Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-11-19
ITALIAN HACKMEN.
The Spirit of Niagara Falls Pervadlng
the Eternal City.

A correspondent writes from Rome
If ever a Roman cabman or waiter,
shop-keeper or guide, enters heaven,
then respectfully decline to go there.
twenty-five years ago they were fit
for treason, stratagem and spOils to
degree that amazed my youthful ideas
of honesty. To-day they are the con-
centrated essence of double-distilled
roguery generally dispersed. Talk of
brigands, why Rome is full of them
in the shape of these hotel-keepers,
hackmen, walters, guides and general
business people Talk, also, of Oliver
Twist and his asking for more, why
he was a timid, conscientious youth
beside beggars here The more you
give them the less they thank you,
and the more they demand and impose
upon you And as it is with the beg
gars, so it is with every one Of the
business people. They have all "im-
proved since my first visit here.
Pay a man what he asks you, and he
will visibly indicate how much of a
fool he estimates you at. Pay him
half and keep your temper, and 10 he
regards you as wise man worthy of
his profound esteem. The lower your
pay goes the higher his respect be-
comes. To give him his first price
demanded always upsets his avaricious
equanimity, for he fondly believes if
he asked more "Signor Americana, so
full of money and so foolish" would
have given it. Every one Of these
mems hands are against every other
man, and the marvel is that any stran-
ger ever goes to Rome on account of
the falsehoods, the feas and the pecu-
lation which abound on both sides of
the Corso and the Tiber, below and
above them, in the earth and under
the earth. If anything the feas excel
the fasehoods, but the deception ex-
cells both. "Corpo di Bacco SignOr,
but | can not sell you that painting
under 1000 liar" piously persisted one
of the thousand bric-a-brac dealers
that abound here. All! but l am
not a stranger here" | remark to
him, " But Signor has an accent,
though his Italian is good" says the
cunning rascal.
"And | must pay for my accents
If so, I'll pay myselfW
, A bit of satire, or the least possible
pleasantly minus any apparent anxiety
! to purchase, is like talisman with
these fellows.
And what will his excellenc,
give?"
t The sly rascal puts on the excel
i lency' to smooth the price.
t II will give you 10 Ira, and yol
g must pack the picture besides.
f " Good it is yours, SignOr," h
h eagerly says; and / there and thel
:. wait and see it packed, and take i
n away with me, lest the villain shoull
+ impose on me by some trick. In ras
4 cality, great and small, the moderl
i Improvement is immense. Discoum
$ prices and people in Rome just 900 pc
+ cent, and you'll get your rights afte
S a fashion.
y In the Via di Petra / asked
/. comely youth with books under hi
e arm if he could direct me to tn
e Corso and book seller who had
Latin description of the Catacomb
d for sale, and said to be new book
r which interested me. This lad prompt
t. ly replied; "0h, yes, Signor; | wrot
+ that book myself, and can get you
a copy cheap"
a This youthful liar and avariciou
is scamp hoped to deceive me and max
2 a little commission in procuring thi
" book for my use. "Why, you youn
c dog, how dare you to tell me such
c barefaced lie; the book was writer
2 two centuries agol" He smiled with
+ out blush and ran away. | def
e America to produce another such
~ boy, or such number of boys that ar
here indulging in endless lies and de
2 ception, Their laziness comes mex
It to their lies, and then follows thei
e songs, with the unutterable refrain o
j. "veya Garibaldi L" BY dint of silenc
IS and personal perseverance, found tn
: bookseller and the book.