Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-20
DRAWBACKS IN ITALY
Conditions in Hotels Dishonor to
Nation.
SERIOUS INCONVENIENCE
Journeys by Carriages in Central
Italy.
COUNTRY IS VERY ENCHANTING
Poor Food Served Tourists-Health Of
Many NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Keeping Away.


ROME, July 2O.-According to an Italian
writer, one Of the drawbacks to travelling
in Italy is the hotels The condition of the
hotels in these f-the-way places Is
such as to dishonor a civilized country,
just as a defeat in war might In many
places hotels are even wanting because
travelling strangers are wanting, and I'M
der these conditions and circumstances the
writer does not hold the natives greatly to
blame. Occasionally in such places the Wis
ttor has to seek lodging in a private res
fdence. If the traveller is furnished with
the proper letters of recommendation he
finds that the ancient hospitality prevails.
the "signori' of the place offering their
hSuse, their carriage and their table to the
visitor during his stay, and all with the
most exquisite courtesy.
Not to speak of the places that are in
significant and without any special attrac-
lions where the stranger would never de-
sire to stop, there are cities and towns
which are centers of art and history, or
are starting places for excursions. or which
are Joyous in the possession of fair views
and pure, fresh air.
One of the peculiar features met with in
central Italy is that of having the towns
far distant from the railway station, and
to reach your destination you may have to
pass from one to two or more hours in
what is facetiously termed diligence and
sometimes still more facetiously called a
carriage. To begin with, says the Travelling
Italian, this Is a serious Inconvenience
But when the journey has to be made I'M
der burning sun or in the midst of sun
and rain. in a horrible old, disconnected
vehicle with one door that will not open
and another that will not shut, driven by a
jehu eighty years Of age or a boy of seven,
dragged by an indescEbable rosinante
whether horse or mule or donkey, the
deEtaking becomes serious affair. You
can, II you are good-natured and If one
of your fellow travellers is not given to
disappearing and the otner to lamenting the
evil state of affairs, amuse yourself by
looking abroad on the country, which, as
often happens, Is enchanting in its pic
turesQue beauty. Sometimes, too you may
laugh at the wftticisms of the driver or a
passenger. But when you reach the inn
you laugh no more.
The inn is of various kinds. It is al
ways or nearly always set in the noisiest
center, where the population Is most
numerous and where every view Of the
surrounding lanscape is shut out. 1t is
the Anticipated '1ocanda," or lodging
where the host and hostess do all of the
work. They receive the guests, clean the
rooms wash the linen, keep the accounts
do the cooking and carry on the CONVEX
saton. This, says the Italian Traveller,
is what Is called the 'old style dirty and
good-natured. 1t Is not infreQuent that
the mistress of the house, showing you
into your room and pointing out the
sleep-destroy1ng bed, the rickety chairs
the wash basin no larger than a soup
plate, with a water jug that looks like
coffee pot, turns to you with prodgious
serenity. saying, las for cleanliness, don't
let that trouble you. sir! 1 take care of
that myself, and 1 know that cleanliness
in a hotel is everything!"
1t is needless to follow the writer into
other details-the signs that the floor has
been unswept and VIGOROUSLY unwashed
for months; the lost hairpin of some I'M
tidy waiting maid; the cigar ashes left so
long ago by some untidy tenant who strove
to deaden the musty smell OF the place, and
other evidences of neglect.
These and other things, such as poor
food rendered unfit for human beings
by wretched cookery. make tour in GER
tain parts of Italy a series of adventures
and not always adventures of the most
pleasant kind very celebrated art
critic, who in the pursuit of his
searches was obliged to visit every VII
lage and town of Umbria and the Nlarche,
had his health ruined by bad and insult
ficient nourishment; even the almost uni
versal egg was not to be had. AS a rule
in even the most neglected hotels inns
it usually happens that the bed linen is
clean; though In Valmontone in the au
tumn seasons, when fruits are piled up in
the bedroom and insects of many kinds
inhabit these rooms, 1t Is often the part
of wisdom to sit up all night and let
these insects fight out q sort of tribal
war among themselves.
Americans who are pouring into Europe
by the thousands and tens OF thousands
will, unless they are accustomed to rough
ing it, do well to keep out of many sec
tons of the interior of Italy. AS a general
thing, by hugging the seaport cities they
can get along. and if worst comes to worst
can head for some fair-szed town and
find boat and make their way back to the
comforts of civilization.
Victor Emanuel III, the King of Italy, is
not only of the most "constitut onal"
of kings but he is one of the most demo-
cratic. He has recently been interviewed,
and he openly says that he takes little In
terest in politics. leaving to his ministers
the duty of Regulating the affa rs of the
nation. He prefers. he says, meeting the
people themselves; attending the inaugura-
ton of art exhibitions, the laying of foun-
dalton stones and the reception of the nu-
merous prncely and notable persons who
visit Italy
In giving his opinion of the Italian poet
Giosue Carducci. and the French poet and
novelist. Victor Hugo, the king said that II |
was his belief that the French peonle road
fewer of the works of Carducci in the orio
maj and knew much less about him than
was the case with the Italians in references
10 victor hugo. The king is also an en-
thusiastic automobilist and in the discourse.
between the interviewer and Victor Emane
uel III upon this subject his majesty ex. |
pressed the opinion that the motor Industry
was still in its infancy
Excavations on Palatine Hill which mo,
the site of the ancient city of Rome founded
by Romulus and afterward the spot selected
by Augustus and his successors in the en-
pire for the palace of the Caesars have lust
revealed the existence in the CENTER ~ tbe
hill of a very important tomb, situated be-
meath the foundations of early construc-
tons. 1t resembles the most ancient tombs
of Etruria and seems to have been imi-
tated from the shepherds huts In the Cam