Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-08-21
Years NAV sometimes be heard 10 de-

ySdts MAY sOUeilfneS De ntdTu tO wv
clare that they are the most industri-
Gus people in the world. Ii Is true
that in traversing the country one sees
them forever in their fields and vine
wards hard at work and seemingly full
of vigor in spite of the enervating cli-
mate. In the city itself there is also q
certain amount of activity TO be seen
everywhere. The life of a great city
conld not move on without it. Shop
keepers are busy Shoemakers are car
rying on their trade in the streets. not
only in the daytime. but far into the
night. Tho lemonade sellers. who
have thier queer apparatus on the
street corners. and who vend glass
of lemonaGe and water for cent. car
~ on brisk trade.
The large class of traders who make
and dispose of ornaments in lava and
coral as souvenirs seek custom with un-
firing assiduity. though fashion no
longer decorates itself with either of
these specialities. As a class they have
keenness bordering dishonesty, for
there can be nothing precious about
lava so near such a source of supply as
Vesuvius, and the coral fisheries furnish
far more of that pretty material than
the world wants. Then their gold is
almost always pinchbeck and their
work bad. A branch of the coral trade
is carried on by class of itinerant
vendors with the steamers that visit
the port No sooner is the steamer
fairly at her anchorage than the deck is
alive with them. aud covered with their
pink wares. spread out in every avaIla
BILE spot. They have a sliding scale of
prices, the minimum of which repays
them amply. There are. besides these
classes, the laborers of the msnufactur-
ing establishments belonging to indi-
viduals or the government But all
this individual activity and industry
fails to remove the slumberous impress
sion made by Naples on the traveller
accustomed to the quicker and more
energetic movements of the chillier
north. A vast proportion of the popu-
lation is still unemployed. still sleep
ing. lounging. and conveying the dolce
far niente idea which seems to be in
separable from southern Italy.
In books of travels written thirty oI
forty years ago one reads much of the
Naples lazzaroni. who subsisted entire
ly on macaroni, which they devoured
in strings several yards in length, anC
fairly incumbered the pavements with
their presence. They are said to hav,
disappeared, and this fact is given a,
an evidence of the industrial progress
of the city. 1t is possible that they
have disappeared, but the number o.
those who can sleep as TRANQUILITY th'
night through on a stone pavement a:
on a spring mattress still astonishes tn,
person who knows the luxury of com
Portable bed.
Nearly all these persons are said t.
have honest employment. at least thos'
who pass the night on the sidewalks o
the principal streets. The summer
nights are warm, and the architecture
of Italian cities, like that of France
forbids all sensible means of ventila
ton. So when night comes the deni
zens of the close quarters in the mar
rover streets swarm out into the NOR
airy thoroughfare, where they ensconc'
themselves on the pavements, on th'
steps of adjacent churches, or in an,
place where they are not in danger o
being trodden on or run over and
breath of sea wind renders respiration
possible. The person who has read o
the lazzaroni in books and is please'
with the tradition can regard all thes
street sleepers as belonging to the clas
if he sees fit They pass their nights q
did the lszzaroni. and as to honest oc
cupation. though they may have it,
is NO doubt often imaginary. Italy
exceedingly indulgent to the poor
They can sleep where they please-ol
the sidewalks. about the fountains, ol
the steps of churches. with their head
resting on the foot of the altar. or il
the middle of the street-so long a
they do not endanger their own live
| and impede the still restricted com
merce of the country. In Milan an
other cities of the north there is les
sleeping in the open air, for the mu
inequalities have other use for tn
public thoroughfares and do not car
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