Show all 10 aviv L fishermen on lake garda prepared by the national geographic society wash agton D C ELAN ILAN chief city of the lorn lom barbian piedmont region of northern italy announces plans for a metropolitan un der ground railway system which when completed will have a total length lenth of SO 50 miles the announcement follows another telling of the completion of italy s largest railroad station in mi ali lan ian a huge structure which compares favorably with the great terminals of the world italy s first subway system stem and the to biggest railway station are but in le i stones marking the progress of this modern wideawake wide awake city which had the first public library in and was the first city on the continent to light its streets with electricity r viewing the rich and interesting interest ng his tory of this metropolis of the upper po valley its outstanding leadership among italian cities its through centuries and its varied ac the observer may be inclined to give serious consideration to the boast of the milanese that what M lan ian thinks today italy will think tomorrow milan in the matter of a new sul way Is hurrying its plans because kome rome also is planning a subway tern tem but rome must hesitate ant discuss underneath the streets and buildings of modern rome are foun nations of ancient imperial koman roman monuments and parts of the cata combs milan allian faces no such obstacles teles and will radiate five lines from the center of the city as conditions require all five of the lines two of which will reach points 2 20 10 miles away will have stations within a few yards of each other in the piazzo plazzo del duom A population of more than 3 people will be bened by this new system up to date in every respect lombardy and piedmont comprise the plains of the upper reaches of the great po valley the alpine foothills and the southern and eastern slopes of a large part of the alps them themselves seles milan on a fertile plain near the southern termini of some of the most important of the alpine passes was a town of considerable importance even in the dim historic days of 13 C when rhen it was captured by the romans it was then as it is today a close second city in point of tion in italy 40 leader in many respects milan early earned a poi position tion of leadership among surrounding cities a it leadership however which did not go unchallenged the city has been destroyed many times once by a league of neighboring towns and at other times by alien conquerors aft er each destruction it hag ha sprung up en on a seemingly firmer foundation ti t achieve greater popularity and a more far reaching influence apart from any reputation 31 lan ian may have gained as an index to in ft unrest it Is a leader among italian cities in other respects in deed the milanese insist that their city their ca morale Is the very heart and head of italy s modern life and activity first in ind industry i first in municipal progress first in political importance alven at the beginning of the elev anth century milan was of some imbor tance industrially its hand craft work era ers turning out textiles arms and jew dry elry the innumerable wars to which italian cities and provinces were sub ejected slowed up its industrial devel even after the introduction of the factory system but since the fi flea catlon tion of italy in 1870 and the rel active political calm that has followed the growth of the city s industries has been MaT marvelous textiles locomotives and electrical apparatus are the lead ducts and a long list of metal pictures Ric tures could be added ply industrial plants of milan have ta burst the confines of the old city and many are to be found in nu berous populous suburbs that have sprung up especially since 1895 the population of M allan lan itself now num bers hers close to a million its population Is exceeded only slightly if at all by that of naples and Is considerably in excess of that of rome water power development interesting Is the fact that all in dus bustnes tries in this section of italy are not dependent on the importation of coal Pled montese and Lomb ardlan industry has been turning more and more during recent years to the use of electric power generated from the great falls and rapids of the many streams that tumbling down from the height heights of the alps almost at the walls if of the cities may be made to take the place of the expensive fuel for which italy Is dependent on foreign coun tries milan Is today a half way house for people rushing up and down the earth from the mediterranean to the alps from venice to como it is so very well known so deiy crowded so busy so bustling one feels there Is nothing more to be told of her perhaps because sl ale e seems so ent liely modern because she bears so few traces of her earlier years because while her s ster cities point so proudly to etrus can to greek to early remains she invites the visitor to contemplate her Gal lerla vittorio emanuele one feels she does not appreciate her past it is not so she has been literally trampled tran pled into the dust so often shi would have nothing but scars to show but for the invincible courage which made her instantly build on her ruins the foundations of yet greater things glan galeazzo Gal eizzo who made the oer ger tosa poss ble d d much for milan to him we owe the cathedral one of the largest in the world what joy must have hane been his to see these wonderful structures growing to know that from his care they came milan cannot hold anyone long who remembers that lake como is but two short hours away with open air pic pie lures tures far loi lovelier elier than any that ml all lans rich museums hold the little town of the same name at the south ern end of the lake Is quaint enough it has a charming cathedral it looks straight up to the snow peaks but it Is not a place to linger choose rather some quieter place farther up the lake Caden nabia nabla menag benaggio menaggio Men aggio io bellagio beauties of the lakes when people speak of the italian lakes takes it is usually como and its neigh bors hors that are meant como which is all italian lugano which is large ly swiss and magg ore which Is large ly italian but there are others very tiny perhaps but also lovely orta varese and to the east iseo idro above all beautiful lake garda whose upper end was austrian so many poets have sung their charms for awen ty centuries so many artists depicted depleted their beauties what remains for un gifted lovers to say so much of bis his tory is sleep sleeping in their shining wa so many world known names con necked with their shores what could one summer bring to all their mem orles dries which Is the loveliest who knows undoubtedly lake como Is the most popular and does any visitor fall to row across its blue satiny surfaces to the marble steps of the villa car lotta to see the frieze and canova s cupid and psyche one does not need eyes to know which Is the favorite the oh s and ah as s the sighs and silences tell it but then love is immortal while war Is transi ent lugano Is quite a different lake from como although so near but a single rocky ridge an outlying spur of the great alpine chain between it Is wonderfully picturesque with its steep wooded sides and quaint towns pink and yellow and mauve mauie staged upward from the lake like galleries at a theater if there are fewer lux urious villas fewer over rich gardens there is more of romantic naturalness on como one senses luxuriously a civilization two thousand years old on lugano one feels ageless nature s itched ditched loveliness if largely swiss politically in appearance lugano Is wholly italian the half halt wild italian which recalls the ancient freedom lov ing celt not that which reminds us of polished rome lake maggiore Mag glore Is almost as well known as much traveled as copo its individuality Is just as strong as that of the other two to see one Is by no means to see all one must travel up and down it by boat in the morn ing light and in the sunset glow one must make male excursions along its shores and to the islands which float so picturesquely on its surfaces one must climb the rocky hillsides about it and get new and surprising views of its size and splendor one must see it in storm as well as sun shine see the white snow to north ward sharply defined against the blue sky look in vain for peaks that are hidden in swirling masses of mist and an cloud |