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Show ART AND BUSINESS IN ITALY. Art and commercial advertising have done for Italy what Milton did for the Bible wholly distorted it! Tho methods of tourist agencies have set such an example of success In Europe Eu-rope that -now every village has its "Improvement association" boldly announcing an-nouncing Hb business of attracting visitors, distributing Its booklets by tens of thousands at tho railway inquiry in-quiry offices and hotels, luring the slghtsoor Into out-of-the-way places to look at shrines of so lato a date as to dispel the halo wo havo placed around our Italy. Wo aro victims of those canned phrases, "Italian skies," "glorious "glor-ious maze of battlements," ad nauseam, nause-am, and exhibitions of the remnants of saints in glass cases, here an arm, there a leg, and in one caso the last poultice applied to a saint, scaled in a glass Jar since tho twelfth century. The church has been In tho show business for a good many years. Absurdities Ab-surdities pile up the further south one goes. Switzerland cortalnly made good, and wo expected all the delights of "al froico" life In .Italy, but except ex-cept for the North Italian lakes, which may bo circled lu a day. thoro is nothing noth-ing In tho whole of Italy to compensate compen-sate -for the loss of trees, groen flolds and wholesome food. Certainly Italy has a monopoly in saints and campo snntos; but having, .seen on Basilica, one groat gallery llko the Ufflzl and Petti of Florence, and ono campo sau-to sau-to like Pisa, or Gonoa why waste tlmo among dry bones. Without Italy It-aly tho tourist agencies would havo to go out of business. Wo are bamboozled bam-boozled by words Helen Rhodes-Wallace Rhodes-Wallace In Nautilus. |