Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-07-30

other woman. I give him warning herr.
| and now that. it will afford me infinit,5
pleasure to give him : sound thrash
ing. 8 8 4. 81 s=iz 81. ..s !. ]
| And that was the last Of the grea
scandal ut Pine Falls. Chicago Maj.
TN III I'd = f&j ~
ITALIAN BEGGARs. 3.
Persistent Rascals, who Dog ths
! E Footsteps OF the Tourist. 3D.
Il, by stroke of this pen, I could
Danish every beggar from Italy, J
should hesitate to do SO, writes a cor.
respondent from Perugia. They may
deserve punishment. But they are
such amusing rascals. The other day
when span Of tired horses were drag.
ging me up Vesuvius three men sprans
out Of the ground in front Of the CARR.
age. ! do not know how else to ex.
plain their. sudden appearance. They
were beggars of the musical variety
One carried a fiddle, the second man.
doln. the third guitar. Bowling to
me, they formed line on my right and
marched up the mountain Indian file,
playing as they went: I was Just then
trying to realize in imagination the
terrible splendor of the eruption that
caused the flow of lava fifty feet deep,
through which the carriage road had
been cut. These three fellows with
their lively Neapolitan airs disturbed
me greatly, But the absurdity Of the
situation soon overca1ae my resent
ment. laughed heartily and permit
ted them to escort me about a mile be-
fore Diminishing them with few soldi.
We parted friends, and they proceeded
to levy tribute on the carriage behind
me. 1t takes philosophy to extract
amusement out of these seeming pests.
But happy is the man who can do it,
for southern Italy swarms with them.
At Baiae, where we were taking a
bad lunch at wretched little inn, four
women entered the room, and without
asking our leave began to dance the
taranteiia. They were probably the
wife of the landlord and three servants.
Their dancing was a fitting accompani-
ment to the lunch they had provided
for us. One of the women strummed
tambourine as big as an old-fash;oned
kitchen sieve. This supplied the only
music, except that the other kept time
with castanets. They made horrible
din, and being ill-favored and shabbily
dressed were anything but pleasant
companions, as they flirted their 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 altogether
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 forty-eight hours old,
All these they wanted us to buy at ex-
orbitant prices. Refusal to do so anger
ed the whole party. This Of course put
an end to the fun. So I settled the
tavern score hastily and we returned to
Naples. But the incident, unsatisfac-
torily as it terminated, remains to- day
the pleasantest memory of a visit tc
ruins that were not worth seeing.
On my visit to the blue grotto at
Capri it required the utmost obstinacy
to refuse the demand of my boatman
for franc piece. He wanted me to
throw it into the water and see him dive
and bring it up from the bottom. If ]
had accepted his offer he would have
whisked off his coat and shirt (if he had
one) and gone down sixty feet for the
| piece and recovered it for himself with.
out fail. But was anxious to get bacl
to the steamer which was waiting fol-
us, and resolutely declined to be amused
| at that price. At Sorrento the hote:
guests standing out on the balconies,
overlooking the sea we're constantly
importuned for pennies by boys in
the boats below. When the money was
thrown down the little fellows would
watch it's course through the air, and
the moment it struck the water they
would dive into the pellucid depths and
in flash reappear with it, holding il
aloft between thumb and finger. These
are but a few of the hundred methods
in which money is extracted from you
under the pretense of some service
rendered or amusement supplied. And
still l say it pays to humor all these
people to = moderate extent. And,
furthermore, would not refuse a very
modest coin to the ragged but pict-
uresque creature that stands at every
church door aud lays in wait for me al
every bit of rising ground. He does not
pretend to give any equivalent for the
money received. He is a beggar, pure
and simple. He has been begging fol-
thirty. forty. or fifty years. In all that
time he imagines that he has acquired
rights" and I confess Ialmost feel
ashamed of myself when drop my in.
significant aims into his dirty hand.
-. He Sot---Ex-Cathedra-
Two of the school committeeman OF
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