St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-04-23

party were out to see the review.
The celebration will give such an excel
lent idea OF modern Rome and ltaly's
prestige that will try and describe it,
though can give you little idea OF the
brilliancy of the scene. Long before 10
O'Clock in the morning the square was
lined with people and the ngheaded
sghtseers rented chairs for Is cents
apiece to stand upon as the troops
marched by. First came the royal car
riage with the Queen and her mother. On
the box were two men in scarlet livery
heavily trimmed with gold and behind
the ladies sat two footmen, also attired
in scarlet. The Queen is very popular
with the people and bowed cordially to
the crowd as she drove by to take her
place in the square. Next came King
Humbert on magnifcently-caparisone
Arabian horse, and by his side rode
Persian ambassador who was dressed in
white and green. King Hunbert is an
unusually handsome man with heavy
white moustache and he has very mill
tary air about him. Behind the King
came his royal guard mounted on white
horses. The King stopped near the
Queens carriage and the guards formed
hollow square waiting for the troops
to pass. In the next hour 10000 troops
passed by, including the artillery men
and two regiments Of cavalry. This rep
resented the garrison OF Rome, which is
about half the standing army of the
United States.
Each regiment was preceded by their
band of about so pieces. The band
halted opposite the King and played
while their own regiment was passing.
The troops passed in double platoons 16
men deep. The King touched his hat to
each platoon and the Queen bowed as
the platoon passed her carriage. The
soldiers were unusually handsome in
their close-ftting clothes and each reg-
ment had different trimmings on their
uniforms. The prevailing color of the
Uniform was light lavender, and the
variety of the trimmings consisted of a
wide green stripe on the pants of one
regiment, orange in another, red in
another and so on. Some OF the reg-
ments had seen hard lighting in the
recent Abyssinian war, and the colors of
these were all riddled with bullet holes
The Kings sharpshooters came last, led
by their band, and they passed the peo-
pie and the royal family on a double
quick. This regiment was magni6cently
dressed, wearing long feather plumes on
their heads. The crowd for the first and
only time during the parade broke into
cheer as his crack regiment of all Italy
went by and cheered themselves hoarse.
The effect of their arrival was much
heightened by their band crossing the
square on the double quick, playing as
they ran. After the artilerymen came
two regiments of cavalry, preceded by
their mounted bands, and the review was
over. In the Afternoon the military
bands played in all the parks and in the
evening the city was partially illumi-
mated.
The same week general elections were
held all over Italy for the chamber of
deputies which corresponds to our house
of representatives. The senators are all
appointed by the King, and they hold
their position for life. Besides few Of
his personal friends, the King appoints
the leading statesmen and scholars of
his realm. The Cretan war had added
new interest to the elections as some of
the candidates announced their opposi-
ton to the government joining with the
other European powers against Greece
We were in Bologna the day before cleo
ton, and the streets were filled with
people discussing politics. The next Cay
was election day, and on this day we
were in Venice. 1t was Sunday, but rel-
gion and politics were very badly mixed
during the day. When we went out to
the Piazza San Marco, a strange sight
met our eyes. This square, one of the
largest in Europe, is rectangular in shape
and on three sides surrounded by mercan.
tile blocks, while St. Marks church COM
pletes the rectangle. Arcades extend
around three sides of the Piazza, and the
big stone pillars were all covered with
posters telling the citizens who to vote
for that day. Besides the regular parties
there was the independent democratic
candidate, but whether the mugwumr
candidates were elected do not know
The posters were Of different colors
and the sight of this historic square
covered with election bills would have
startled even Doge OF Venice could he
have seen it. This mixing OF the ancient
and modern exists all over Italy, and
perhaps l have previously referred to
the fact that you take the train for Pom
pei and the trolly car for the Roman
Forum. Monday morning the city
workmen were all over the city scrapinp
the posters from the buildings, and b,
night you would never have supposed
that an election poster ever existed il