bed. Catania, Birthplace of Bellini. Catania, lying at the foot of the mountain, has been destroyed and rebuilt re-built many times. Catanians know Mount Etna so well that the famous volcano has to spit fire and boil over Its rim before they seek shelter. To the Catanian who loves his modern mod-ern city, Etna has been a benefactor. To the traveler in search of antiquities It has been a despoiler, for ancient Catania of Greek, Roman, Saracen and Norman days is burled, save for a Greek theater, a Roman amphitheater, amphithea-ter, some baths and a few unimportant monuments. Catania Is more Interested In Its wide thoroughfares, public squares and parks, and in honoring her illustrious illus-trious sons than In digging up ancient relics of a restless past. Bellini the composer was born there in 1802, and Catanians are not allowed to forget it. A statue of the composer adorns villa Bellini, one of the city's finest parks where on summer evenings one can sit and listen to Italian melodies played by a fine Sicilian band. The vine-clad slopes and the white head of Mount Etna form a magnificent background. Another statue of the composer adorns the Piazza Stesicoro through which runs the Via Etnae, Catania's main street from the southern part of the city to the foot of the great mountain. moun-tain. A third statue stands among those of kings and great Italian and Sicilian patriots In the cathedral. There Is also a Bellini theater, once the finest In Italy, and the Catania guides point with pride to the tablet which marks the house In which the composer was born. The cathedral, and a lava elephant atop a tall marble base at its front door, are two of the most popular monuments monu-ments of early Catania. The elephant's origin Is unknown but the cathedral is credited to the prosperous reign of the Norman King Roger. Built In 1901, it was badly damaged by successive earthquakes and eruptions of Mount Etna, but each time It has been restored re-stored and used. Agatha, the Patron Saint. More honored than even the kings' monuments In the cathedral is that of St. Agatha, Catania's patron saint. The head of her statue Is said to contain con-tain the head of the saint who In defense de-fense of her virtue was tortured by a Roman praetor in the Third century. Among her relics is a veil which Is said to have miraculously diverted a lava stream that menaced Catania in 16G9. Once a year, in February, Catania turns out en masse to honor her. The statue, mounted on two long poles, Is borne through the streets from church to church by white-robed men. The route of the procession is jammed to suffocation, old balconies groan under the weight of humanity and every roof has its quota of spectators. At night there are torchlight processions which brilliantly light up the city, and in nearly every window a candle or two throws feeble beams. The yelling and whistling and confusion of the day continue, augmented by the booming of colorful fireworks, the toll of church bells and the occasional roar of a cannon. can-non. The St. Agatha celebration is only once a year. Before and after, Catania Ca-tania is busy with Its commerce and industry. The harbor is filled with commercial craft whose flags add a colorful touch to the view from the Flora della Marina, a narrow but beautiful beau-tiful parkway near the water's edge. Catania is not only the second largest larg-est city in Sicily but one of the island's is-land's chief gates of export through which some 600,000 tons of merchandise merchan-dise pass annually. Sulphur, fruit and wine have made fortunes for Catanians, Catan-ians, and these and other Industries keep many of the city's 271,000 inhabitants in-habitants employed. Attractive to Travelers. Interest In Mount Etna's moods Is not entirely confined to the volcano's immediate neighborhood. All Sicily feels the death-dealing blows of lava flows as much as all America feels the lash of a hurricane sweeping Florida. Normally, however, Sicily is an island is-land garden spot which nature has endowed with a warm sunny climate and all the charm that might go with It. Its wild mountain scenery, ancient history, and picturesque inhabitants make It a mecca of European winter tourists. Travel In the interior was formerly considered unsafe because of brigandage. Such conditions, however, have long since been eliminated. Now the visitor Is safe, and In addition to native Inns, comfortable pensions are conducted by French, German and English landlords of many years' residence resi-dence in the country. Provincial towns of Sicily are famous fa-mous for their situation, high up on pleturesque hillsides or on rocky promontories pro-montories jutting Into the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Many of these towns are built on Greek foundations and contain ruins of Roman, Saracen, and Norman origin. A few Greek temples tem-ples and theaters are practically Intact. In-tact. Natives Are a Cheerful Lot. Racial types among the peasantry vary from classic Greek and swarthy Arab to blond Norman and haughty Spanish. In spite of his mixed ancestry, an-cestry, however, the Sicilian of today is distinctly a Latin product In matters of disposition, culture and religion. Travelers unite In. testifying to his cheerfulness, quickness of perception, and hospitality. Stable government and education are said to be doing much to stamp out superstition and secret vengeance and terrorism. This movement for better conditions Is exemplified ex-emplified by wholesale prosecutions against outlaw gangs now taking place at the old Roman bathing resort of Termini Imerese. In Roman times the Island of Sicily was called the granary of Italy, and, while no longer specializing in wheat It Is one of Europe's mainstays in the production of citrus fruits. Only California Cali-fornia rivals Sicily as a grower of lemons. A part of the lemon crop Is marketed In the form of citrate of lime and lemon extract For thousands of years this football at the toe of Italy has been the melting melt-ing pot of many races. Its early inhabitants, in-habitants, the Slkels, who gave the island Its name, were conquered by Greeks, whose great cities such as Syracuse Sy-racuse dominated the land for five hundred years. Next came the rising power of Rome, during whose heyday Sicily was given over to the plunder of successive governors. Roman oppression op-pression grew so cruel that gangs of plantation slaves twice rose in revolution. revo-lution. Succeeding centuries saw Saracen Sar-acen conquests, Norman kingdoms, and Bourbon misrule. Finally, freed by Garibaldi, Sicily became a part of the kingdom of Italy. During the last half century industrial indus-trial conditions and political relations have not always been to the liking of the Sicilians, so that the island has been called the "Ireland of the South." Many thousand sons of the racial melting pot emigrated to America, some districts being stripped bare of men of working age. One town whose present population is 25,000, has sent 15,000 emigrants to the new country. |