Wichita eagle., 1886-11-25
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IN SUNNY ITALY.
A LAND OF UEADEN-HUEO CLOUDS
AND FIRELESS HOTELS.

Drear and Silent Milan-No Stove or
Fireplace in the Hotel Chamber-A
Clouds the Sunshine.
had an idea in my head although how it
got there, like the fly in the amber, is more
than l can tell that Italy was q elmo where
clouds were unknown and where the sun was
eternally shining. Imagine my surprise last
April, after the usual railway rur from Lu-
cerne through the St Gothard tunnel, on dis
covering what huge mistake had been lab
oring under, for, although found myself III
the plains of Lombardy, | looked in vain Tor
the sun, and as for the clouds-mehercule! L
never beheld such dark leaden-hued, forbid
ding monsters as they seemed to be. The
stupefaction in which | was plunged by this
rude reality of things was further intensified
when l reached Milan.
The CITY was as drear and silent as the Val
lev of the Shadow of Death. Deserted streets
and closed windows-lille-those of Coventry
when Lady Godiva rode over its pavements
met my gaze everywhere. A chilly sensa-
ton crept through every vein and fiber Of
my body, and it was some time before | dis
covered that my garments were literally as
white a. one of the Dover ellis. Flakes OF
snow were actually falling on all sides around
me, and, to my utter amazeInent, sledge,
tenanted by n fur-clad signor, flashed noise
leSsly by Snow in Italy i'll the pleasant
month of April, And sledgc to boot The
thing seemed utterly impossible-a weird,
morbid, fantastic dream, which might proba-
bly, be accounted for by an overstudy Of
Berklcy, but at the fag end of the evening
had, after all, 70 acknowledge that was suf-
fering from no hideous nightmare whatever,
and that what / was witnessing was a living,
palpable reality, which 10 jugglery Of the
senses could afford to ignore.
ALLEGED FIRES.
Sadly and disconsolately | picked my steps
through the snowdrifts and made nay way to
a hotel in the Via Principe UmbertO.
WcrtherS sorrows we.c but the spluttering
ranfaronadcs of petty grief compared to mine
on that occasion; Yet | comfCrted myself
somehow with one consolation - when [
reached NY room | could sit down TO a coy
fire and make myself as much at home as |
used to DO III the inns and chalets Of Switzer-
land. Here again, however, L was miserably
disappointed. There was neither a stove nor
a fireplace in my chamber l asked TO see
the hotel keeper, and requested the use OF
another room where [ could have proper fire
accommodation.
Il have noAuch room on my premises was
the reply, nor are you likely TO find such
room in all Milan! We never keep stoves or
build hear'ths in this country he added, "but
l can provide you with something that may
suit " 4 few minutes afterward one OF the
walters brought in pot Of red charcoal and
deposited it in tho middle of the apartment.
as this the way you keep the cold off i'll
Italy!' | asked.
yes, sr," was the response, "and | know
of no better"
NEVER SAW \ STOVE.
Some time subsequently | happened to meet
with persons who confessed that they never
saw a stove or firegrate in their lives; and
even in princcy and ducal palaces in this city
it is only in this primitive fashion that they
are provided with proper heat.
havc assisted ut two or three tea parties,
exclusively attended by Italians Of middle
class society. The weather was 50 intensely
cold that the company could not dispense
with some means Of warming the apartment
In every case | saw the pot Of Goals placed on
a stool and forming the center Of 4 circle Of
ladies and gentlemen, who gazcd fondly and
admirnrly on the little article, just aS weary
pilgrims would on an oasis il Il bowling will
dernc>s | need hardly tell You that, with
such experiences. felt that Italy had lost
for me much of that glamour with which a
lifetmes pnruSal OF the poets had invested
her: but | soon began to have kind OF sneak
ing belief again in the old theory when ! saw
the snow melt away and the clouds look less
grucsomc, or utterly disappear 10 make room
for the rcsp,cndent sunlight, and those inn
InensitieS of azure blue on which Carlyle has
50 many transrendcutal things to say in his
',Sartor KcSarjuS. Milan Cor. san Fran
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