Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-12-02
A GLIMPSE OF ITALY,
STRANGE WAYS OF DOING THINGS IN
THAT SUNNY LAND.

THAT SUNNY LAND.
"A Peculiar Custom Which Would
Bother an American-A Roman Flu.
neral IL a strange and Startling
sight ia q Stranger.
An old adago says, ''When in Rome, do
as tho Romans do" but it is q question
whether the average American tourist ever
learns the customs of the Romans. Even
people who have lived in the Eternal City
fail to observe many of tho traits and ways
Of the Romans in their daily life. An
Engllshman who was m old resident of
Rome was put to shame by an American
sohoolteachcr of 20 who asked him II he
knew why they chopped SO little wood in
Italy. He had taken upon himself the
office Of general dispenser of information
among the guests, and, not being willing
to confess ignorance, he blurted out:
"Ah, yes; I fawncy it must be the want
Of wood hand tho smallness Of the hax."
But tho young woman-and she came
from New York oity-explained to him
that tho real reason was that they sawed
most of the wood. She showed the guests
how tho Italians hold tho saw between
their heels and knees and draw the log
across the teeth. These are little things,
but they go to mako up a peoples person.
ality and are curious facts for foreigners.
When one vehicle passes another in
Italy, the driver keeps to the left. The
pedestrians act in tho same way. Some
foreigners go through Italy from Naples to
Milan and at the end wonder why it was
that tho Italians persisted in getting into
their way.
The native Roman eats two meals a day,
one, tho colazione, or breakfast, at noon;
the other, the prnnzo, or dinner. from 2
to 9 In the evening. Black coffee is a IA
vorite drink among the women at the
cafes, but tea is seldom used. 1t costs usu-
ally 10 cents acup. italian bread is made
without salt, which is under a heavy tax
and is classed with tobacco and stamps.
Wherever ono is sold there also you may
purchase the other two commodities.
AS for the owners of bicycles, they have
q hard time. Each rider must take out a
license for himself. He can ride no other
wheel but his own and should he permit
his brother to uso his wheel without a H.
cense the authorities would seize and re-
tain the machine until q heavy fine was
paid.
Another peculiar custom is the way in
which an Italian will beckon with his
hand. In America people wave the hand
toward them when they desire a PERSONS
approach. In Italy it is just the opposite.
When an italian waves q goodby to you
with his hand, you imagine he is calling
you back, and if he wants you to approach
he motions with his land as Americans
do in making q gesture of repulsion.
In Now York there are morning and
evening papers with q liberal outflow of
extras between. In Italy the papers reach
tho public about 8 O'Clock at night.
About every school door when classes
for the day have been finished you will see
a gathering Of men and women. These
are the parents, who come to carry home
the books of their children.
When the family wash is ready, the
mother carries the basketful Of clothes on
her head to the public washhouse, ready
for action. Every one loves the queen.
She is very devout and every now and ther.
steals from her palace dressed in plain
black and mingles with the worshipers in
tho churches. AS for the king-well, that
is another story.
Bananas and peanuts are never seen in
Italy. AS for hand organs and the festive
monkey, they are seldom seen in the city
streets. A peasant from the mountains
bringing in vegetables to sell to the city
folks must pay a tax at the gate before he
can enter the walls. At the first sign Of
snow Roman %schoolboys have a holiday.
There are a great many suicides In
Rome, and tho favorite way is to throw
oneself over the Pincian wall or to go to
the Suicide bridge out on the Alban hills
and leap from it on to the rocks 300 feet
below. And when q person has thus end
ed his life the natives think it proper to
out a small cross on the spot where he or
she plunged to death. As many as II
crosses have been counted in as many feet,
and the bridge is rather long.
To refuse q pinch of snuff Is q grievous
insult. 10 walk in the sunlight is to class
yourself with dogs and barbarians. To
enter a shop and to walk out without MAX
ing a purchase is to call down upon your
head the wrath Of an Italian tongue,
whose superlative curses would make a
New York truckman green with envy.
The reason of this is that the windows of