The Iola register., 1891-08-07

sWH o'clock in the af
ternoon the weather cleared. Tht
clouds, which had been of q dull uni.
form grey, began to break asunder anG
disclose little shining riffs of pale blue
and bright gold; the sea looked like 9
wide satin ribbon shaken out and SHIN.
mering with opaline tints. Flower girls
trooped forth making the air musical
with their mellow cries of "Fiori! chi
vuol fiori!" and holding mp their tempt
ing wares-not punches of holly and
mistletoe such as are known In Eng
land, but roses, lilies, jonQuils and sweet
daffodils. The shops were brilliant with
bouquets and baskets Of fruit and
flowers; a glittering show of etrennes, or
gifts to suit all ages and conditions, were
set forth in tempting array, from box
Of bonbons costing one franc to a jew
elled tiara worth million, while in many
of the windows were displayed models Of
the Bethlehem" with babe Jesus lying
In His manger, for the benefit of the
round-eyed children-who, after staring
fondly at His waxen image for some
time, would run off hand in hand to the
nearest church where the usual Christ
mas creche was arranged, and there,
kneeling down, would begin to implore
their "desr little Jesus" their "own
little brother" not to forget them, with
a simplicity Of belief that was as touch
ing as it was unaffected.
1 am told that in England the princi-
pal sights on Christmas Eve are the
shops of the butchers and poulterers
hung with the dead carcases of animals
newly slaughtered, in whose mouths are
thrust bunches of prickiy holly, at which
agreeable spectacle the passers-by cape
with gluttonous approval Surely there
is nothing graceful about such a COM
memoratien Of the birth of Christ as
thisl nothing picturesque, nothing poetic,
nothing even orthodox, for Christ was
born in the East, and the Orientals are
very small eaters, and are particularly
sparing in the use of meat. One won
ders what such an unusual display of
vulgar victuals has to do with the COM
ing of the Saviour, who arrived among
us in such poor estate that even decent
roof was denied to Him. Perhaps,
though, the English people read their
gospels In way of their own, and I'M
derstand that the wise men of the East
who are supposed to have brought
the Divine Child symbolic gifts
OF gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
really brought joints of beef
turkeys and plum pudding" that vile
and indigestible mixture at v hich an
Italian shrugs his shoulders in visible
disgust There is something barbaric, l
suppose, In the British customs still
something that reminds one of their
ancient condition when the Romans con-
quered them-when their supreme idea
of enjoyment was to have an OK roasted
whole before them while they drank
''wassail' till they groveled under their
own tables in a worse condition than
overfed swine. Coarse and vulgar
plenty is still the leading characteristic
at the dinners of English or American
parvenus; they have scarcely any idea OF
the refnements that can be impaired to
the prosaic necessity Of eating-of the
many little graces of the table that are
understood in part by the French, but
that perhaps never reach sucf. absolute
perfection of taste and skill as at the
banquets ofla cultured and clever Italian
noble. Some of these are veritable
"feasts of the gods" and would do
honor to the tabled Olympus, and such
an one had prepared for Guido Ferrari
as greeting TO him on his return from
Rome-a feast of welcome and,
farewell
All the resources Of the hotel at which
] stayed had been brought into requisi-
tion. The chef, q famous Gordon bleu,
had transferred the work of the usual
table d'hote to his underlings, and haG
bent the powers of his culinary intelli
gence solely on the production OF the
magnificent dinner 1 had ordered. The
landlord, in spite of himself, broke into
ms nf nd hn
listened to and wrote down my COM
mands for dJSerent wines OF the rarest
kinds and choicest vintages. The
servants rushed hither and thither to
obey my various behests, with looks
of immense Importance; the head-waiter,
a superb official who prided himself on
his artistic taste, took the laying out of
the table under his entire superintend-
dence, and nothing was talked of or
thought Of for the time but the grandeur
Of my proposed entertainment
About six o'clock l sent my carriage
down to the railway station to meet Fer
rari as I had arranged; and then, at my
landlords invitation, went to survey
the stage that was prepared for one i'm
portant scene Of my dramatic see il the
scenery, side-lights and general effects
were In working order. To avoid disar-
ranging my own apartments, l had
chosen for my dinner party a room on
the ground floor of the hotel, which was
often let out for marriage breakfasts and
other purposes of the like kind; it was
octagonal in shape, not too large, and L
had had 1t most exquisitely decorated for
the occasion. The walls were hung with
drsperies Of gold-colored silk and Grim
son velvet, interspersed here and there
with long mirrors which were ornament
ed with crystal candelabra in which
twinkled hundreds Of lights under rose
tinted glass shades. At the back Of the
room, miniature conservatory was dis
played to view, full of rare ferns and
subtly perfumed exotics, in the center OF
which fountain rose and fell with reg |
ular and melodious murmur. Here, later |
on, band Of stringed instruments and |
a choir OF boys voices were to be Sta |
toned, so that sweet music might be |
heard and felt without the performers
being visible. One, and one only, of the
long French windows of the room was
left uncurtained, il was simply draped |
with velvet as one drspes choice pic
ture, and through it the eyes rested on a
perfect view OF the Bay of Naples, white
with the wintry moonlight
The dinner table, laid for fifteen per-
sons, glittered with sumptuous appoint
ments Of silver, Venetian glass, and the
rarest flowers; the floor was carpeted
with velvet pile, in which some grains OF
ambergris had been scattered. so that in
walking the feet sank. as it were, into a
bed of moss rich with the odors OF
thousand spring blossoms. The very
Ire, ,a-h |
were of a luxurious shape
and softly stuffad so that one pould lean !