Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-06-02


little relation to tho language OF polite
italy. In the better parts OF the town
strangers come and go with little notice
but stunning" has not become fashion
able here. for reasons that ! fully ap-
preciate, and any foreign savage I'm these
quarters is sure to receive more attention
than Is desirable
Al any rate, turned into one OF these
narrowest streets OF the world. much tC
the delight OF the nearest group OF littl,
boys and girls who were warming them
selves in the sun OF the outer street. and
who instantly followed. In the first few
steps i encountered a stout barefoot wO-
man with a large basket on her head
and It seemed certain that one or other
of us must retire; but we managed some
how, and I'm moment more q slight
turn In the alley put me completely out
OF sight Of the main street. The walls
Ike those in front, were anything bu,
straight and occasionally bulged out
ward to such an extent that there was
barely room for one person to pass. No
body living In these streets could have
wardrobe or even a big trunk, for
there would be no possible way of get
ting 1t in. At the first intersection
turned TO the tight into another way OF
about the same width. equally dark and
dirty and damp. AS 10 light, it is not
light enough I'm any of these narrow
streets to read a newspaper by at mid
day. Then another turn, to the left this
time. showed me that was i'm a maze OF
narrow alleys. all precisely like the first,
I shut in by walls so high that above
I them there showed only a narrow rib
| bon Of blue sky. And about that time |
discovered that among the children who
! followed the chase with great persist
! ence, was a man of somewhat piratical
| appearance. in a broad -brimmed slOuch
! hat. aery-red handkerchief about his
neck, and shabby black coat. and. see
| ing me take some notice OF him, this man
| FASTENED forward.
! AN ENGLISH SPEAKING GUIDE
TURNS UP.
| have little faith i'm the common no.
ton that every Italian carries a knife
up his sleeve or in his boot and is con-
sumed with a constant desire 10 shed
blood. having found them. both here and
in America, to be generally Woodworking
and peaceable people, especially In their
relations with foreigners. But in such
situation it seemed desirable to have so
desperatO-looking a character in front
rather than behind me, so l waited for
him 10 come uD.
Bon jour, Msleurw said he. with Il
touch Of his hat, when the narrow street
had brought US into very close quarters.
What do you WANT" l asked in Eng
lish
"Ah you spkka re Fngleeser' ne ex-
claimed; me spikka re Engeese'' with
a furious tapping OF his chest Me
spikka all re .angwitcn. You looka al
re tall house? You yecsh 10 see re Old
streets? Ne be your guida. Me know
this quartere verr well; oh, verr Well"
L.. ~
where one would have expected to find
an Enelish-speakng guide; but fate pro-
duced him at precisely the right moment.
After a little haggling over terms. with
out which nothing can be done i'm italy.
h became my duly installed guide, and
| soon found that we could get along
much better I'm French than in English,
as he had lived i'm Toulon. and he knew
provincial French moderately well.
Being thus free TO ask him questions,
7 began upon the people who had begun
u surround us, both men and women,
and who seemed to have sprung from
the ground.
These are the people who emigrate 20
America-to my country" / began.
They look just like the Italians who
lend in New York"
"Ah. no." he answered; and need not
nunciation Of both English and French
words. "These people do not go to the
foreign countries Oh. sometimes, OF
course. But the Gehoese do not much
ike to leave their homes, where they are
very happy II is from the Champagne
country that the people come who go to
foreign lands. You would think that in
the campagne the people would have
mere TO eat than we, but it is not So
They are often without food when we of
Genoa have plenty and are well off,
PENALTY OF BEING AN AMERICAN. |
The actions of the crowd that gathered
around US, however, did not bear out
he guides statement. His first act of |
usefulness was 10 drive away the boys !
who had been following the stranger:
but he could not drive away the grown |
people who took their places. and either |
by accident or design, he let fall the i'm |
portant information that the stranger /
was an American. From that moment |
my quiet prowling among the slums of |
Genoa became triumphal procession; |
my visit an impromtu reception. Men /
and women crowded their way up TO me. |
and l had to shake hands that had not |
been washed for months. There was
more in that, too, than appears upon the
surface, for in this country a peasant
would not ordinarily think Of taking such
liberty with gentleman-namely. a man
who wears decent clothes and does not |
have TO eat roast chestnuts But an
Americanl In America one man Is as
good as another, as we all know, and
Antonio working on the sewers goes into
the White House I'm the evening and
smokes his pipe with the President Many
were the Inquiries made. through the
after Pietro and Alfonso, and |
some harder names, who had gone 10 !
New York, and, or course, must be known
10 me. 1t would have been truly affect
ing If l had not known the European
peasant so well. To be an admirer of
America and the Americans was GER
ainly worth a cent; but to have brother
Or d cousin IN New York was a sight
iraft for two cents at least
My copper change gave out at an early
stage, and / was taken into one of the
little shops TO secure a fresh supply,
ana so had chance TO see a shop front
ng upon street three feet wide. 1t
VAS very much like some of the little
,piceries of Marseilles. but smaller, dark
n. emptier. Sugar in an old CANDLE
box; few strings of garlic; eggs; some
resh vegetables and more things con-
aimed in odds and ends OF wood and
PAPER baxes and not exposed 10 view
Hhe proprietOrship of one of these places
involves possession of the shop in front
md Il single room in the rear, ir which
he family eat and sleep and live,
whether there are two persons or ten
AS my guide lived In one of the tall
houses 1 had no difficulty in being taken
through ii, which was one Of the chief
,ojects of my explorations. There was