The Osceola times., 1882-01-28
Alabaster Workers In Pisa.

g A. sala.
The following piece of advice from
Murray, although doubtless well meant,
strikes me as being positively cruel 70
Pisa. "lf the traveller" | read, 'only
wishes to see the cathedral leaning tow
er, etc. Le can leave his luggage at the
station and follow the street running to
the new bridge, Ponte Sclferlno, and
thence straight to the cathedral, If walk
ing. No guide necessary. Distance
about one mile. Cab fare one franc
believe there ore thousands Of tourists
who in the course Of every year follow
this perfectly practical but cold blcoded
and unsymplthciic advice
For my part. would will ngly have
sojourned at least a month in this vener-
able, comey, tran ,uil city but II the
municipality Of Pisdare anxious to induce
strangers to abide within their gates for
longer period than is merely required
for scamper to ana from the -Four
Monuments, ! should strongly advise
them to apply to the Italian Parliament
for special local stotutc empowering
them To put down the rorkeIs a!aDas'
ttrs grant that the nature Of the law
OF which presume 10 suggesf he enact
ment would be exceptional, ard tlat itS
operation would be despotici but IN tn
Interests of The hotel, lodging house anu
rest,urdu keepers and OF the barriers,
haol-,,ev cab divers and washer women
81 D. i would have such a law swiftly
nessed and mercilessly enior'cn' 1;np
III tbe srplptors in siabaS.tn lniu
IT, ! have read in ancient history .ii"s
/ II an,an, the image workers ol Hpuo
,har - au,I,S pS,nened 10 aruyc sstrange crafts
man who cxcelled, in y parucVlH
gree, In The working of silver, the N'Iu'
ancc committee of the guild were accr'e
toned 70 erect before the shop door
the newcomer gallows, TO Whiclh"
attached written intimaiion rcqueSu7
the alien sllversmith to go ana eN'c,
elsewhere This was the antique mell'u
OF rattening," out it is no such barha',
ous exercise Of trade-unionism that l
would advocate.
would suppress the alJblster image
worke Of pisa altogether. Their pro-
duCtions become an intplersb,e nuisance
They put ratabanc in your porrge aud
haltprs in your pew. Even riding at
night in the hotel omnibus from tie
railway station to the Lung Arno be
came uneasily conscious OF passing
number Of little shops of the usual rsb'
, bit-hutch formation, in which were diS-
? .
Of the Leaning Tower, the Duom', tho
Baptistcry, and the Campo Santo; hut 1t
was the next morning, and in the sale ~
manger Of the hotel, that the plague came
down upon you with more than Egyptian
unrelentingness. On a side table, which
should properly have been garnishc |
, with cold "galantine" aromatic GOrgon-
zola "zestyn Stracchino. ruddy tomatoes,
a, al J.. tr,f d fa-. q
the Four Monuments grinBcd upon YOU
in the ghastliest manner. BaptisteTv,
, about the size of and looking remarku-
, bly, like wedding cake in apastry cooks
, shop wind W, price fifty francs; the
, Baptistory, the size of and with the
aspect Of a Melton Mowbray pork pie,
white washed, with n potato cut in half
E the Cup0la price fifteen francs; the Ban
, tistry the size Of n threepenny Savoy
cake, price five francs; the Baptstcry size
, Of the smallest jelly moulds three francs;
, the Baptistery the size of Columbus
egg after it had been made to stand
upright one frame fifty centimes. The
, Duomo spectrallv cleaning with hun
: dreds of little arches and columns, aud
! reminding you of that traditional little
, plaster of Paris structure in the Lowther
I Anade-the chalky faced cabin in the
!. interior of which YOU placed a lighted
, candle SO as TO show off tho stained : Lass
, ui.iio~-o, and winch successfully from
! theenterprising salesman's point of view,
. did duty as Rosslyn Chapel, Garbaldfs
, hermitage at Caprera, William Tells
cottage, and the birthplace Of Jenny
D Linl. As for the Leaning Tower, it
Q maze its simulated appearance in the
guie of postoffice letter pillar sadly
). outof the perpendicular of chimney
q potaiter q heavy gale. of a lamppust
1 aftq an Irish riot, and of dram pipe
4 gore wrong; but always whitewashed,
/, always sepulchral in the whitest alabar
T ter The evaporation produced by tno
. contemplation Of these gewgaws We
, aggravated by the circumstances oil thtt
= bang intermngled with photograph oI
, tie sculpture and FIRE scces IN ihe ,anI
9nto. and Of Geliloe Iahlp, ana Nleolo
Iisgamo's pulpit in the Dnomo. NJ
tss this all. ~ ere was mort aiapds'oi
'os tsster models Of pigeons and puppy
! siab lster cups and dishes, alabas.
sT profes Of Calico and Lcle1z de
fedica and, more dreadful than all, the
iaenatrice-the Bathing Girl, the stat
te of which created 50 great a sensation
"a the Paris Exposition OF 1873 All the
torld knows that example nf the plastic
.rt 10 be an exquisitely beautou5 one,
ht object to thousand aad one more
O, less corrupted, perverted, and vulg.r-
iad reproductions of the figure of bon
ysung woman in an abbreviated com
bnedn ofsome knitted fabric, ,idiotically
smpering as she poises her finger tips
hgh above her silly head, prepares to
take sensation header" in an imagi
n,ry bath.