Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-04-25
Letter From Frank Harris.

Letter From Frank Harris.
ORIl.E
ORILE, Italy, Aprll q, 1901.-Here
we, another young American and my
self, are up in an inn in the mountains
some forty miles from Rome. We
left Rome this morning at $50 to walk
to Brscciano and we found that place
Sd charming we decided to continue
our walk and go to Viterbo tomorrow.
An pretty we'll used up tonight but
tomorrow ut S again Ill he ready for
another stroll.
We got good early start this morn
ing and luck was with us. We had q
c oudy sky and that made an ideal day
for walking. Nothing of interest hap
pened in the first ten miles; the coun-
try could hardly be called picturesque.
It was the dreariest part Of Italy L
have seen yet, and l find that I've
made mistake in one of my earlier
letters. ] spoke about every inch of
the ground being under cultivation;
so II was on the other side of Rome,
but l lind that on this side there is an
endless amount that lies idle, and 1
can't understand it because it all
seemed like fine land. Mile after mile
as we walked We passed no one and
that shows that there is not much
traffic on these roads. 1t was the way
when we first left Rome, that is for
the first fifteen or twenty miles, but
after that there seemed to be more
people.
We arrived at Braccian0 at about
OF l: 80 and it was certainly worth, not
a twenty mile, but 100 or 1000 mile
trot, and l never have understood why
it was that Sir Walter Scott wouldn't
come to Rome. They couldn't get him
away from Bracciano; nor do 1 blame
him. The city or rather village has
about 2, 500 inhabitants and is situated
on the side of big hill. At the very
top of the hill is the old castle, built in
the fifteenth century, and is now the
property of the Princess Odescalchi.
The Princess arrived Unexpectedly to-
day and they all told US it would be
impossible to go through 1t, but we
went to the steward and gave him 9
really sad "hard luck" and he gave us
q pass to go through. Well, it was in
teresting. The old bed rooms, with
out end, the libraries, the dining
rooms, the kitchen and all made very
interesting sight. 1t is all furnished
with the old furnishings Of the fif-
teenth century and that alone made it
doubly interesting. One room, the
wedding chamber, fixed up in the old
style was something wonderful. The
drawings on the walls and the frescoes
on the ceiling would bring tears to the
eyes of the average bride and groom
They certainly were interesting to say
the least. l hardly think I'll go there
to spend my honeymoon. From the
top of the castle one sees one of the
grandest sights that eye can see. The
castle is just about $50 feet above q
beautiful lake that is about ten miles
wide and twenty miles long, and there
is most beautiful mountain range
in the distance. U, it makes such 9
wonderfully beautiful picture that one
just has to fight with themselves to
get away from it. On our way down
we had the pleasure to meet the Prin-
cess and her party and she seemed
quite charming. Gave us q really
friendly nod. After doing the castle
We went down to the lake and had a
little bath. 1t was pretty cold but
really enjoyed it, and it is such re-
lief to get away from the city. / hate
to think of going back.
After spending about an hour at the
lake we went back to the city, had
dinner, then decided to go farther, and
tonight we are in the finest little place
way up in the mountain, but it is Ger
tainly more interesting than it would
be in some big "Grand Hotel" in some
of the larger cities. This is the only
way to know the people and their Gus
toms, ard really they are good and
very friendly people, and it's the fact
we Americans have such poor idea
of them. If you'll only treat an Ital-
ian with any kind Of respect you'll find
that he is one of the kindest of men.
Sitting around us are about twenty.
five of the hardest looking fellows, but
they all seem kind and willing to do
anything they can to make our shor,
stay pleasant. One old fellow just
came up and asked US If there was
anything that he could do for US. II
we wanted anything outside of the
Hotel. That's what he called 1t, yet
really think he got the accent on
the wrong place. Another fellow over
here with nothing but pair of cow
hide pants, with the COW outside, and
q coat and necktie on, seems to think
that we are about the funniest things
he has seen in years. Well, perhaps
we are but I'll bet we'll not come half
as near freezing ii we we're caught
outside.
1t is cold up here and most cheer
ING fire ia cracking in hjo omen fire.