Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-07-06
ITALIAN BEGgARs.
Persistent Rsscnls. Who poR the Footsteps
OF the Tourist.

Persistent Rsscals. who Dog the Footsteps
OF the Tourist.
II, by a stroke. OF this pen, could BAN
ish oveiy beggar from Italy, should hes
itate to do so, writes a correspondentfrom
perugia. They may deserve punishment
Bot they are such amusing rascals, Life
here would be duller without them. The |
other day when span OF tired horses
were dragging me up Nesuvlus three men /
sprang out Of the ground IA front OF the
carriage. | do not know how else to ex- !
pain their sudden appearance. They !
were beggars Of the musical variety. one
carried fiddle, the second q mandolin, |
the third gultar. Bowling 20 me they
formed line on my right and msrched az
the mountdn Indian file, playing es they
went. ] was Just then trying TO realize
In imagination the terrible splendor OF the
eruption that had caused the tiow OF lava
fifty feet deep, through which the carriage
road had been cut. These three fellows
with their lively Neapoliian airs disturbed
me greatly But the abSurdity OF the sit
untlon soon overcame my resentment,
laughed heartily and permitted them TO
escort me about mile before Diminishing
them with few Sold. We parted friends,
and they proceeded 10 levy tribute on the
carriage behind me II takes philosophy
to extract amusement out OF these SEEM
ing pests. Buthappy is tue man who can
40 Ii, Tor Southern Italy swarms with
them.
AT Baiae, where we were taking a bad
lunch at q wretched little Inn, four women
entered the room, and without asking our
lesve began 70 dance the tarantella. Taey
were probably the wife of the landlord and
three servants. Their dancing was a fit
ting accompaniment to the lunch they had
provided Tor us. One OF the women
strulnmed a tambourine as big as an old
fashioned kitchen sieve. This supplied
the only music, except that the other three
Kept time with castanets. They made a
horrible din, and being ill-favoreo aud
shabbily dressed were anything but pleas
ant companions, as they flrted ,heir
skirts almost In our faces. But after a
few minutes We found them, with all
their faults, more interesting than the
lunch, and made them present alto
gether too large for their deserts. This
was serious mistake, for they all rushed
off and speedily returned with bouquets
coral jewelry, and antiquities that must
have been at least iorty-eight hours old
All these they wanted US Go buy at exor-
bitant prices Refusal TO do 30 angered
the whole party. This Of course put an
end to the fun. So | settled the tavern
score hastily aud we returned to Naples
But the incident, unsatisfactory as II ter
minated, remains to day the pleasantesI
memory Of visit TO ruins that were not
{ worth seeing.
. On my visit TO the blue grotto at Capr
IL required the utmost obstlnacy TO rtfus,
the demand OF my boatman for tvs
: franc piece He wanted me to throw Il
! into the water aud see him dive and bring
It up from the bottom. IL | had acCeptsc
his offer he would have whisked OF bis
! coat and shirt (lf he had one) and gone
! down sixty feet for the piece and Tecov
, cred IL for himself without fall. But
was anxious to get back To the steamer
' which was waiting for us, and resolutel,
declined TO be amused az that price. Al
Sorrento the hotel guests standing out OF
! the balconies overlooking the sea were
constantly importuned for "pennieSh by
boys IN the boats below. when the money
was thrown down the little fellows wou'C
watch It's course through the air, and tn,
moment 1t struck the water they woui,
y dive into the pellucid depths aud IN
4 fash rcappear with IL, holding II aloft be
s tween thumb aud finger These are but
few out Of the hundred methods la which
/ money is extracted from you under th'
1 pretense OF some service rendered Of
4 amusement supplied. And still | say 4
| pays to humor ali these people to mod
) crate extent. And, furthermore, | woulC
l not refuse very modest coin to the rag
! ged but picturesque creature that stands
at every church door and lies in wait FOL
r me at every bit OF rising ground. He does
/ not pretend TO give any equivalent for tn,
! money received. He is beggar pure anC
r simple. He has been begging for thirty
! forty, or ifty years. In all that time he
( imagines that he has acquired "rights,'
4 and confess | almost feel ashamed o.
myself when drop my Insignificant aims
Z into his dirty hand,