Tombstone epitaph., 1890-04-26
IN SHINY ITALY.
GRAWfORO'S NOTES OF A TRIP
 ACROS$ THE CONTINENT.

Snow and Co,C Instead of Ealmy Sum
 shine -. '.iscomforts of Continental
 TraveI--Gcvcrn T,ailioad CCn,r~' Tn I:aly-An Inter sting Sight.
 Before leaving England J had beer gwen the mosS e1travagant descriptions of the beautiful spring to be found in sunny Italy. I lavc now heen away iron London a wcel. and have found no iIce where the climate was as mild and even Hs in the city of London itself The further south haze gone the more snow D. cold lave found. WheI 1 raached thc b.rdCr of sunny Italy, where my i'm aginatiOn had pictlrsd an atmosphere of tropical warmth, l vas confronted with a trc -nenGOuS snow storm, witch blocked the trains, .E-ulc me miss my connections, and lost tWantyfcUr hours .n route.
 The trains from Paris south are run with great rapidity. The Paris Lyons an;l Mediterranean express really merits the name of being q rapid train. It naEes ,o stops for eating, and on the line Of the -oUte taken by me, via Modane, there was .ut.ing offered during this long journey 't any of the statiOns by any haw s, in NP4AN VI NA4N IttCU l4lt!b lIlt lIGtil NilS crowded from end to end with people ?eally as fanliNhed as wolves, who would rave been ready to pay almost any price for something to eat. The hideous dis 'omfort of night travel on tLe COnti- 1eut;l trains is something beyond descrip
 ion. It needs to be actually experienced VI order to be fully realized. If mud not been warned by Il friend of some or the possibilities i'll taking trip sOulh al this time of yelr, should undoubtedly have suffered much more than did. Brt fol owing his instructions 1 had made Learly ;he same preparations that I would if tId been going 10 join an Arctic eApedi- lon. 1 had a thick Toolen rug, a ,;lrdi ?2a jacket over my waistcoat. and over Fl a heavy English box coat, q much heavier coat than 1 have ever fonud rrces- s3ry to wear in any climate in the uited States. With all of this bundling upI Lave just managed t: keep warm i1 my visit to sunny ltalg up to tEe present time, when the weather has shown some :e-,H of rluticratin%.
 It was not until the Alpine counn WAS -c"chcd that 1 really saw snow. Livery t.:ing before that was q mere play in com C;Irison. I!I the nei-hhOrhood of the S-unt Ccnis tunnel the snow fell in great white fcathcry masses, piling up in the most fantostc way. In some places the 5GuW was at least thirty or forty feel deer on the heights. Tbe trees were shredded n5 if ill blankets. The mountain chaletN vc-e covered with enough weight tc Rlmost break in the IoOfs Yet It was considerably Warmcr in the moUutcifs iE the midst of this tremendous pile of SHOW than in Paris, us the air was much dr3er. Thc track ha.l necn cleared that morning. hut the train proceeded very slowly through the mOuut;;i:;s, although it lar With great rapidJy through the famoas Mont Cnr,is i'm .lnl-I l.a.r,l tl>is rT-E!Cl dcSiguted aS one of perfect hO1ror, so f&r as the uiscOmfOrts of passing tlrou- -h it arc concerned Imaginative t":,v, icrs have described it as a place Wicre passengers run almost the risk O1 sCEocItiOn. The train. passed through this tunnel in thirtv-five minutes. At nc t-mc was there the slightest discomfort in breathing. The air was much better han Oil the underground railroad in the city in Lold0n. Tie only disagreeable feature connected with the passage vas 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 flied wirl hot water which were put into the cSrriGgc from time to'Ime made but little impression in contendng with the cold, which constantly sifted in through the loose joints uf the cars.
 The Italian government controls the railroads of this country. Slower and moro maddening trains it would be hard 10 fiud in any country in tue world. l took q local train from Turin to Milan in tO t,,yl-o St for Nnnipn and was over five hours going dis tance of sixty miles. The train always started out with great reluctance ant began stopping as soon as the station was remotely visible. slowing down so grad. ually in order not to iar 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 the long wait at each station. The guards would visit with the officials at the va rious stations and walk up and down and gossip until they felt iucinett to start the train once more on its headlong career to- ward another station about half a mile away. 1 du not thiuk that the train ever made a run of more than two miles with out q stop.
 The starting of U 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 cncircle these caps. Their great colts are black. with cOWl like capes hanging dO"n their backs. These coats gre ornamented with brass buttons. When the train stoT> the guards rush up Gu,l down calling Oul in the most sOnOr- ous and musical of voices the name of the stazioue. This sounds exactly as if they were chanting. WhCn the train stops the faccliinos or porters. i'll blue blouses, cone running ID 10 assist passengers to RliGht aul 10 carry their baggage for tLcn. No matter how small your pack age you ire not permitted O carry It. You rlust employ fac:hino or fight. I'm pusing looking ccndarmes, with the same cnchcd kHts worn by similar Frcncf officials and mufIled up in long black clOaks, stand about exactly as upon Il stage scene in an opera. No Cne ever saw them do anything except pose
 Men in @r::y cloaks and huge fur collars stalk about talking. claltering, smoking. News vendors, with the Italian papers. run up and down outside of the train call ing their wares under the windows. Many of these news wonders are WOElcE. They c:rry books. novels and newspapers in try in front of them. and in little leather s3tchcls upon their hips, for the private reading of travellers. lively little books which Mir Comstocil would not permit tn Ec sold in New York. Finally. after ap endless amount of singsOng chanting, up rour and moving to and 1ro a solemu locking CfIical comes outfronl the station I q T, 1,sNr.., IL,