Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1883-10-31

The following lettsr from Mr.. Walter
8. Vaughan, will interest his friends 10
this city,
FLoRKKcE. Oct. -, 1888.
/. have at last commenced what have
been intending to do for some time, and
would have written to you sooner, but
we have been travelling most of the time
lately, making only brief stops at the
different places.
We spent about two weeks in Switzer-
land. going from Constance to Geneva,
and stopping at oil the important places
At the latter city we stayed about three
days, making some pleasant excunions
on the lake and in the neighborhood,
after which We came by diligence down
to the Italian lakes,
We had great deal of rainy weather,
and in the mountains it was very cold,
10 we we're glad enough to leave Switser-
land and get into sunny Italy. The
scenery on Lake Maggiore and the Lake
of Como. which arc completely sur
rounded by lofty snow-covered mous-
tains, Ia very grand. The shores se
studded with little towns and villas, -
thick that they can be counted by the
dozen. The aspect of the houses, and
indeed everything is thoroughly Italian
in character. Milan is clean place. and
there are many nice looking people. but
the city does not amount to as much as
one would be led to expect. The cathe-
dral il magnificent, and far more beauti
full than anything We have seen. It is
built entirely of white marble, and is
one mass of statues, turrets, and orna-
ments of every kind.
| From the spire the view Ia said to be
the finest to.be had from any church tower
in the world. Beyond the plain of Lom-
hardy. which extends for many miles,
are the snow covered Alps to the north,
and the Apennines to the south. There
in no high spire, like most of the cathe-
drals, which gives 1t . rather fiat appear
ance, but on entering it's immensity lie
surprising. The ceiling, which 10 paint
ed, looks very much like carving, snd l
would not have know the difference if
my attention had not been called to 1t.
i
panile or bell tower, about three hun
dred feet high, which we ssceoded just
before sunset, and had q splendid view
of the city, the seq and the adjoining
islands.
There are great many email streets
(some of them being very narrow, in
/ addition to the canals, 30 that one can
walk all over the city. The gondolas
are very much like cabs, and charge
about the same price The gondoliers
only use one oar, and are very dextrous
| with it. They stand in the stern of the
boat, and when going very fast, turn a
corner within an inch of grazing it, and
can stop almost instantly.
There are some splendid private
palaces One which wo visited was fur
nisbed in magnificent style. We paid
Ducal pafScs:' tds Of stbe o Gh1 s;as .ne
made the t sgrs Ss ihS with rows The
shops and frequented by low peop.-Door
From Venice to Florence it IL ride
Of eight hours, through pretty but I'M
interesting country. The railway &C
other Countries, but better, think, than
| those of France They are much in
ferior to our system.
/
beautiful city in the world" but
think it is unworthy of this high opinion
Most of the streets are narrow. but they
are clean and excellently paved with
fisgstones, making them very smooth.
| The city is situated on the Arno, q very
dirty stream, and at the foot of the APP
ennines. . Splendid situation. 1t is like
Milan--a modern clty-and where the
walls used TO be there are now broad
boulevards. extending around the city.
There are . great many foreign residents
here, chiefly English and Americans,
but it il q mystery why the latter prefer
living over here, for there is certainly
no place equal to America. There is an
immense number of art galleries and
churches, but we visited only the most
important ones.
We stayed three days in Venice, and
had plenty of time to see all the impor-
tant places Of interest, which were less
numerous than we expected. We were
somewhat disappointed in Venice; most
of the buildings have q very decsyed ap-
pearance. It contains the hardest looking
D 5pulstion ever saw, and some parts of it
abound in obnoxious odors. Outside of
the churches there Is but little of interest.
The Piszzi of st. Mark is the center of
attraction, and surrounded by historic
old buildings. On one side Is the csthe-
dral of ST. Mark, which is built in the
Byzantine style, and looks very much
like q mosque. 1t has a wonderful
amount of decoration, both externally
and internally, but I don't think there 10
anything grand or beautiful abous 1t.
The ceiling. sides and floor are covered
with mossics, and ornamented with vari-
GUS kinds of marble. In some places the
floor is very uneven, the foundation hav-
ing settled.
The Gallery of Victor Emmanuel il .
beautiful glass covered arcade, with
shops on each side, and it looks very
brilliant ct night, when its 2 900 gas jets
are tighted. Il is always full of peoes
TRANS
One of the many fine ornaments of the
city IN Q large triumphal arch buiIt BY
Napoleon to commemorate the compile
ton of the Simplon road. We also went
to SEQ the Brers collection of pictures,
bnt Il did not amount to much. 1t il .