Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-07
SOME CURIOUS CUSTOMS.
SIGN LANGUAGE IN NAPLES.

SIGN LANGUAGE IN NAfLAos
Hsw the Lever orders Csausssesse VITA
Each 0shss-A Coed Thsss 70 Kssw.
fIondon saturday ilevlewl
Naples is the only town known to us
in which, II you are acquainted with
the recognized language Of signs, you
can buy and sell, impart and receive
useful information Of various kinds,
make love, and challenge your enemy
to the death without opening your lips.
why this is so Is difficult question.
Some have supposed that these ges-
lures were once o secret speech,
which the lszzaroni used in order to
shield themselves from the oppression
Of their social superiors, and which
they still employ to inform each other
of the weaknesses Of their foreign pa
irons. This theory may be correct;
but sometimes one is inclined to think
that the motives that prompted the in
vention and gave it currency was less
heroic and more practical. May not
the Neapolitans have adoptedit because
il enabled them to hold two conyersa-
tons at the same time, and thus to in
dulge in double loquacity?
We have spoken of the language as
an invention in this, perhaps, we were
wrong-it may be survival. Some
time during the first half of the present
century learned Neapolitan wrote
book to prove that the gestures OF the
figures depicted on Etruscan vases are
to all intents and purposes the same as
those that are still daily employed in
the streets of his native city. Whether
these strange signs are relic
of ancient lore or only a mod
ern trick, it is certain that no for
eigner, and very few Neapolitans Of
education, have ever gained mastery
over them. A few Of the simplest are
known to every one who has lived
wear or two in the town, and may be
seen even in the drawing-rooms but
how your cabman manages to inform
his friend that you have come from the
railway station, are going to private
lodgings in certain district OF the
city, that you know its customs, and
he considers you rather a screw, is
mystery that none but cabmen ever
know. That he does SO you will soon
perceive if you keep your eyes open
and if, on the contrary, he reports that
it is your first visit to Naples and you
are lavish in cab-fares, the fact will be
announced in every street through
which you pass, and you will find your
travelling expenses rise accordingly.
To the foreigner the cabmen seem the
chief guardian of the Etruscan mys-
terry; but the boatmen are equally
cognizant of it, and probably all the
lazzaroni are initiated. Whether each
trade has language Of its own or all
use the same gestures is question we
cannot even attempt to answer.
There are some simple signs, how
ever, which every one in the city uses,
and if the traveller can learn and use
them naturally he will escape from
many Of the inconvenience of life in
Southern Italy. The man who says
"No," or, still worse, who shakes his
head at those who are importunate
either for his aims or his custom, has
delivered himself over into the hands of
the tormentors. They know by expe-
rience that foreigners may be driven by
loud cries and persistent following TO
such desperation that quiet seems cheap
at almost any price.
Now, all this discomfort may be
avoided in a very simple way. You
have, first of all, to make yourself &C
quainted with the plan of the town, and
to walk out of the station without any
hesitation. If yougo wrong, it does not
much matter; you can soon find your
way again, or if not, you can buy triiie
at some shop, where they will set you
right. When the cabmen scream at you,
as they do at every one, do not look at
them, but raise your chin slightly.
That means NO." and it will general
ly quiet them. If they persist, shrug
your shoulders, pout your lips, and
elevate your chin more suddenly and
distinctly, with side glance at them,
while you continue your walk. That
means Don't trouble me-" If it
should prove Intellectual, which it rarely
does, summon as much ferocity as you
can easily command at short notice
into your face, turn sharply on your
prosecutor, fix your eyes on his,
and draw your right hand, with
the back uppermost, gently but
firmly from your throat to your
chin in such way as to push
out your beard, if you are fortunate
enough to possess one. What this geS-
ture means we cannot say; it is best
not to inquire. To judge from its effect
on the lazzaroni, it is tantamount to
very bad language indeed; SO that he
who employs it innocently may have
all the satisfaction without mourning
any of the guilt Of those noble soldiers
of ours who once fought in Flanders.
But the gestures must be performed
simply, easily, almost mechanically, OF
the cabman will discover that you are
only fraud and act accordingly.
To return to Naples, no inhabitant Of
the town ever thinks Of paying a cab
man his legal fare. Every one feels il
would be unjust to compel him to drive
from one end Of the city to the other
for the eightpence he has right to
claim, and on such occasions every one
gives him something extra. But fol-
short drives the eightpence is too much
On summer afternoons walk through
the streets is almost intolerable. You
have been to see the museum or the
: aquarium, let us say the walk from
either to the neighborhood Of San Carlo
where the great coffee-houses are, is
short but if you 60 on foot, you know
you will be exhausted before ysu reach
your destination. As soon as you ap.
pear on the public way half a dozer
cabmen offer their services. You choose
the cab you like, say "San Carlo
place the first finger Of your left hant
across the second joint Of the first fin