, 1888-04-08
IN SUNNY ITALY.
CRAWFoRD'S NOTES OF A TRIP
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

Snow and Cold Instead of BaImy Sun
shine Discomforts of Continental
Travel-Government Railroad Control
in Italy-An Interesting Sight.
Before leaving England 1 had been
given the most extravagant descriptions
Of the beautiful spring to be found in
sunny Italy. 1 have now been away
from London a week and have found no
place where the climate was as mild and
even as in the city of London itself. The
further south l have gone the more snow
and cold have l 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 l 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 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
" oohliObiilhB W Ghb. lnS ullltOIlS uIS-
comfort of night trave on the Cont
mental trains is something beyond descrip-
ton. 1t needs to be actually experienced
in order to be fully realized. If l had not
been warned by a friend of some of the
possibilities in taking a trip south at this
time of year, l should undoubtedly nave
suffered much more than l did. But fol-
lowing his instructions 1 had made nearly
the same preparations that 1 would if 1
had been going to join an Arctic expedi-
ton. l had a thick wooden rug, a cardi-
gan jacket over my waistcoat, and over
all n heavy English box coat, n much
heavier coat than l 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 a 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 1t ran
with great rapidity through the famous
Mont Gents tunnel. 1 have heard this
tunnel designated as one of perfect horror,
80 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
tense 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 filed
with hot water which were put into the
carriage from tim to time made but little
impression in contending with the cold,
which constantly sifted in through tho
loose joints of the cars.
The italian government controls tAa
railroads of this country. Slower and
more m~addening trains it would be hard
to find in any country in the world. L
took a local train from Turin to Milan in
order to make a connection for Venice,
and 1 was over five hours going a dis
lance of sixty miles. The train always
started out 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.
The most irritating part of the travel was
h l~Tr Wrnf ~ . anA1 . Nh nrnR
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 a mile
AVA / do not think that the train ever
made n run of more than two miles with
out a stop.
The starting of a train in Italy is a very
interesting sight to a stranger. The
guards wear military uniforms. Their
caps are round with a low visor. Red
bands encircle these cap Their great
coats are black, with cowl like capes
hanging down their backs. These coats
are ornamented with brass buttons.
When the train stops the guards rush up
and down calling out in the most sonor-
GUS and musical of voices the name Of the
stazione. This sound exactly as if they
were chanting. When the train stops the
facchinos or porters, in blue b~louses,
come running up to assist passengers to
alight and to carry their baggage for
them. No matter how small you pack
age you are not permitted % carry it.
You must employ a facchino or fight. Inn
posing looking gendarmes, with the same
cooked hats worn by similar French
officials and mufiled up in a long black
cloaks, stand about exactly as upon u stage
scene in-an opera. No one ever saw them
do anything except pose.
Men in gray 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