Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-09-28
Her Arrival at the Grand Hotel,
Lake Maggiore, Italy.
A Description of the Beautiful Scenery
and Lovely Surroundings as Viewed
by Practical Eye.
Hints to Those Contemplating Tour-Study
Your Guide Book, It is lime and
Trouble Well Spent

Pallanza, Lake Maggiore, and the Grand
hotel Pallanza form a climax to our Ital-
ian lake travel. We had anticipated
PallRnza and Lake Maggiore, but not
the grand hotel. The evening Of our
arrival, after fine dinner served dainty
with flowers, and eaten at a little table
10y u window looking out onto lake and
mountains flushed with the sunset, we
stepped out onto handsome stone bal
cony from which electric lights flashed
down onto magnolia trees full of Bios
SONS. We looked across the wide sheet
OF silver water TO a group of snowy
mountains against pink sky, and we
felt as if we had st been elected hero
ines to some
FASCINATING ROMANCE,
the thrilling incid Tents of which were about
20 take place. What added to our roman
tic feeling was that there seemed to be
nobody else around except courteous
servitOrs; the long salons, the Veran-
dahs the gardens and the lake all seemed
to be ours, and we felt like the man in
the fairy story who played host and guest
TO himself in that wonderful castle in the
woods. But we did not stop long to feel
romantic that night; we rushed up stairs
TO turn on the electio light in our bed
room. l perfectly longed to see my
ccunterpane and pillows illuminated; l
wondered how it would seem to be able
to see the inside of my top bureau
drawer, and l longed to search for some
thing in my valise. 1t had been three
months since we had seen any more of
our bedroom at night than is included in
the Pickering radius OF light thrown out
by taliow candle. Behold, here i'll
this wilderness of candles, hotel man
who has an electric light plant, and who
lights all his rooms with electricity for
no extra charge!
1t was a delightful days trip over here
from Lake Como. 4 steam tram-that
is, baby railway with little cars ac-
commodating eight people in eight cush-
toned chairs, takes one up the mountains
from Como by long zig-zags. As we
mounted higher, the lake localized be-
low US into more and more of a picture;
till gradually the mountains drew up SO
close about 1t, only
CLEANING sPECK
was left to view then goodbye, Queen
lake. and we were speeding along in
deep, green valley, with the mountain
frame of Lake Lugano i'll front. 1t was
such a spunky little toy of an engine that
pulled US up that long ascent, we felt
like patting it on the back when il drew
up, putting ana painting at Porlezza.
Porlezza is in Switzerland, and though
we expected TO be in Italy again before
night, a custom house had to be passed.
"SheegGrrav?' asked the officer with
his hand on our portmanteaus. What IN
the world was 'sheegarray?" We
dared not swear that we had none, for
perhaps our bags were packed full of it!
80 our coral boxes were poKed into and
our feminine plumes ruflied in order TO
find-cigars! IL occurred to me later
what 1t was. III these Italians would only
say what they mean it would save a sight
of trouble. We Jared much better than
a Swiss lady. however, who had two
trunks turned upside down, and who
ceased not to scold in French, Swiss and
German, all the way up the lake.
THE LAKE OF LUCIANO
is quite different from Como but scarcely
less lovely. The mountains that sur
round it rise up more precipitously from
the water; there are fewer villages and
no such array of villas, hotels and pen
sions all along the banks. Lugano is
more stern and grand, but less pictu-
rescue and varied. Lugano is more mas
culine, while Como is uuquestionably
feminine. The proper thing for tourists
TO do on Laguno is TO make the ascent of
Mount Ceneroso, or Mount Salvatore by
the cable roads, for these are famous
view points from whence one can look
over from the loneliness and softness of
the Italian lakes onto the severe majesty
of Switzerland: but we had not planned
wisely enough 10 do this. 1t takes care
full torethought and thorough study of
guide books in order TO travel well.
BRedecker knows more than a dozen
travellers who have been over the same
route, and whenever we rely on what !
"people say'' and do not trouble to take
Baedeeker into our confidence we find
that we have not travelled TO the best |
advantage. 1 say this for the benefit of
any who have not travelled abroad and |
who think of doing SO. The great
majority of
TOURISTS TRAVEL CARELEssLY.
They make a few inquiries at GaZe's |
or Cooks tourist offices, talk a great !
deal about their plans to other people, |
and are in chronic state of intsrroga-
ton. when all they want to know, and |
much more than any one person can tell |
them, is between those red covers which |
luey carry uuueT luelT dTu1S. II uOeS |
require time and patient, careful read |
ing to be conversant with guide book, |
but it is time and trouble well spent. |
"How did you know that?" people fire. |
Quently ask us, and we say calmly: "It |
is in your Baedecker.'' Something !
perhaps in few words of fine print, but |
of importance as is every word in |
Baedecker. But we are not model |
travellers; we stray occasionally from the |
straight and narrow ways of obedience |
TO the oracle, as this occasion proved. |
Our boat went no further than the town |
of Lugano, where we had TO wait for |
another. So after some German beer, |
Italian steak and peas "a l'Anglais' at |
a "cafe Americana, - we sat down in o |
small boat to
WATCH A WOMAN WASH.
She was kneeHng at the edge of the |
water in little thing just large enough |
for her knees, shaped like the body of
wheelbarrow, and she was scrubbing on |
Il ismooth, slanting dashboard fastened |
10 the front of the little box in which |
she knelt. All the dirtiest clothes were |
on the board, so that they got an extra |
scrubbinR and soaping from the clothes