92

STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA AT NAPLES

Naples under MussoliniIl Duce seen as miracle man

SEE Naples and then die!Well, we saw Naples, saw it daily

for three months, saw it from theinside of it, from the Mergellina, VillaComunale, Via Roma, the Municipio,Corso Umberto Primo, saw it from aboveVirgil's tomb and Posilipo (the hill aboveit), from Sorrento and from Capri, andwe not only did not die, but have livedto be persuaded by the editor of TheSooner Magazine to tell the tale . In factwe are not sure we want to die after see-ing Naples. It was certainly not as badas to make one wish to die, althoughthere were times when we wished heartilyfor the simple pleasures and busy life ofthe prosaic Norman, Oklahoma . Norwere the thrills from seeing Naples soexquisite as to make one feel there wasnothing in life elsewhere to live for. Ithink the latter is the interpretation thatthe natives who still quote the old sayingwish you to make of it ; contrariwise somefacetious Americans .have tried to substi-tute the former way of looking at it, butwe feel that both are wrong.

It was with some trepidation that wejourneyed to Naples, for we had beentold many times that one must not drinkthe water there, one must not eat lettuce,one must not eat too much fruit, onemust beware of fleas and one must holdonto his pocketbook for dear life . Wewere also told that one could not avoidthe beggars, and that when the siroccoblows one would see his own spirit de-parting with its evil breath . The siroccopart is true . That wind is the dry spiritof the African desert, and when it has

By DR. A . RICHARDS

lapped up a good share of the Mediter-ranean sea and then strikes southern Italythere is nothing to do but sit still andlong for it to pass . But the other evilsmentioned did not materialize and manyof the charms which we had also beenled to expect were there to enchant us .To be sure, we found some evils of ourown. During the past spring Napleswas cold . Oh so cold! Of course theytold us the same thing we hear in Okla-homa every year, that this was an un-usual spring . But sunny Italy certainlydid not greet us with smiles and we didlong for our winter wraps . All the houseswe knew were of stone with very highceilings and with floors of cement andmosaic work, by no means a good com-bination for warmth . The pension inwhich we stayed had "central heating"(and how proud they were of it!) but theperiphery where the bed rooms were gotvery little warming. We piled everythingon our beds imaginable and then wentto bed to get warm and got up for thesame reason when the sun rose . Thiswas just one of our pet minor evils andthere were numerous others of its tribe,but we now forget them easily enough .Oklahoma in September usually is suf-ficent to make you forget any cold of thepreceding spring .

HAT really sticks in our memoryis a sort of mystic charm about

Naples and all of its region . It left avague, indefinable memory that is dif-ficult to separate from longing.

Undoubt-edly we would go back again at once ifopportunity should offer.

THE SOONER MAGAZINE

They tell us that Naples of the presentday is very different from that of formeryears, and most of the changes for thebetter are attributed to Mussolini. Mus-solini is the sort of figure about whomtraditions are made and around whomlegends are woven. Of course we reada lot about him, as every American has,and we thought him high-handed, stern,dictatorial, tyrannical, and perhaps un-reasonable . We had heard stories ofpeople who asked the way to his houseand were thrown into prison because ofit . We had heard stories of people whowere summarily removed from the bor-ders of Italy because of fancied disapprovalon the part of the Fascists and we hadheard that the soldiers are everywherelike goblins ready to gobble you up "ifyou don't watch out." But of these ter-rors we saw nothing. It is true, there aremany soldiers, for Italy has two years'compulsory military service and there aremany barracks around Naples . We didn'tobject to them, although one cannot getout of sight of a pair of them anywherein Naples . But an Italian soldier in uni-form is one of God's choicest objects ;no more beautiful male specimens existin all the world.The more we learned of Mussolini and

his doings and of the conditions underwhich he is working and has worked, thehigher our respect for him mounted. Ifeel now that he is to be regarded moreas a miracle man than as a tyrant, moreas a man of astonishingly great visionand of far-reaching insight than as onewhose regime is to be feared . He isindeed Il Duce, the leader . One must in-terpret human institutions and societiesby their effects upon human character andhurnan welfare; one must judge humancustoms and human governments by theiradaptability to serve the people whoselives they touch. With these standardsin mind, I believe that the world willconclude that Mussolini and Fascismhave worked for the greater good andthat they have wrought with the singlepurpose of establishing a great Italiannation. When one studies the materialwhich they had at hand for nation build-ing, when he realizes the chaos of politicalconditions which followed the Great Warin Italy, and then sees the success of theseven-year-old experiment in Fascist gov-ernment, he finds his former unfavorableopinions were only prejudice and hequickly comes to admire the man who hasbeen the guiding spirit of the New Italy.The making of the new Italy has been

no easy task, even for Mussolini. Duringonly half a century has Italy had the formof a nation, for it was in 1861 that Gari-baldi united the small states of the regionand Vittorio Emanuele became "King ofItaly," the first ruler in all history to havethat tide .A national consciousness is slow to

develop anywhere, and this has beennotably true in Italy where it has taken

DECEMBER 1929

long for the common people to awakenfrom the centuries of decline, from theintellectual and governmental efficiency ofantiquity. In some sections and amongcertain classes the march of progress whicharoused the remainder of Europe foundonly placid disinterestedness here . If thematerial for nation building had notbeen indifferent, twenty-eight centuries ofcontact with civilization would not haveseen the country entering the, last stagesof decomposition at the end of the GreatWar.

