San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-04-26
IN SUNNY ITALY.
CRAWFORD'S NOTES OF A TRIP
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

Snow and Cold Instead of Balmy Sun
TraveI-Government Railroad Control
in Italy-An Interesting Sight.
Before leaving England I had been
given the most extravagant descriptions
of the beautiful spring to be found in
sunny Italy. | have now been away
from London q week and have found no
place where the climate was as mild and
even as in the city of London itself. The
further south have gone the more snow
and cold have | found. When ! reached
the border of sunny Italy, where my i'm
agination had pictured an atmosphere of
tropical warmth, l was confronted with a
tremendous snow storm, which blocked
the trains, made me miss my connections,
and | lost twenty-four hours en- route.
The trains from Paris south are run
with great rapidity. The Paris-LyOns
and Mediterranean express really merits
the name of being 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 friend of some of the
possibilities in taking trip south at this
time of year, | should undoubtedly have
suffered much more than | did. But fol-
lowing his instructions had made nearly
the SINE preparations that | would if
had Deen going TO join an Arctic eXpedi-
ton. ! had thick wooden rug, a cardi-
gan jacket over my waistcoat, and over
all II heavy English box coat, a much
heavier coat than have ever found neces-
sary 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 l really saw snow. Every
thing before that was mere play in COM
parison. In the neighborhood Of the
Mont Cents tunnel the snow 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 in blankets. The mountain chalets
were covered with enough weight to
almost break in the roofs. Yet it was
considerably warmer in the mountains in
the midst of this tremendous pile of snow
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. l 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
on the underground railroad in the city in
London. The only disagreeable feature
connected with the passage was the in
ten cold, which came into the loosely
built cars, giving one the sensation for
the time of being confined in an ice
chest. The little foot warmers filled
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.
The Italian government controls the
railroads of this country. Slower and
more maddening trains it would be hard
to find in any country in the world.