Tombstone epitaph., 1891-01-11
IN SHINY ITALY.
c1AWFORO'S NOTES OF A rRIp
 ACROSs TtE CONTINENT,


 TraveI.-Government Railroad rssdrs'
 In Isal.-An inter sting Sight
 Before leaving England had bee. gwen the most extravagant dcscril tions of the beautiful spring to be found in sunny Italy. 1 hnvc now been away from LoDdon Ycpk and have found no place where the citrate was as mild and even as in the city pi London itself. The further south have zone the more snow Ra cold have fou-d WheL I reached the border of sunny tlly, where my i'm agination had pict1rad sn atmosphere of tropical warmth, I N |, confronted with a tremendous snow storm, wLich blocked the trains, made mo miss my connections, and lost twenty-fopr hours en route
 The trains from pss s south arc run with great rap;d,sy. The Paris-Lyons and Mediterranean express really merits the name of being rapid train. It makes 70 stops for eating, and on the line of the -oute taken by me, via Modane, there was ,othing offered during this long journey at any of the stations by any hawkers, in spite of the fact that the train was crowded from end to end with people nearly as famished as wolves, who would vhNC DCCH lOduy tO pay dlHlOcO diiy pIlC0 tor something to eat. The hideous dis comfort of night travel on the Conti- aental trains is something beyond descrip- ion. It needs to be actually experienced tn order to be fully realized. If had not been warned by friend of some of the possibilities in taking trip south at thiA time of year, should undoubtedly have suffered much more than did. But fol- towing his instructions had made Eearly the same preparations that would if l had been going to join an Arctic expedi- 6on. l had thick woolen rug, cardi- gan jacket over my waistcoat, and over sll heavy English box coat, a much heavier coat than have ever found neces- sary to wear in any climate in the United States. With all of this bundling up l have just managed te keep warm in my visit to sunny Italy up to the present time, when the weather has shown some sign of mOderating.
 It WIS not until the Alpine countl y was reached that I really saw snow. Every thing before that was & mere play in com parison. In the neighborhood of the Mont Cenis tunnel the snow fell in great white feathery masses, piling up in the most fantastic way. In some places the snow was at least thirty or forty feet deep on the heights. The trees were shrcuded as if in blankets. The mountain chaleta were covered with enough weight to almost break in the roofs. Yet it was considerably warmer in the mountains in the midst of this tremendous pile of snow than in Paris, us the air was much dryer The track hrd been cleared that morning. but the train proceeded very slowly through the mountains, although it lan with great rapidity through the famous Mont Cenis tunnel I have heard tbia tunnel designated as one of perfect horror, 80 far as the discomforts of passing through it are concerned. Imaginative travellers have described it as a placa where passengers run almost the risk of suffocatiou. The train pass,d through this tunnel in thIrty-fye minu,rs. At no time was there the 'gLtast disGo mfort in breathing. The air was much better than on the underground railroad in ti,e city in London. The only disagreeable feature connected with the passage was the in- tense cold, which came into tho loosely built cars, giving one the sensation for the time of being e nfinel i,. an ice chest. The little foot warmers hIled with hot water which were put into the carriage from time to time made but little impression in contendI lg with the cold, which constantly sifted in thre ugh the loose joints of the cars.
 The Italian government cor trols ths railroads of this country. Slower ani more maddening trains it would be harc tc find III any country in ihe world. took local train from Turin te Milan in order to make connection fer Venice, and was oyer five hours gong a dis. tance of sixty miles. The train always started out with greet reluctance and began stopping as soon as the station was remotely visible, slowing down so grad. ually in order not to jar the nerves of this never hurrying people that you coulI hardly tell when the train came to stop. The most irritating part of the travel was the long wait at each stPtion. The guards would visit with the officials ct the va. rious stations and walk up and down and gossip until they felt inclined to start the train once more on its headlong career to- ward another station about half mile away. do not think that the train ever made run of more than two miles with out a stop.
 The starting of train in Italy Is a very interesting sight to a stranger. The guards wear military uniforms. Their .nps are TOT ad with low visor. Red bands encr le these caps. Their great coats are bl,ck, with cOwl like capes hanging down their backs. Tn sse coats are t.namented With brass buttons. When the train stops the guards rush up and down calling out in the most sorOr- ous a.il musical of voices the name of the staziIne This sounds exactly as if they were chanting. When the train stops the facchinos or rOrters, in blue blOuses, come running Up to assist passengers to alight and to carry their baggage fof them. No matter how small your pack age you are not permitted o carry it You must employ a facchino or fight. Im- posing Cooking gendarmes, with the same cooked hats worn by similar French officials and muffied up in long black :loaks, stand about exactly as upon stage scene in an opera. No one ever saw them do anything except pose.
 Men m gray cloaks and huge fur collars stalk sbcut talking. chattering, smoking News vchders, with the Italian papers, run up and uuwn outside of the train call- ing their wares u,der the windows. Many of these news vehders are women. They carry books, novels and newspapers in a tray in front of them, and in little leather satchels upon their hips, for the private reading of travellers, lively little books which Mir. Comstock would not permit to be sold in New York. Finally, after an