The Olneyville Times

Smoke Bars Visit Tourist's Contemplated Trip to Vesuvius Is Postponed.

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 obscure the view of the sky.

Neapolitan Peasant.