Mussolini has found it necessary to goall the way back to Roman civilizationfor the symbolism and watchwords of hisnew nation . Upon taking over the con-trol of the government seven years agohe had to undo the works of a disastroussocialism not unlike that of Russia, andto replace worn out political organiza-tion with new forms and machineryadaptable to a new regime . Furthermore,he was forced to combat an inertia akinto nothing else in Europe . The Italiantemperament is placid and contented, notfond of innovations . (Even the eruptionsof Vesuvius do not drive the inhabitantsfrom its slopes . After each new eruptionof the volcano they merely rebuild theirhomes and vineyards as before .) Smallwonder is it that he has seemed harshand dictatorial and his edicts are by nomeans always welcome. For example, hehas ruled against the importation of food-stuffs such as white flour, fruits, etc., for,as one of his slogans has it, "Italy cansupply enough wheat for its own needs."This has been by no means a popularedict . Also we were told that countrydwellers have been forbidden to move tothe city without special permission . Theseand other measures not to the liking ofmany have been deemed necessary for the

A SEA ANEMONE

general cause. Great reforms are notborn without travail .

Fascism has introduced a great manynew ideas and new policies into Italianlife, some of which are of direct impor-tance to the foreigner living in Italy.Mussolini's first months saw a completeoverhauling of the Italian foreign policyand the beginning of a reconstruction ofthe government's financial procedures .The result of this has been that for nearlytwo years Italy has had a stabilizedmoney, the lire now being rated at nine-teen to the dollar. With it has comethe "fixed price" on ordinary commercialtransactions and the foreigner who goesout to buy in the better shops may feelthat the price asked for standard goodsis the correct one. For souvenirs andunusual articles it is still possible to bar-gain to good effect, although the day ofthe fixed price is supposed to have comefor everything .

I doubt not that the first questionwhich occurs to everyone who visitedNaples in the old days had to do withthe cleanliness of the place. I have beentold that the cab horses would slip andstumble and the cabs stall on the filthy,dirty pavements of the city even in thebest streets-and that only a few yearsago. But now Naples has been cleanedup, although there are still places no moresanitary than some of the darker districtsof the large American cities . But thepoor classes have not yet responded whole-heartedly to the new order and. in somestreets, not often seen by tourists, gar-bage and refuse still litter the pavement .It is better now than formerly, but wecould see why in years gone by so manyof the poor were happy to come to NewYork where the East Side slums weremore to be desired than their one-roomhouses on Posilipo had been . But in gen-eral we found no more dirt and unclean-liness now than we would find in manvcities in both the Old and New worldwhich have a much greater reputation forspotlessness . The city water supply, fromthe Serino Springs, is pure and wholesometo drink. Even yet, however, I cannotquite describe the enthusiasm displayedfor the new Naples by a traveler on boardthe boat to Capri . She loved Naples,and she resented any suggestion thateverything there was not perfection . Sheeven declared that she would be willingto eat her dinner anywhere on the pave-ment in Naples, so clean is it now.

T T HEItalian schoolsystemhasun-dergone very complete reorganiza-

tion . The new government has rathercontemptuously discarded the old demo-cratic concept which considers the stateschool an institution for everyone, andnow the state provides schooling onlyfor those who because of their specialmerits deserve it. For the education ofthe remainder, society looks to otheragencies, such as the church, to provide

DOG FISH EGGS

93

what education they may. It was notclear to me how the selection of thosedeserving was made . At all times chil-dren could be seen on the streets goingor coming from school, whether publicor private I do not know . Many did notgo to school at all and the school buildingsare difficult to find . Never conspicuousas in an American city, they are hiddenaway in some court or are approachedonly from some tiny side street . Thepublic schools in the grammar gradesprovide only a few years of education.The secondary schools care for the needsof only a small part of the population andthe universities a disproportionately smal-ler part. And yet the better class of Ital-ians is certainly a well-educated group ofpeople . Because of the state of the publicschools I think the two years of compul-sory military service should be looked up-on not only as preparation for defense ofthe nation but also as an educational de-vice, since in addition to discipline theyteach many things of value to the youthof nineteen, the age at which his servicebegins, in his future relations to society .There are also other organizations by

which Fascism has hoped to develop andtrain the citizenry . These organizationseven extend down to small children whoare grouped together in the NationalOrganization of Balilla, a name derivedfrom a legendary Genoese hero. Gym-nastic exercises and rigid discipline andthe general rules of "well ordered nation-al life" are inculcated in these organi-zations. In the museums, in galleries,and in parks it was no unaccustomedsight on holidays and Sundays to seegroups of black-shirted children with theirleader going about for instruction andpleasure . We were quite impressed by

