The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-05-16
in FLORENCE, ITALY.
Mr.. Campbell In tho Ancient City
ofArt and Science.
A VISIT TO THE CITY OF GENOA,
Tho Homo of Columbrs..-AIcn Who
Do Business for II Valuable Consid.
cration.-.Ilistorlc Places OF Interest
rs Viewed From tho Top of tho
Great Cathodral. Worth n Trip to
F]lorcncc...A City Moro than Two
Thousand Years Old.
corre,pondcnct Of the EnhNiamcfr.

D.. ."
Special Correspondence otthe Intelligence.
FLORENCE, ITALY, April Ell left
Rome for this city over two weeks ago,
and since that time l have been TO
Genoa and Pisa, two ancient and his
toric cities OF Italy, and now | am back
here again. Those two places were not
in my original route OF travel, import.
ant as they aro, but l am not sorry that
I made the trip. went out Of my way
to meet a couple Of friends who had
come 10 Italy on tho steamer "Werra"
direct from New York to Genoa, by the
new German Lloyd line to that city.
Wo came back hero together, stopping
on our way at Pisa to soc the famous
leaning tower, mn cdifice OF singular
construction that has been II feet out
OF plumb for over $50 years, and that
is, so to speak, q solccism in architect.
ure. 1t was in this extraordinary
tower that Calico made some OF his
early experiments in science, for he
was q native OF Pisa and 4 professor in
its famous university.
Of course Genoa Is n city well worth
seeing, not only becauseit was the birth
place Of Columbus, but because it is
otherwise famous. II was the Amstor-
dam OF Italy in the middle ages, and is
to-day its chief commercial seaport. ]
am glad to have had tho opportunity OF
spending three or four days within its
walls and while there OF seeing, among
other interesting objects, those ancient
manuscripts OF Columbus that figure so
prominently and humorously in Mark
Twain's "Innocents Abroad" Like the
sacred relics at Rome they are kept
under various locks and keys, each n
the complement OF tho other, and the
keeping of the keys is not entrusted to
a common individual whose mind runs
mainly on fees and gratuities, but to n
high officer who examines we'll your
credentials before he throws tho bolt,
and once satisfied on that point becomes
thereafter entirely disintcrested in his
courtesies and explanations.
coLUMBUs's REAL NAME.
The great navigator who discovered
America did not sign his letters and
documents in q way that was in the
slightest degree ineligible to me. His
name in Italian is "Christolfo Columbo,"
but his writing was wholly in Spanish
and his signature was simply this,
~ no. Fevens," meaning, rs We were
told, christopher, follower OF Christi
This lookeda little cabalistic and affec-
ted for such a practical man as Column.
bus, but no doubt Ferdinand and Isa-
bella and all others whom it might par
ticularly concern. understood Just why
the great man chose to subscribe him
self thus. There vera people in those
days who wero firmly OF the opinion
that Columbus was mentally of his bal
ance. We were shown q painting to
this effect. portraying Columbus in the
net OF explaining his theory to q lot Of
church dignitaries, all Of whom we're
laughing in their sleeves at his e~xplana-
tons and one of whom was significantly
tapping his head to indicate that the
great theorist wa3 crazy. Just how
narrow an escape We Americans had of
never being discovered 1 presume We
will never know. One thing is certain
that Columbus was pretty well worn
out with rebufls and ridiculs when he
finally struck oil at the court Of Spain.
That was n lucky day for George Wash
ington, Thomas Jefferson, General Grant
and several othe. people. Tho cruel
mockery OF the whole business, however,
is the factthatthis man had lis discorery
finally stolen from him by Amerigo
Fespucci and did not give his namo to
the new world. Like poor old Moses,
lie did not enter into the promised land.
The Genoese people seem to have ar
rived at their present appreciation OF
Columbus somewhat late in the day.
The fine, heroically sized monument to
his memory that adorns their city
was not erected, as / observed, until
1864, or nearly 400 years after he had
performed tho exploit that immortal
lied both him and them. Perhaps they
always felt ashamed, Us indeed they
might we'll feel, that with all their mar
atimo wealth and prestige in 1902 they
compelled their illustrious fellow citi-
zen to seek q favorable hearing abroad.
1t was the old story OF a prophet being
without honor among his own people.
At this present time they are getting
up n European Chicago Exposition in
honor OF tho 400th anniversary OF the
great event with which their city is nc
cidentally but nevertheless indissolubly
connected, and really they seem to be
making somewhat extensive prepare.
tons for u great layout of goods and
wares and articles and monuments OF
urt. 1t is understood that it will be an
international affair and that the United
States will take part in it.
GESoESE ENTERPRISE.
Thus you see that Genoa still main.
tains her Amsterdam character and
still has an eye wide open for
trade. She is going to make all she can
out of poor old Columbus while ostensi.
bly, doing honor to his memory. The
historien says that her people always
did have q marked genius for trade and !
believe him, and for tho following per-
sonal reason: l was OH the hunt OF
Cook & Co.'s Office 1.-THE we'll known
tourist agency to get somo English
funds converted, or, failing in that, to
find q certain bank that l had the'name
OF on q card. l stopped in the street,
at q parting Of the ways, to make m in
quiry as to tho particular "via" that
was to take, and just rs I was receiving
instructions by gestures and such few
Italian words as I could understand, a
gentleman came along, q very suhstan-
tial looking citizen, dressed like a thor
ough business man, to whom my card
was shown and who at once recognized
it and proceeded to indicate that hewas
pninu TINT WAY mud would mint ol,t tho