The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-05-24
Perhaps .ypu've dreamt you dwell

Perhaps ''you We dreamt you dwelt
in marble halls and never expected to
realize that dream. Well, you Will if
you go to Genoa. You must. Palaces of
every description are there, and only
palaces. Some are kept in beautiful Or
der, with famous picture galleries at
tached-galleries that once were private
collections and hold some of the gems
of the world some are only second best !;
many are hotels now; scores are great
tenements, housing vast numbers of hap
py go lucky Italians, who cook Oh the
csS> cement lodges and hang their weeks
washing out of the front windows.
The hotel to which we went was once
palace, and beautiful one DeInOcra~
cy in my soul went down in one fell
swoop as I climbed those stately, shall
low stepped stairWays and entered a
vaulted chamber unlike anything [ had
ever before seen. In such a room Il Bor-
gia could have poisoned an enemy in q
most regal way without losing self re-
spect The great, shadOwy bed in d cur
tanned niche, reached by q series Of steps,
was a counterpart of the one in which
Othello is popularity supposed to have
srnOthered his in0ffensive wife [ real
lied then that to be killed in a car0-
pied bed with & medieval pillow had
compensations Of its own. The femme
de chambre, very pretty FreDchwo1n-
an, left Us alone as we surveyed the
place with smiling eyes until we made
disquieting discovery in a beautiful,
antique mirror supported on posts-our
faces were of a grayish blue tint, our
noses distressing pink, and our brows
were of marble, like the halls. Tho
beautiful room was not heated, and it
was raining, with the mercury at %
degrees. We summoned the femme dc
chambre and ordered a fire in our best
French, and all at once. But let me not
dwell on that fret was misft. Low
down on the ground in a space by 10
it sputtered its inofensive little life
away and left Us shiyering. Then we
sat down and conmuned as to the sort
of people who had built these beautiful
palaces after the pattern Of cold store
houses. No wonder the old portraits on
the walls showed icy glances and statu-
esque faces Of chilling type-they had
never known the comfort OF a big fire
and O'Clock tea on a dark winter day.
We left the Intellectual Pickering, and
donning extra cl0aks went out to see the
| town. The color Of the houses is gray
| of every conceivable shade, and in charm
ing harmony the shutters of the win
dows are jade green. Green is favorite
color OF the GenOese, and to right and
LETT, up struggling courts and stairwayed
streets lined by unusual looking shops,
we caught ginlpses of green umbrellas
made transparent by rain, of green
| shawls and awnings and the green har
Of Italy thrashed by the wind Oh many
| housetop.
The rain was pattering, the wind was
signing, and we were thinking of hone
as we went into the courtyard Of the
Brignole palace. Stairways9 of patched
marble led to tie great showrooms
where GaEoese ladies aad cavaliers once
flirted-who knows? They did not dis
cuss woman s rights. OF that we were
sure, for in those days they were con
tent with so few they were scarcely
worth speaking Of Through the great
cold windows we had glimpses of the
roof gardens On battlemented wing