The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-07-18
Or. Landlord Tells Of the Impressions of
His Visit to Rome.
A SCENE OF WONDER AND ENcHARTMENT
Sf.rctcr's tho Adm irntion ana Dcspai,
OF NIL Architects - Indcscril,nn,.
4, Ruins OF tho "Fortlui'' ma the
Peerless rnntheon--A visit To
Historic ..Capitolinc."
Norfolk Va, July S, 1897.
Rome, Italy, july s. lS17.

itollle, 1laly, j uly =, 1871.
AS promised 4 letter TO the dear old
Virginian 1 will try to comply, although
am not forgetful OF the fact that many
or lis readers arc not interested in Inc OF.
this letter. They can find something;
else 10 read in this issue. But others
subscribers Of yours in Norfolk, are
friends indeed, ard maybe Interested in
short letter written in Rome We
had q delightful voyage across the At
lantic arriving at the everlasting rocha
or Gibraltar June 2lst. The tenth day
after leaving New York. Here we frs.
saw the beautiful tropical plants, flow
ers, and fruits, and the only section in
Europe where monkeys raise wild IN
the forests The barren coast Of the
dark continent" lay south Of US, but
we did not so over to aid in missionary
work. After few hours spent III sight
seeing at Gibraltar we boarded our
great ship and steamed up the historic
Mediterranean Sea. Portugal, Spain
FRANCE, and Italy, strct ched out to the
north Of us, and here the panoramic view
hcggars all description. From near the
waters edge, rising up the slcNing hills
| Tor about q mile, are the finest truck
gardens probably in Europe; then high
er up the mountains was the fruit tree
and surrounding all could be distinctly
seen the Maritime Alps, covered ten to
twenty feet deep in the whitcSt snow
l ever bcheld, for there was not cloud.
and the sun was very bright. Over Sc
degrees Fahrenheit where VIC were, and
on the Alps, sixty miles away, 90 de-
grecs Fahrenheit, 1000 feet above the
sea.
We were two days and nights passing
up the Mediterranean, with this magnt-
fccnt panorama before us Genoa our
destination, was reached on tho night OF
June sd. This Is Il Ne.y old and historic
city Of nearly 800, Coo Inhabitants. We
were greatly entertained With its Won
ders for two days. Being impatient to
pull on the Italian boot we did 80 ny
starting down the coast by rail to the
proud little city of Pisa. Twenty-four
hours Of hard work prepared us Tor NOV
ing on down the boot, arriving at the
eternal city OF Rome about 12'p. IN. Sa-
| turday night. From the time which
| lIomulus and Remus entered Rome all
down through the ages. no happier man
ever entered the eternal city than the
writer with his fair and lovely Virginia
bride. We read the first chapter Of Ro-
mans ana slept witt; the Romans
When I arose next morning ana looked
out of my window over Rome l cannot
describe 70 my friends how felt l at
| tempted TO dig UP as best I could my
mcagrc supply Of Roman history. 1
thought OF the ever-to-bc loved and
sainted Paul being brought here pri-
soncr; OF Martin Iilthcr; then came up
Horace, and Virgil, and Livus, the lat
ter aftc" whom 1 was named; the dead
6rutuS, the asaatssInati ton OF Caesar. II
had been the dream of my life to Visit
historic Italy. Six years ago, when I
went TO Berlin for study, it was inpossi-
bile 10 visit Italy for my tine was linn
! ,tcd. This life dream is now being fully
realized. The first thing we Ola &efore
he2inning our work on ancient EOmc
was 10 drive 10 the world renowned st
| Peters, description Of which Is simply
| impossible I; lis undoubtedly tho admit
ration and despair of al architects, and
will be through I'LL ages to come.
| AS every boy ltnnws. Rome Is built
upon seven hills. We visited "Capito-
line" first which is the most important
TO the tourist. Standing OH the highest
| point OF the hill, we had old and new
Rome in magnificent view. The other
sN hills. with irnumerable points of
| interest. were designated by our guide
| Oh, such a panorama! Tower after
! tower in such picturesque ruins; the
historic Tiber, coming down from tho
mountains as far as the eye could sec
| aud dividing the city, having 4 hun
dced times been Redeemed by the blood
Of martyrs and warriors. We looked
| out upon The Forum In full view ana
remembered! that the history OF old
Rome WAS correctly written there. Sure
ly the most wonderful drama Of this
world have been enacted jllst before III.
I stood and sazcd upon these indesciii-
able ruins until l was as speeches. "a
| The marble statuo; about me. I even
forgot my beautiful bride at my side
| until she pinchcu my arm, saying
| what Is the matter with you?" Is;tt
IL IS not my intention 10 write about
those things In Rome which a,c 20
often mentioned by visitors, witl, TIC
cXcepAion OF the peerless pantheon"
To have studied this building alone
would pay for 6. visit to Rome. II IS a
feet historically that this Incompatible
cuitice was erected tWcnty-scvcn years
before the birth cf Christ by xAgripDa
Explorations ma dc in 1891 proved what
was before historical. It's aple. did state
OF preservation would cause one 10
think that j; would stand two thousand
years longer The old or historic Rome
Is now 4 perfect show ground to which
come from the States alone over thirty
thousand educated and well to do visit
ol5 annually. They sl,eEd from one
hundred 10 enc hundred anG my dol
lars each before leaving thu city. Hou
can do absolutely nothing without pay
ing for it, We pay for every glass; OF
! Ice water we drink. We we:n fortunate
enough 10 secure tho services ~ guide
OF professor or languages IN one OF
the colleges hero. Tic Informed us tina:
X sfc six o.! aeron millions OF dollars LEI,
hove annually hy tourists should be
Withdrawn Oh. var Rcmo gould suffer
t no ikpSercat financial panic ever known.
In just a few lincss Wish 10 speak or the