La Junta tribune., 1908-08-15
CoRRGSPonD

chairs where you can fall asleep
while the barber shaves you. but
you sit here in plain. straight back
common chair and the barber twists
your head and you break your neck
while he scrapes' your face for
ten cents, unless he discovers you
are an American. and then the bar
Der reverses the rule and instead of
your doing in Rome as the Romans
do. the barber undertakes Ito do
you" as the Americans do in Ameri-
ca, only one better. and charges you
franc-twenty cents. There were
but very few barber shops from
Rome south. and not many here, |
do not believe there are more bar
'ber shops in this city of 200. 900 than
in La Junta. and these | think de-
pend largely on the tourists. Italy
is full of tourists. Much of the busi-
ness of these cities is dependent
upon the tourists. They pour
great stream of money into Europe.
Were it not for the travelling public
Italy would be poverty stricken
country, for her farms produce only
wine and olives. as rule. for mar
ket, and these are so overdone that
the prices are low and profits small.
while there are not many manu-
factories except those that manu-
facture articles for sale to the tour
lists. There are no livery stables as
we have them, but instead there are
thousands of cabs and carriages
standing on the streets and in the
piazzas and about all public places,
courts. theatres. churches, galleries.
museums and parks. In an instant,
holding up your hand and swapping
the fingers. you can have one or a
dozen, and they are SO cheap they
are used almost universally. for one,
two or three, or even four or five
sometimes, can ride to any part of
the city for franc. In some cities.
and generally you must make bar
gain before hand. or you will be
charged double or three times. Here
the rate is fixed. but everywhere
you are the legitimate object Of ex-
tortion. and the bootblack and bar
Der as well as the cabman or the
hotel keeper and the merchant will
rob you. Never paw what is asked
is rule you must follow and one
still more important is to make
definite bargain. especially with the
cabman and the hotel, be explicit to
include everything. or they. will run
in extras. tips. charges for matches,
soap and everything. Don't expect
a single thing from anybody unless
you intend to pay for it. If a man
directs you on your way, shows or
points out a picture or q statue,
brings you chair. or offers you any
sort of service, he expects you to
pay him. came to Europe much
preJudiced against the tipping sys-
tenn, but ! am somewhat favorable
to it, as have experience with the
people. Sometimes it is straight
out begging and is an imposition.
but often it adds to ones comfort
and pleasure. Every body is ready
to do something for you, something
to please you. and they offer the
service and perform it with such
politeness and cheerfulness that l
am much pleased with them. When
anyone does something for me am
willing and glad to pay for it, but
beggar l never give a cent. l was
in the church of the Annunciation
or Annuinziazzione, and man step
ped up to me and politely asked me
in English. if wanted to see some
thing. said l haven't much time,
as it was then supper time. asked
him about q chapel near which !
was standing. and he answered me
with so much information | asked
him what he would charge to show
me the church for q few minutes.
''Oh." he replied. anything you
wish" Well, l knew better than to
make that kind Of . bargain. 80 l
said. Il will give you a half fran"
ten cents. "Oh." he replied. .'just
what you will" / spent about
forty minutes looking over the
church ~ith its numerous chapels.
affairs, paintings. statuary and