Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-03-31
Dailg gress a,sd 1akptaiaa
IN SUNNY ITALY.
cRAWFoRD's NOTES or A TRIP
AcRoss THE CONTINENT.

Before leaving England / had been
given the most e~xtrayagant descriptions
of the beautiful spring to be found in
sunny Italy. / have now been away
from London % week and nave found no
place where the climate was as mild and
even as in the city of London itself. The
further south / have one the more snow
and cold have l found. When j reached
the border of sunny Italy, where my im-
agination had pictured an atmosphere of
tropical warmth, | was confronted with o
tremendous NOW storm, which blocked
the trains, made me miss my connections,
and / lost twenty-four hours en- route.
Tho trains from Paris south are run
with great rapidity. The Paris-Lyons
and Mediterranean express really merits
the name of being a rapid train. 1t makes
no stops for eating, and on the line of the
route taken by me, via Modane, there was
nothing offered during this long journey
at any of the, stations by any hawkers, in
spite of the fact that the train was
crowded from end to end with people
nearly as famished> AS wolves, who would
have been ready to pay almost any price
for something to eat. The hideous dis
comfort of night travel on the Conti-
mental trains is something beyond descrip-
ton. 1t needs to be actually experienced
in order to be fully realized. If | had not
been warned by q friend of some of the
possibilities in taking a trip south at this
time of year, should undoubtedly have
suffered much more than / did. But fol-
lowing his instructions l had made nearly
the same preparations that I would If I
had been going to join an Arctic expedi-
ton. / had a thick wooden rug, a cardi-
gan jacket over my waistcoat, and over
4. Y n E Hon WV a fYor1iuh Scy Is. pno - ,,,,,nt,
heavier coat than l have ever found neces-
ssry to wear in any climate in the United
States. With all of this bundling up /
have just managed to keep warm in my
visit to sunny Italy up to the present
TIME, when the weather has shown some
sign Of moderating.
1t was not until the Alpine country was
reached that / really saw snow. Every
thing before that was a mere play in CONS
parison. In the neighborhood of the
Mont Gents tunnel the n fell in great
| white feathery masses, piling up in the
most fantastic way. In some places the
snow was at least thirty or forty feet deep
on the heights. The trees were shrouded
as If lin blankets. The mountain chalets
were covered with enough weight to
almost break in the roofs. Yet it was
considerably warmer in the mountains in
OilO piCl1GlQOuS pl16 III I'll
than in Paris, as the air was much dryer.
The track had been cleared that morning,
but the train proceeded very slowly
through the mountains, although it ran
with great rapidity through the famous
Mont Gents tunnel. / have heard this
tunnel designated as one of perfect horror,
SO far as the discomforts of passing
through it are concerned. Imaginative
travellers have described it as a place
| where passengers run almost the risk of
suffocation. The train passed through
this tunnel in ~thirty-five minutes. AT no
time was there the slightest discomfort in
| breathing. The air was much better than
OF the underground railroad in the city in
London. The only disagreeable feature
connected with the passage was this in
tense cold, which came into the loosely
built cars, giving one the gensation for
the time of being confined in an ice
chest. The little foot warmers filed
with hot water which were put into the
carriage from time to time made but little
impression in contending with The cold,
which constantly sifted in through the
loose joints of the cars.
i The Italian government controls the
railroads of this country. Slower and
more .m~addening trains it would be hard
to find in any country in the world. I
took a local train from Turin to Milan in
order to make a connection for Venice,
md 1 was over five hours going o dis
tance of sixty miles. The train always
started OF with great reluctance and
began stopping as soon as the station was
remotely visible, slowing down so grad
ually in order not to jar the nerves of this
never hurrying people that you could
hardly tell when the train came to a stop.
L Tha ,.,act t,.ritotir, tr /, NJ ~ Ii t{,n vol ,,,,,
the long wait at each station. The guards
would visit with the officials at the va
rious stations and walk up and down and
gossip until they felt inclined to start the
train once more on its headlong career to-
ward another station about half annie
away. j do not think that the train ever
made q run of more thantwo miles with
ont n stop.
The starting of a train in Italy is a very
interesting sight to u stranger. The
guards wear military uniforms. Their
caps are round with q low visor. Red
! hands ~encirole these caps. Their great
coats are black, with cowl like capes
hanging down their backs. These coats
are ornanented with brass buttons.
When The train stops the guards rush up
and down calling out in the most sonor-
and musical of voices the name. of the
/ pttiLtoilCs - LIS SONiiltlS SAtCllS d5 IL btty
were chanting. When the train stops the
~facchinos or porters, in blue blouses,
come running up to assist passengers to
alight and to carry their baggage for
them. No matter how small your pack
Rge you are not permitted % carry it.
You must employ q facchino or fight. I'm
posing looking gendarmes, with the same
cooked hats worn by similar French
officials and muffled up in n long black
cloaks, stand aboutexactly as Upon a stage
scene in an opera. No n ever saw them
do anything except pose.1
Men in graz, cloaks and huge fur collars
stalk about talking, chattering, smoking
News vendors, with the Italian papers,
run up and down outside Of the train call
ing their wares under the windows. Many
of these news vendors are women. They
carry books, novels and newspapers in q
tray in front of them, and in little leather
satehels upon their hips, for she private
reading of travellers, lively little books
which MIR. Comstook would not permit to
be sold in New York. Finally, after an
endless amount of singsong chanting, up.
roar and moving to and fro, a solemn
looking official comes out from theistatior
and blows a penny fish horn, such as we
hear in the United. States on Christmas
day from the small boy in the streets
This is the signal for the train Bdepart
but you are not TO be suddenly moved
There is a further wait Of five minutes Il
prepare you for the shock of departure
ant then the engine gives {. responsive
sereech, the doors of the coaches arr
banged, ard ut last yol are off for a IF
l fsan IN, 4 AM IS ,N,trn1Snaf rrD ~ ~ or,ntha-