Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-01-18
UPON THE RIVIERA.
PLEASANT PLACES ON THE SHORE
OF THE GULF OF GENOA

Htaitan RESORTS Wnere All IrHVelers 10.
Differences Of Opinion on the Old
Towns-Of Interest to Readers and
writers-Thrce Winter Capitals.
The eastern shore of the Gulf Of Genoa
the Riviera di Levante-differs from the
Riviera di Ponente, which was described In
my last letter, in being very much danper.
The chief wind Il from the west, which
coming over the sea, nearly always brings
rain. But, as the climate is fully as warm
as Ct San Reno or Nice, the dampness adds
to the beauty of the vegetation; there is
plenty of grass even In summer, and the
number of deciduous trees is much greater
When the leaves are fallen these trees are
hardly noticed in winter; but in summer
their fresh green lends great charm to the
semi-tropical aspect of the palms, the lemons
and the olives. The nearness of the high
mountains to the coast, the abrupt changes
OF strata, the frequent precipitious rocks
and the pine groves which often come down
to the edge of the sea, give a different char.
acter to the scenery.
The only two places in this region which
are as yet thoroughly desirable are Sta.
Margherita and Rapallo, in the latter OF
which there is an excellent good hotel and an
English church. But as they are only about
o mile apart the conveniences of one Can be
enjoyed at the other. There are an unusual
number of beautiful walks and very good
carriage roads leading to various points in
the interior. The bay is SO protected by the
promontory OF Porto Elmo that boating Is
nearly always possible and pleasant. There
are villas to DO had at both places and on tho
road between; but the resident foreign
colony is not yet large.
Spezia is still frequented In summer by
Italians for bathing, but its attractiveness
70 foreigners has diminished since it has be-
como a great Italian naval station, and its
lovely hills have been covered with huge
Notifications.
THE BRowNISGS' OPINION OF PISA.
Pisa is the remaining warm town Of North
ern Italy. Its climate is so much milder
than that OF Florence that in the last CEN
fury invalids often passed the winter there
and 1t was a great place of resort. The
court Of Tuscany, rs Horace Mann tells US,
used to come for a month or two, and Smol-
lett spent there the year before his death,
finishing his best and most amiable novel,
Humphrey Clinkern In the early part of
the century, too, it had a large English
colony, in addition to Shelley, Lander,
Byron and Lady BlesSington, but ut present
the English colony has so fallen Off that the
church, which is transferred for the summer
to the Baths OF Lucca, has but a scanty con-
The hotels are of the very best;
Leghorn and Viareggio are u short distance
Off in one direction; Lucca, with its old
walls, now used as promenades, its churches
and its pictures, close by, and Florence, but
two hours distant by express train, so thai it
is perfectly easy to pass u day there when
When the Brownings spent the winter
there in 1917 they found it dull, but they
had brought no English books with them;
apparently received no newspapers; the
church library was soon exhausted, and COM
were not sufficiently rapid to
allow subscription TO Vieussieux's circulate
Ing library at Florence. Since then every
one else has voted Pisa dull, although per-
sonally l was not impressed by this in the
month that l spent there. Even the hotel
was entertaining; for, except ourselves, no
one ever remained more than two days and
rarely more than one; and, as in kaleido
scope, the changes were amusing and often
agreeable.
There are really only three winter capitals
in Italy-Florence, Rome and Naples. Turin,
Milan and Bologna are too cold and too
snowbound to attract sojourners. Yet Turin
has a charming society and a brilliant court
life, and 1t is the only place, outside of Rome,
where, III difference to family traditions, the
old court is maintained. For those who can
stand the cold it would be a good place for
an enterprising mother to introduce her
daughters into high society and perhaps make
brilliant marriages for them. In Milan and
Bologna one has the best operas, the best
ballets and the best concerts in Italy. At
Venice, although it rarely freezes, it is very
damp, and this dampneSs is sometimes SO
cold that one wonders why the canals are
not q solid block Of ice. Add to that that
the houses and hotels have very large rooms
and small facilities for heating them.
FLoRENCE, TIE WINTER CITY"
Florence is the literary and artistic center,
and, according to Ouida, Is prominently the
"winter city" Its galleries are thronged by
those who delight in the infancy of c-t, which
Is often so near akin to the art Of infancy.
When one looks at the number of tall, angu-
lar English old maids, in various positions OF
rapture, one sometimes thinks that their ad
miration for Botticelli and Masaccio ZONES
from a vague idea that these artists have en-
deavored TO idolize their own charms There
too, one finds the latest productions OF mod
ern art, whether they be- the water colors Of
Newmsn-some of Tuscan country and Of
Lucca architecture, others such vivid rem
behring's of the heat and glare along the Nil,
that one wishes never to 60 to Egypt again
or whether they be the last statues of Italian
or American sculptors-one so perfect In Ia
naturalism, in its details of stuffs and clothe.
that the artistic feeling is smothered; the
other such a clever production by skilled
Italian hands Of q coarse ideal that one won
doris that the so called sculptor ever dared &c
put his hand to the clay model, for he rarely
docs mo.
For person of literary tastes Florence has
many attractions and advantages. Besides
the archives, which are easily accessible
there ere several large public libraries, ths
best in Italy; and the service OF the nationa
libraries has been SO regulated and improved
that on a simple request rare book or man
uscript will be brought from the library of 9
distant city and placed at the disposal of tn,
reader. In this way at Florence one has tn,
command of the national libraries Of tn,
kingdom with their treasures. Then there /!
the circulating library of Vieussieux, by fal
the best lending library out of England, with
its thousands of books in all languages, il
excellent reading rooms, where the news
papers and magazines of every country may
be found, and its we'll known corner for the
chess players. OF course there are excellent
modern book shops, as well as others, large
and small, where old books and engraving
may be bargained for. Indeed, book col
lsctor oan have great fun in Italy, although
more at Rome than Florence, as libraries Of
dead cardinals or Of bankrupt princes coca
sionally come into the market-Cor Phils
dslphia Times.
Gas Hammer.
John Bull uses II lot of iron in making
tools, but he makes some very good ones
sometimes. A Scottish branch Of an English
machinery house has recently brought out a