The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1860-11-08
Ancient City Of Resse.
A cIScISSArI MERCHANT IL TIE HrERxAL
CITY.

A cIScISsArr MERCHANT IL TIE KrEaxA
CITY.
From the Cincinnati Gasstte.
) The annexed letter from . well know
|. Cincinnati merchant t. his brother in thi
city. has been PLACED in our hands. with th
privilege Of making selections. We hav
taken the liberty OF prin ing it entire. at tn
risk Of otfendin.; the author.
RoAE. June =. 1860.
Here We are in Rome: surely a very ap
propriatr name. for annually thousands roam
thousands of miles to roam over the gorge
Gus old ruins from which were taken tn,
most grand aud valuable ornaments tha
now decorate the palaces and churches O
modern Rome doubt il there ever vii
be such colossal constructions erected in
this or anv osh r country AS the old Roman
Forum. the Baths of Titus. the Palaces o'
the Caesars. &c. 30 interesting to the tour
lists visiting this city OF palaces. churcnes
artists, priests, beggars and fleas But as
the productions of my learned friend. Hoop
er will no doubt appear in our papers giving
fnli de'aiI. shall confine myself to . few
random notes
The currency here, like our own. is in
decimsls. For instance. ten baioc ,hi make
one paul. ten ps',l one scudi or Roman dol
lar, and worth with us 81 OS. They have
beautiful gold coins OF one, two an ~, five,
ten and twenty scudi The Government
also issue paper money. in bills OF i've to
one hundred scudi, principally in 6ves, tens
and twen;ies. The notes are about three
times as large as ours, and on coarser pa
per.
The imports from England this year are
very light. causing q small demand for sser-
ling exchange, which runs lower than it has
been since the French war Of 1S49. The
exports are small. There is some coarse
wool exported to the United States aud
England.
The silk culture is rather improving. but
the manufactures are principally confined to
families weaving silk scarfs. neck-ties and
such like gsudv attire.
This valley (callsd the Campagne) is ve-
~ fertile. yielding abundant crops of
grain and hay. rhe grape is cultiva
ted extensively, but the export is not large.
Some Of their wines are very fragrant, and
are t.ken BY the French to give . flavor to
their fine wines
Although Rome has ,dwindled from .
city of seven millions to town Of not much
over S 900 inhabitants. the manners and
customs of the people are the same as they
were III the olden times. They cultivate
the earth in the same manner using the old
same kind grain, fruit and veget ables, and
treat with contempt all kinds of Yankee in
ventions.
Mr.. Chapman. an American artist, who
painted several pictures for the new Senate
Chamber at Washington City, told me he
had imported for friend, who was farm
lug extensively. some white corn. nutmeg.
aud cantelope seed. The farmer raised a
fine crop Of co n, and such sweet, JUICY
MELONS he never ate before. But he could
not sell his crop Of corn. the grain being too
large and Vhite. nor could he sell the corn
bread Here the farmers are bakers. and
dispose of their crop OF grain in the shape
Of bread.
The melons he could not give away: the
only person daring to eat them was beau
tiful young girl who was in bad health from
disease OF the heart. She toasted on the
melons SO long rs they lasted /; but shortly
after the poor girl died suddenly from her
disease; but Of course her death was atsrib-
uIed to the eating oi the melons. and that
was the last crop ever raised.
In grape gathering time the peasants have
a kind Of husk'ng trolic. The viney ards at
the base of The mountains ripen first. A
farmer invites nei shborhood to his gather
ing; they all 60 arrayed in costume. and
crop i'll a day. In the evening they have a
dance. The next day they 80 TO another
vineyard. and so on round uatil the crop in
that circuit is gathered. winding up the gen
eral gathering with grand ball.
Tho old fashinnad w.v of Tram tho
grapes before pressing them is still adhered
to. In bottling wins for the home market.
instead of corks they put about half tea
spoonful Of fine olive oil on top OF the wine.
sufficient to cover it in the neck OF the bot
tie. which has the advantage OF letting the
acid escape. and still keeping the air from
the wine. l have yet 10 see . drunkeu
man in Rome. although some OF the old cit
liens drink large quantities. Mr.. Chapman
told me Of two gentlemen who for . num-
Der o. years past met on Sunday mornings
al a celebrated winehouse in Rome. They
would each order small keg holding four
gallons. pack of ca, ds, aud with crackers
and cheese. would spend the day. never
leaving un-I both casks were empty. The
cost Of the eight gallons is about IS.
We are frasting on the finest apricots
have ever seen. In fact this country
abnund> in all kinds of fruit With the
same attention to grating that is given in
the United States, they would have the en-
est fruit in the world. Mr.. Chapman told
me Of q peach tree which last year bore the
largest aud finest favored peach he had
ever seen; when the fiuit came to perfection
the branches, full Of peaches. were broken
of and sent to The Pope rs . present to his
holiness. One branch with SIX peaches on
il Was thrown out. they being considered
too small to present to his holiness. Mr..
c., being present asked them for his stu
dio. He took them home, and after three
days one Of them weighed i8A or. and
measured 12A inches in circu,nfereuce--
Those sent the Pope. Of course were much
larger.
The finest modern painting have seen
in Rome found at Mr.. Chapman's studio.
1t is The Return from tho Vintage. The
group are portraits. representing 6oe large
DONKEY carving two large baskets OF grapes,