The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-11

INIT you to pay all the expenses. The Nea-
politan guides have two propositions, one
to take their usual fec and lei you pay
everything. or to pay everything them
selves and take 90 much q day. This latter
proposition looks extremely alluring when
you set out for the two days excursion to
Pompeii. Amalh. Sorrento and Capri.
The guide 10 to engage the carriages.
secure rooms at the hotels. pay for them.
pay for meals. and In short do all the work.
All you have TO do is to ride from ono place
TO another n let him tell you oil about
them.
Now let us look into this business a little.
Suppose you buy one Of the cumulative
tickets mentioned by Baedeker for the
Pozzuoli and Baiae excursion. These will
cost you 10 lire as oentissimi for two per-
sons. The guide. furnished by the capo
stazione at Pozzuoli costs S lire more. The
cumulative ticket entities o to railway
transportation to Pozzuli m back TO a
carriage for the sights Of that place, B1iea.
&c. Luncheon at a delightful little albergo
ut Lake Lucrino or AZ the hotel at Baiea
will cost you about 7 lire more. or with a
bottle OF the local wine and your tip, 10
lire. The admission fees to the various
places which you must visit will amount
to another Q lire. The total. including
| the customary tip to the cabman, thus be-
comes 81 lire Is centissimi. or about $o.2S
Of United States money.
Even IL you permit yourself to be done out
Of say 81 more by local guides and func-
tionaries you will get Of for about 81.
II you take a Neapolitan guide the same
excursion will not cost you a cent under
s12. The Naples guide will surely persuade
you that o cannot with any comfort
go out 20 Pozzuoli on the railway n take
a cab there. He will inveigle you into TAX
ing a cab in Naples and hiring it for the
entire excursion at Is lire. or S.. His own
services cost 50. Luncheons and ad-
missions fees make up the rest. II you wish
TO make he whole trip in a carriage get
your hotel porter to hire one for you and
then do not take a guide. You will get the
cab this way for about 81 less and the cab
man will do all the guiding necessary. ex-
cept in one or two places, such as the Sofia
tara. where you can get a local guide for
? lire.
But this is by no means the most inter-
esting financial computation. The Naples
guide shines at his most dazzling refulgence
when he comes to bargain with you for the
trip to Pompeii, Amalf, Sorrento and Capri.
He can show you in a manner most winning
that it will profit you vastly to place your
entire confidence in him and permit him to
make all the arrangements. He is to &C
company you from Naples to P mreii,
guide you through the marvels OF the ruins.
take you thence in the luxury Of a two
horse carriage along the bewitching drive
to Cava, guard you over night from the
rapacity Of the proprietor Of the Hotel de
Londres while you lave your spirit in the
fountains Of eternal poesy poured forth
by the stars and the mountains, rid with
you along the famous road to Amalfi. point
ing out the many historical and picturesque
features Of the way; engage your room
at the Cappucini Hotel. watch over you
! while you eat your midday repast and rest
from the ardent sun. accompany you along
the road thence to wondrous Sorrento and
see that you dwell in peace and security
upon it's precipitous shores. take you on
ward to Cappi, exhibit to you the Blue
| Grotto, lead you up the magic slopes TO
Anacapri, show you the splendid picture
of Naples Bay from 100 feet above it's sap
phire waters, brim your cup with the Sc
ductive wine Of Capri. and in the end place
YOU on the o'clock train for Rome a wiser
and a happ er man.
For all this he is to charge you the in
significant sum of so lire per diem for each
person. 1t is nothingl You and your wife
shall Journey as the Caesars did and all for
$40 a day. Shall you then take trouble to
your soul as to carriages and guides ana
hotels? Perish the thought! When this
expedition has brought itself TO a finish
and you are smoking your after dinner
cigar in the train while that Celeritous
conveyance moves majestically on the
seven hilled city at the rate OF thirteen
miles an hour you will revive the thought.
You may then do a little figuring, for you
will nave learned some important facts.
In the first place you will have learned
that your guide was Of no use whatever
to YOU except in the ruins Of Pompeii, and
even there you could have had a local
guide for less money. The drive from
Pompeii TO Cava is over the worst road
YOU ever saw-rough, indescribably dusty.
as straight as a ruler and as picturesque
as a slate. All the way along that road your
guide sat silent and morose on the front
Seat. angry because he had to sit out in
the sun to earn the fee for which he did
nothing put sit.
From Java to Amali again this crafty
guide has absolutely nothing to do except
TO tell you that the waters IN front OF you
are the Gulf Of S~alerno, a fact which you
gathered from you Baedeker when you
were planning the trip at home. At Amalf
! he takes you into the church and again
| demonstrates his uselesSness by rafting
of some news from Baedeker.
From Amalfi to Sorrento he sits On the
front seat again and preserves a dignihed
silence at the rate Of $50 an hour. He
taxes YOU to your hotel. which you could
find without him. and there he tells you
hat the treat Of the evening is TO be the
I dancing Of the tarantella in the courtyard.
You attend this function, are bored 20
death by the cumbrous and awkward
leapings OF some frowsy peasants and their
stertoTous and wabbly singing. FOR this
YOU paw the impresario, a low proved
pirate in a sleek black suit, the sum Of
two lire for each person and depart shifting
Yourself hip and thigh because you did
not spend the evening on the terrace under
: the stars smoking deifying tobacco.
The mex; day the guide rides with you
on the steamer TO Capri, in the carriage
to Anacapri. in the carriage down the hill
again TO the landing and on the boat again
to Naples. He may be a guide, mo is surely
a philosopher, but hardly a friend, for he
: taxes YOUR coin and breathes not a syllable
of information. There is nothing to in
form about. IL is all Just view, view and
view. You do not need a guide to tell YOU
what IL worth seeing. And all for $50 n day,