South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-09-22
BY n. T.. GOLDBERG.

ROME, Italy - AS the panorama
shoots past and you reach out fran
tically TO clutch a bit of atmosphere
here and an experience there TO take
home to share with your friends, you
feel the utter hopelessness of II all.
You long to wrap the whole OF Eu-
rope in a small package and carry
it away 10 your bungalow in Flatbush.
there to rem6we the string and absorb
the contents in the sweet silence of
undisturbed. undismayed and undis-
gused Brooklyn.
How | wished you could have been
with me fifteen minutes ago when
looked Apollo Belvedere in the eye
and said good morning" to the busts
OF Augustus Caesar. Cicero and
Caligula, and asked Minerva if she
were not tired of standing on her feet
for thousands of years. l don't know
why I wish you had been with me
or what you would have done if you
were. But / wish you had been with
me.
As / emerged from the beautiful
edifice. where the art treasures of
Rome are stored, | spied an Ameri-
can tourist kicking an Italian taXicab
driver in the shins. He had been
charged a lire too much. Instently
a scene came back to me. through
its strong contrast to the unconven-
UOndl way III WHICH lily
was handling the Roman chariOteer.
1t was a night at the National
Sporting club of London. John and
/ had been Invited by the editor of
great London daily. The editor did
not accompany us so we felt at liberty
To dislike the show as much as il
deserved.
We are now seated in the middle
OF crowd of men whose outward
appearance betrays no signs of vege-
table. mineral or human life. They
are nervously stroking the long mus
taches. adjusting their monocles and
glancing at the platinum watches on
their wrists. Occasionally one OF
them takes out a purple handkerchief
from his left cuff and taps his nose
very gently with IL three times. Their
Ingersoll shirt fronts are starched
20 the limit of stiffness.
About twenty feet from the ring
is seated the only man in the house
who keeps his hat on. Maybe he is
afraid if he takes il off the owner will
want it back. He sits on a high chair
! like the cashier behind a bar. He
/ is the referee.
Gallery Called the Steerage.
Beside him sits a very bald gentle
man to whom laughing must have
become a lost art forty years ago. He
I is diligently writing at a small desk
! in front of which is a fire bell. He
is the time keeper. He could not
/ have taken his job more seriously If
/ he had been timing all the workmen
/ on the Panama canal We cannot
/ find out what he is writing. He may
I be making his will. He can't last
/ long with a crouch like that.
AT the end of the Clubroom is a
/ sort Of a gallery. filed with soldiers.
/ roughnecks sailors sad sO-called
! third-class people. Their expressions
are more kindly and gentle than
! those of the men who sit below. This
/ section is called the steerage.
Presently some one says Here
comes Rear-Armiral Montague the
fastest and widest old sport in the
/ club
We turn around and see something
/ white moving very slowly down the
aisle stopping every third step for
/ breath and holding on to the chairs
! for support. He holds an ear-trumpet
! in his hand and answers. Yes. it's
! a fine evening" when somebody asks
I him for the time. We know we are
7 in for Wild night
\ Present We see the attendants bring
. two Turkish rugs into the ring. ON
/ closer inspection we find they are not
/ Turkish rugs at all. They are tatOoed
men. They are bald-headed and
u wear long hair on their faces. Al
is quiet as the tomb. John gives me
\ the kind of look r lawyer gives his
I client just before the jury brings In
the verdict. He is still my friend.
The time-keeper writes a cOdicn 70
Z his Will. leaving his wrist watch "a
+ his grandson's valet and pulls the
( bell.
Glad They Don't DO il Here.
Tattooed man No. I lands a left
hook the fieur de lis. No. ? comes
+ back with a short right 20 the British
7 lion. They clinch The man in the
Y high chair outside the ring takes a
I lozenge. clears his throat and says
4 quietnly. kindly break. gentlemen,
I J would like 20 see clean boxing" The
i men in the ring glance furtively to-
/ ward the outer room. where several
\ club members are swapping tales OF
I services in India over their brandy
/ and soda, and resume hostilities