Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-16

were sight to be depicted by Judge or Puck
| Inc Gust chung to our hair and eyebrows,
mingled with our young mustaches and sprout-
ing whiskers; 1t lay in sheets upon our
| shoulders and backs and in streaks upon our
Knee breeches-to say nothing of the appear-
ance OF our shoes and stockings Our expert
ence at the Capua ''hotel" did not afford much
encouragement tor touring in Italy A Jaw.
acting as waiter. annoyed us exceedingly try
ing To be attentive, aud when he finally went
out for cheese-which we had recently for
sworn after vain endeavor TO cultivate our
serves up to tive fled from the table and took
refuge In our rooms. The bill presented the
next morning contained a good. plump item
Tor service, which we pointed out to our tor
mentor OF the evening before when he limited
at Zee, slgnifylng that we thought that, every
thing considered, we mad already made
equitable division of our funds with the house.
II was threatening rain and We had little
difficulty in persuading ourselves that it would
be good policy to take train through to Rome.
Il reach which by wheel would require nearly
three DAYS easy riding. So TO the station we
went. and then came the rain in torrents. An
early fast tram missed, because after the
! ticket Office opened there not sufficient
tIlne Tor Us to get tickets tor ourselves and
biAcs and get them aboacd--so The idiot inside
sad III : circumstance drove another nail
INTO Italy s coffin. There was a train an hour
or SO later on which we managed to get away
after strcnuousy Directing to labels being
pasted on the saddles of our machines
during OR ride by rail through this section
we houced great many psasan.s-men and
mountaineering leather sandals, the men with
l,ather straps wrapped about their legs below
Inc hn'c to hold in place the rouEh cloth
Which constituted the first story OF their neither
garment. Many of the women wore head COW
erng looking Ike a folded towel with one end
hanging down the back of their heads At one
rlace some grain had evG ntiy Just been
'hre'hed out IN tine primitive way by oxen
ur!Fen over Il. The wlnnow.ng was being
dChe III an equally primitive manner By shov-
e.lng the gram from one heap to another. CIV
ing II TOSS into the air. whereby the cLatf was
blown away by the wind
DOING ROME.
We reached Rome after dark and shortly dis
covered that we were the only transient guests
at the hotel. This explained why the attentions
OF two walters, two 'boo,s," two chambermaids
and ihe porter were all concentrated GU U.S.
We felt tnat all those obscQuious bows and
scrapings would be estimated at Ira apiece ut
least ana next morning went out TO scout
around for different quarters. but without sue
cess. Of course we visited the ruins of ancient
home and climbed to the iopmost gallery of
what remains OF the coliseum. The gallery
gods OF those days had to do some tall climbing
ne pflch stalrways from gaiierT TO gallery
quite steep and difficult of ascent Standing
one evening upon an ancient bridge, we gazei
down at the sluggish Fiber. as Caesar no doubt
many times had done, which. as H said.
was quite coincidence. We were quietly
riding to the railroad station to take
Tram for Florence, when a police officer
whom we met put on "a severe scowl and
lnpcrlOusy Inotioned us 10 aIsmount and then
to 80 with him. There seemed to be no alterna-
tive. so We went, the writer bringing up at the
rear to watch results and go 10 invoke assist
| ance at the American legation If necessary
Our captor was not what one might call cheap
| policeman. H tried TO bride him with two
Ira 40 cents). He wouldn't take it. We hadn't
struck his figure. 1t was quickly apparent at
headquarters that the arrest was causeless and
we We're free to go our way. with parting in
JuncUlon from the chief official not to ride Here
was IA nice inconsistency-quite Italian, We are
told; We had just been arrested for riding and
released because we had a right to ride, vet
were now informed that we mustn't ride We
thought we would take the chances and ride.
and we did, but were still too late for our
train.
This was the last straw and we determined to
get out of the blessed country as quickly as
possible. So to Genoa we went direct by rail-
stopping over night at Pisa TO visit the ccle-
DRAFTED leaning tower. At Genoa We tarried a
couple OF days, calling again on the American
consul, the Hon. james Fletcher, a very pleas
ant gentleman. to whom we were indebted for
great deal of valuable information. We had
considerable trouble getting our point of exit
(where the duty on our bicycles was to be re-
funded) changed from Genoa to Ventmiglia,
near the French frontier, and hut for the kind
assistance of English friends, Messrs Davidson
and Young, whose acquaintance we made
through Mr.. Fletcher, we should have had
great deal more. The younger MIR. Davidson
Is the champion cyclist of Italy and has fine
collection OF medals and other prizes which he
has gathered III during the past few years.
The bicycle matter satisfactorily adjusted
We again took to the road-railroad-fo Ven
timiglia, passing through Cogoletto, the re-
puted birth place of Columbus, and Bor-
dlghera which from its numerous date palms
supplies the palm leaves used at st. Peters in
Rome for distribution by the pope on Palm
Sunday. At Nentimigia the last Italian town.
we again took to our wheels and, five miles be-
yond. crossed the frontier and were back in
France once more. After seeing the tap-ras
and bob-tail soldiery Of the rest of Europe we
thought the baggy red breeches of the French
soldiers positively beautiful and repented of
all the rldlcule and slurring remarks we had
| cast upon them when We first visited the
country.
We were now on the best portion of the cele-
brated Cornlche road-a work begun by the
first Napoleon-and extending from Nice in
france to Genoa in Italy. Often tunnelipg
| through the rock, with the rugged sides of the
mountain rising abruptly on the one hand and
the blue waters of the CLASSY Mediterranean on
the other, 1t follows along the windings of the
coast almost at the waters edge, furnishing
views grand In their picturesqukness We saw
cactus and century plants growing in profusion
by the road side, and at one place large red
geranium plants in full bloom. The surface of
the road, after crossing the frontier was hard
and smooth, being better cared for and more
free from dust than the Italian portion
AN EVENING AT MONTE CARLO.
The evening after leaving Genoa and italy
we spent in the independent principally of
Monaco at Monte Carlo, the great gambling
place OF Europe. Downing long brooches
which we had carried in our cycle valises on
TINS run for this especial purpose and fasten
Ing linen collars to our flannel shirts we were
ready to pass muster at the Casino, where the
gambling goes on. Outside. in front and over
looking the sea was a promenade where from
pavilion IN the center large orchestra was
rendering classical selections to soothe the minds
OF those whose luck inside had been against
them. Presenting our cards to an official at the
door our names and professions we're duly re-
corded with the name of our hotel and we were
handed a ticket admitting us to the
gambling room. Everything was magnif-
cence itself. In the large vestibule were
ample cloak rooms for the accommodation
OF the players, in charge of attendants. Inside
the great hall where the tables are all was still.
oppressively so. Nothing was to be heard but
the clink. cink Of coin and the low monotones
OF the dealers as they announced the results of
the play from time to time. Beyond this
scarcely word was spoken unless in whispers.
One could feel the awful solemnity of the
scene-fortunes made or fading away in a few
short hours. Liveried attendants moved
silently about, now and then bringing in liouid
refreshments (gratis) for the PLAYERS and taan