The daily gazette., 1881-06-27
LETTER FROM ROME

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LETTER FROM ROME
Correspondence Of the Gazette.
RoME, June 11th, 1881.
| We made an early start from Flor
ence SO that we might enter Rome by
daylight. At the station the tickets
were vised by two offic ais who looked
as wise as asses, and who placed us in
the line via Pisa and Leghorn. We
congratulated ourselves or our early
rising, and as we passed through the
fertile valley Of the Aino while the sun
warmed up the orchards offlgs, lemons
and cherries, and painted the flowers
with fresh hues, we felt more than re-
warded for our sacrifice of ease. Mile
after mile of the charming scenery was
passed, and we were looking out for
Pisa, where we wish.1 to stop and
climb the Leaning Tower. We were
getting away from the valley and into
hills and tunnels. We began to fear
We were on road that would not take
us to Rome, notwithstanding the old
saying that 'tall roads lead to Rome, !"
and when we saw q snowy peak in the
distance our suspicious quickened in.
to certainly. We were fifty miles
from Florence in the wrong direction
and almost sn the heart Of the Appe-
ninssl
1t cost us more than the day to get
back to Piea. Some time we may re-
late eur adventures that followed from
being lost in the Apprentices. But
ha Nc NON oulu tha t,v, a r., ~ o,t,o,, ~.
journey to Leghorn and down the
Mediterranean coast for near two hun
dred miles to Rome.
Our diversion took us through
Lucca, and near the famous baths,
and through section that is called
the garden of Italy. It did not i'm
press US as being more fruitful than
some other favored localities in Italy
and France, though the ground was
level, rich and well cultivated all the
way to Rome. The farms, at first
small, were devoted chiefly to fruits of
the country and to wheat and Indian
corn. From Pisa to Leghorn, and
many miles farther, the only divisions
to mark the boundaries of the farms
were rows Of grape vines. Fences are
not used as farm or q ID enclosures on
the Continent, and you may travel
hundreds of miles without seeing any
thiog to mark the divisions Of the
farms.
As we proceed southwark the farms
increase in size, and the cultivated
fields of wheat and corn and the mea-
dows of grass are suggestive of our
northwestern prairie farms.
The Mediterranean wheat is grown
almost exclusively and 1t 10 not unusu-
al to see fields of more than two hun
dred acres. The farmers are busy har-
vesting their hay, and their wheat Is
Just ripening.
We were greatly interested In their
rade Implements for farming. Their
plews are primitive and they use wood
On forks and wooden hand-rakes made
Of saplings. Their scythes are about
two feet In length and four inches wide
and clumsily fastened to straight sticks, |
while their carts are the rudest boxes
set on low wheels.
carts marching In procession to the
stack-yard from the bayfield,, each |
drawn by pair of white oxen. The |
oxen are OF good size, graceful and
well-matched and apparently docile. |
All the cattle Of the country are white,
and the herds we saw In the pastures
attended by the shepherds and their
dogs, seemed to make white spots here
and there on the broad, d,green landscape.
Yes, We are IN the 'seternal city"
whers we have been for q few days
past, and are 90 charmed with the won
derful sights around about US that we
almost begradgo the time necessary tor
eating and sleeplng. Ne have taken
up our residence In one Of the old pal
aces, where palaces are 80 much more
plentiful than elsewhere, and we daily
tread our "marbie halls" and climb our 1
"windlng marble stairs" and feed upon
the "Roman dainties" at q cost less
than fair board bill In the city of
Wilmington. The Parliament houae is
on the opposite side OF the atreet, and
granite shaft, sixty feet In height brought
from the Nile, ssoldest of all things In
Rome," stands before our windows.
Long before Romulus and Remus
were nurtured by the volt In the viii
derness where Rome now stands, this
pyramid with Its history, was an old
thing in Egypt.
Yet we have this day stood upon the
porch Of the Pantheon from which
Saint Paul haranaued tho Roman null L
titude, and saw the steps trod by Our
Savior when He was led up to the house
Of Plate.
Egyptian monuments abound In
Rome. They are placed IN most OF the
public squares, and TraJan's column,
which served as model for the bronze
column In PART, stands near ourspalace.'j
We are puzzled as to which of the in
teresting objects around us to mention,
when we have not tiLae or space to speak
Of more than very few. It ls like q
review OF ancient history In its living
for here are the fields, the
streets, the houses and the graves in
which The greatest characters Of history
lived, suffered, iabored and
were buried. Their monuments on ev-
Dry hand proclaim the genius, wealth
and power Of the greatest nations on
earth, and disprove the generally ac-
cepted theory that the world 10 daily
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