The times., 1901-04-21
TYPES OF ANCIENT ROMANS.
Reincnrnntions of the Nobfest In
New Yorl.'s Italian PurIieus.
CFrom the New York ueTald.)

fErom tne New 1ofh HtsdfiJ
The majority of untraveled Americans.
reading little and moving in narrow soc
ial grooves. have always held nrrnly TO
the idea that Italians. as race, were OF
the 'dago' type which broken gasplpes
and new cartracks have made familiar IN
our streets. provincial woman re-
marked the other day, apropos OF the en-
gagement made abroad of a young
American girl to an Italian gentleman.
Isn't it shame to think that nice,
dainty American girl should marry one
Of them?" apparently believing that her
though honest. living with the help OF an
organ and a monkey. All the ItaIlans she
knew did that; ergo, all the ltalians III
Italy must do it, The absurdity OF the re-
mark and the implied opinion would pei =
haps have been apparent TO her had she
| really thought the thing over; but she
| yielded naturally enough TO the ignorant
| prejudice which surrounded her. rms
| sort of thine is merely amusing TO other
and more cultivated Americans and 10
| Italians themselves; but there is anoLhet
| fallaCy, less unreasonable, 10 the ehe51
| that the ''dagos' of this country are al
most exclusively of an ignOb1e type, not
| at all suggestive of the grandeur tha'
was Rome
seem to resemble the city mob which had
to be fed with corn and amused by mur-
/ der in the Coliseum rather than the ali
conquering legions OF Pompey or
| Caesar But il is fairly certain that the
| popular conception of those world mas
| ters is based with Anslo-Saxor, un-
| imaginative hard-headedness on the
ideals of a very different race; and the
| resemblance between the actual lower
| class Italian of today and the idea
| Roman pIeheian of the past may be great
er than is commonly supposed However
even nowadays, and in Mulberry Bend. II
| is possible to find types which approx
| mate those made familiar by the sculptor'
of ancient Rome.
one day. in Elizabeth Street. chance lee
an observer TO seek shop where hanc
organs were made. When the boss
stepped forward 10, il was no less
person than Germanicus, round faced anC
pleasant. but obviously ruler of men
His legions were saving wood and nttlns
screws with diligence under his command
ing though kindly eye. Dignity sa
amiably upon him as he answered ques
| tions Fate now called him to maxi
| organs instead of to avenge the honor o
Rome, but he meant TO do the one a
| faithfully as the other
| Again in Mulberry Bend Park one day
| sat Cicero, taking care OF his grandeur
dren-an old and wrinkled cicero, "a
peasanter in his humble reincarnatiol
| than in his consular days. He had bee
| gifted this time with a sense of humO
| rather painfully lacking aforetime.
! twinkled in his kindly old eyes as n
tickled the baby's chin or watched hi
slightly older descendant as that younS
| ster toddIed about His contribution Z
the welfare of the State. while less strlk
ing than that rendered nearly two thou
| sand years ago. was extremely useful L
the domestic economy of one crowde
tenement. Certainly he was doing ~
duty. and apparently wasn't going to tai
so much about it as was his wont in day
! of yore Mark Antony was appropriated
| discovered in small restaurant dTlnkln
wine. There were no pearls in IT, althoug
the sentimental passer-by might have of
fered in their place a tear of sympathy 70
his fallen estate. But even the infatuat te
Cleopatra would have preferred hiT
cleaner.
Coming to later days. one finds ais
types of medieval Italy \ Photographic
interested in the study Of such faces on
dav looked idly from his window and sa7
Dante grinding an organ across the way
: Dante was willing TO pose-was. IN FAC
| willing to do anything for money-an
? ! 50 his picture was made. He doesn't kno'
how to write and has forgotten all abor
Beatrice, but has probably in the cours
, of his hard life become familiar agal
| with the Inferno.