(Turn to page 106, please)

106

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1439 14th StreetMilwaukee, Wisconsin

Florence Mitschrich, '28, is teachingmusic in the Roosevelt, McKinley andWashington schools of Ponca City . Heraddress is 419 N. Fourth street .

Louise Madeline Olson, '28 arts-sc., isa partner in the Lear Insurance Co. ofGuthrie.

Ruby Grambling, '28 home-ec, is on thedietetics staff of the Presbyterian hospitalin Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . She recentlyvisited in Norman but returned early inOctober for her second year at the Presby-terian hospital .

1929

F. Burton Jordan, '29, is an attorneywith the Tulsa Abstract and Title Co. at520 South Boulder avenue .

Frank Weimer, '29, is employed in theland department of the Barnsdall Refining,

Co. in Tulsa.

James Ludlum, '29, is attending theCollier School of Aeronautics in Tulsa.

Richard Mason, '29, is an electricalengineer with the General Electric Co . in

Lynn, Massachusetts. He is using his

work with this company to apply on a

master's degree from the Boston Institute

of Technology .

His address is 124 Frank-lin street .

Ina Griffith, who has just completedthe requirements for a B. S. in pharmacy,and Ralph Wilson, '29 pharm., are as-sistants in the school of pharmacy andare taking work toward their M. S. de-grees.Wood Rigsby, '29 law, has been ap-

pointed secretary of the state bar com-mission. He is in charge of the officesof the commission in the Commerce Ex-change building, Oklahoma City .

Dorothy Ann Parker, '29 arts-sc., is anassistant in languages at the Oklahoma A.and M. college.

Six members of the class of '29 havefound geology and the Gulf coast fieldof Louisiana to their liking . They are :Floyd M. Avers, Jess Jones, Victor Grage,Tom McGloghlin, Hastings Faulknerand C. W. Wade and are all associatedwith the Gulf Refining Co. of Louisiana.

Lionel V. Murphy, '29 M. A., is teach-ing in the political science department ofthe University of Illinois at Urbana andis working towards a doctor of philosophydegree in political science .

Ella Mae Sigmon, '29, who teacheshome economics at Poteau reports thatthere are four other Sooners teaching inthe high school there. They are MargieBell Yerby, '28 ; Agnes Lloyd, '25; De-borah Long, '29 and C. C. Beaird, sup-erintendent . Dr . William Lunsford, '24

THE SOONER MAGAZINE

medic, and Dr . Lotna Shippey are near-by, practicing in Wister .W. R. Means, '29, is operating as a

geologist in Holdenville .

NAPLES UNDER MUSSOLINI

(Continued from page 93)

this group education. If Mussolini andhis regime are spared long enough forthese children to reach maturity, the foun-dations of the new Italy may be regardedas established .

Among the educated Neopolitans withwhom we spoke, the fear was often ex-

pressed that some disaster might occurbefore Mussolini's successors have beenthoroughly schooled . This was the onlycause for apprehension that we discernedamong the acquaintances made in Naples .It is feared that if an assassin's bulletshould remove Mussolini, as has been atleast four times attempted, revolutionwould result . If he lives, however, to seethe education of a single generation com-

plete, serious calamity can scarcely over-take Italy.The reason for our three months in

Naples was that we might study certainMediterranean forms of animal life whichare not available in America . The Sta-zione Zoologica was founded in 1872-74by Dr . Anton Dohrn and under the pat-ronage of the German government rapid-ly became the foremost institution of itskind in the world and the most profoundinfluence upon zoological science of theclosing century. It became the ambitionof every zoologist of America to spend aseason at Naples . Of course with theWorld War, the old relationships of thestation were broken and for a time sup-port was very doubtful . Dr . ReinhardtDohrn, who succeeded to the directorshipof the laboratory upon the death of hisfather in 1909, was able to guide theinstitution through the difficult times andat length secured enough financial sup-port to maintain it from the Italian gov-ernment, various scientific societies, re-ceipts from occupants of the researchtables, and especially from the daily ad-missions to the great aquarium whichis run in connection with the laboratory .The coming of fascism has had littledirect effect upon the laboratory otherthan to require that all heads of depart-ments should be of Italian citizenship .Life at the station now is quite normaland is a happy one indeed .See Naples and then die? Not now.'!

See Naples and then come again and en-joy its beauties and charms .