The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-12-25
HOUSEKEEPING IN ROME.
How Americans 1.-Two at Cheap Rate.

Anne Brewster writes from Rome to the
Philadelphia Bulletin:
The luxurious Americans, with their heavy.
| cumbersome machinery of housekeeping. have
| no idea of the true philosophy of that sort of
| business as 1t Is understood by the Southern
| European. 1t Is all useless for our dear country
| people to come to Rome and sigh after the
seventeen kinds Of hot bread, the delicious
| oysters and terrapinS, the whiSkey that never
hurt anybody" and declare that there is no,
place like an American home; then return,
the men to their downtown luncheon, the
women to endless spiritual scufles with Brid-
get or Gretchen, Patrick or FritZ-to enormous
bills for food they never eat, to all The endless
perauistes of the old machine, which, like the
old time family coach, ought to be broken in
bits-and expect us, "who have been there"
| and gone through with the whole heart-break-
| ing business, to agree with them.
Let me give you a short sketch of life in
| Rome, and you will not wonder that those Of
our dear countrywomeH who have seen and
enjoyed it to perfection, pine for the flesh
pots Of Egypt" In the first place, we rent an
apartment. They are of various sizes and
prices, to suit all tastes and purposes. The
| rooms are, with few exceptions, on one floor.
| An apartment for an ordinary family consists
| of O salon or drawing-room, paror, dining
room, three or more bedrooms, kitchen and
| one or TWO servants rooms, and sometimes
| billiard-rOOm and ballroom There are few
rented apartments in Rome where large dan
ces are allowed, for the buildings are old and
insecure. dancing-hall is only safe on the
piano nab,le, which, in most palaces, is re-
served for the use of the proprietor. Only
carpet dances can be enjoyed, and even those.
are risky. l was at matinee last spring In the
Palazzo Odescalchi. when the ballroom was
| thrown open, anda dance for the young people
started. There were but two or three quad
| rifles on the floor, anu yet l saw the door,
hangings and curtains of the adjoining salon
sway to and fro quite alarmingy.
There are similar apartments to accommodate
one, two or three persons. These are usually,
suites of rooms which are rented unfurnished
of proprietOrs, bytpeTs0ns with small capital
sometimes working people, wives Of petty
tradesmen. They invest their little gains in
furniture, divide their apartments of, and un-
derlet them. Service is supplied, and some
| times meals. Many who rent these small apart
ments of these persons have their meals sent
in from trdttOrid, or eating-hOuse. If you
| have a comfortable purse, and can order your
meals from NaZZari's or Spillmann's-those de-
| lightful Roman restaurants-you may find Tdt-
toria fare palatable. But my advice Is to Sc
cure an apartment where the prddona-as
your landlady Is called-will serve you with
your three meals; that is, if you are only one
| or two, have moderate means, and come to
Rome to study and see everything. Your
landlady will render you daily account, and
you will be amused with the precision OF the
items.
"Filetto, eight Soldi slice"-that is, breast
of turkey, which Is sold in that way uncooked,
and you can have Us many slices as your appe-
tile requires. "Fegetini, fen soldi'-a deli
cious dish, made of the livers and hearts Of
chickens, with rice and curry sauce. OSO, ten
cents, which is the bone and meat for the daily
soup. Pdne-bread-fly cents loaf. Butter,
from three to ten cents pat, just enough to
last the day. Cream, from two TO ten cents
as much as you want and so on-every vege-'
table, meat, fruit &C., mentioned with its
price Thus you can daily order your next
DAYS meals according to your taste and purse.
If a visitor comes in suddenly to whom you
wish to be hospitable, you can send 10 Mines.
EaZzari's or Splllmann's, for one or two fine
dishes, and your table will be sumptuous.
Then there are plenty of delicious little potted
delicacies, pate de toie, anchoyy paste, &c,
which are extremely nice to have on hand tor
emergencies, or for your own occasional dain-
tiness when the natural depravity Of your
stomach makes you quarrel with your padro--
J mas paradisaical providings. BY managing in
| this way, four or five francs day, (equal to
eighty cents or one dollar in god,) will give
you an excellent table-three meals for one
person while one good trdttOrld dinner alone-
from Nazzari's or Spillmann's, costs six francs
! for one person then comes in added the ex-
pense of breakfast and luncheon.
The great charm of this Roman mode OF lfe-
when managed in the Roman fashion, is thar
, you can regulate daily. to penny, your eA-
pcnses and when you dine out, or when your
| duties outdoors make 1t more convenient Tor
J YOU to dine at restaurant, your expenses are
t not going on at home. Even If you have q
[ kitchen and servants, their table Is not yours
You pay them certain wages, and then allow
< them daily so much money for their own food,
! which they spend as they please. You have
| II 10 In
p fine roast, or any nice dish set aside for your
4 own future USE The servants here are so eX-
perienced in their science of culinary economy,
: also. that they seem to know to slice how
g many potatoes to cook for one person, and SO
Il on with every article of food.
J. True, wealthy Americans come to Rome and
d bring with them home habits. The surveil-
It lance of house accounts has hanging around II
y wrctched memories of home wrestllngs and
II rriefs, so the miStresses omit this very neces.
c sary duty. They order more food than is need
e ed. or can be used at their own table, and
II think. according to the law and gospel, theil
S own kitchen gods and goddesses taught them
n with bitter suffering, that it is a contemplate
;; parsimony to have the cold meats kept for fur
e ther use ut their own meals, and send them al
!; into the kitchen. The italian servants, unac
d customed to this "barbaric generosity" be
:, come speedily demoralized, and system o.
8 thieyng begins which is endless.
t But those OF us who have small means anG
> little leisure, live differently we copy the ma
tiyes. adding the while few liberallties o
It American life, and the comfort and peace o
o mind that results is delightful. Everything
Y about housekeeping in Rome can be under you
c own eye, and is arranged to give you the
y smallest amount of trouble. Wood, for exam
!, pie, you purchase by the charehe, or load
k which is little over half cord, and order 1t
Y strange to say, at your grocer's To be sure
II the Romans of comfortable means get theiI
c fuel in another way. from their own lands OF
c from farmers, but the stranger will do better
|, to 90 to Madame Fichelli's, on the Piazza d
: Spagna, or some we'll known shop of the kind
| The wood is sent, nicely dried, cut small, vi
d TO your apartment door. and stored away
e sometimes in clothes presses or in the recesses
c of an ante-chamber. and hidden very oflen by
,f a beautiful curtain or piece Of rich old tapes
!. try for economy of space is also another
u branch of this great virtue tor women ant
+: vice for men, as old John Adams used to dc
:. fine economy Poor man! What would thu
It rood old '76 square-toes say ii he could come
!. 10 life in these days of wOmenS rights to al
L mems vices and "more too." Verify, Z" Nou
or0nS change tout celia ~
i They have carried the art Of extortion a