The New York herald., 1921-07-03

are raised dnOtner 4U Der cent. at the
ing trade. A lady walked into Bull
garo's and came out with 2,0O0. 900
lire pearl necklace. for which she paid
cash plus 100000 lire luxury tax.
Spending Beats Record.
There always was a certain amount
of money spent in Rome for there are
some very rich people In Italy, especially
among the southern aristocratic land
owners. But this year it beat all records.
and the year is likely to remain a record
for long time. Prices are high, higher
than Paris or London, the exchange has
gone down 40 per cent. shares have
fallen on an average since last November
40 per cent, but the slump is only just
beginning to be apparent. In the best
restaurants in the town a meal of three
dishes, bottle of wine and coffee costs
nearly so lire plus taxes, and consid
ering that meat is forbidden three days
week. this must be regarded as very
expensive.
The Grand Hotel charges 145 lire for
a room, whiskey and soda Is lire. a
bottle of Italian champagne 35 lire
French 100-120, and food in proportion !;
asparagus 15 lire portion. wood straw
berries 20 lire, and these pre-war were
lire portion quail. which could be
bought from the gamekeepers for two q
lire. now cost lire apiece. These sound
like deicacies, but actually they were
always the food Of the Roman at this
time Of the year. Yet the Grand Hotel
was-till the beginning of the week
full since last October. An American
journalist on returning to Paris two
weeks. on paying his bill at the Grand,
remarked to the cashier: well, next
time come here I'll buy the hotel first
for /. will be cheaper than paying the
bill" Another journalist was charged at
the Excelsior 1857 lire for himself and
wife and chauffeur for six days. without
meals or garage. On his return trip he
went to a more modest hotel.
Encourages Gambling.
The policy of the hotel keeper may
be right. He says as long as people pay,
why not charge them? But there Is an
other view, and that is so long as the
better class hotels keep their prices up
the shopkeepers in the town keep theirs
up also, and in order to keep pace with
the prices the ordinary citizen has to
adopt their means To this Is attrib-
uted the craze for gambling which is
flooding the country In the month of
February the weekly State lottery pro-
duced 1O0,000.000 lire more than in the
same month Of 1920. 1t Is called the
'imbeciles' tax and rightly so.
But the prices are beginning to tell
A certain pescicane, Commentators tx"
who spent 1000 to 5000 lire day, went
suddenly broke after months of
"splendiferous" life. His father put him
into an asylum, and on examining his
affairs found that for the last six weeks
he l.
company of which he was the treasurer
The hotels and the life had ruined him
and such cases are not rare. Every
pescicane had his own motor car till
February. but the advent of the luxury
tax and the special automobile tax. by
which every moderate power machine
pays from 10000 to $4,000 lire year,
soon cleared the streets of them.
Bedizened One Hooted.
The pescicane Is not entirely dead.
though much reduced On the first night
of Mascagnis "Piccolo Marat" 100000
lire was paid for seats. and there was so
much ostentatious jewelry worn in the
dress circle that the gallery hooted the
wearers. Any new play is success.
even IL 1t runs only a week, because the
theatre can charge such prices for the
first night that they have cleared their
expenses. The cinemas are crowded all
day long. The dressmakers and mo-
dstcs who send their fashions to Rome
from Paris. Milan and Turin have all
had n most profitable season. Hats at
500 lire. so Nine. Dan. told THE NEW
YORK HERALD, are snatched up as quick
as she can get them. The most sumptu-
Gus Battleof Flowers ever seen In Rome
took place last week. Hundreds of gar
l.. H. IL, T.. al. a.
Sienna and the beautiful Borghese Gar
two lire apiece were the bullets used.
Wore woolIen Chemise.
or course the pescicane and his wife
make mistakes which are sometimes
opera Mrs. Shark" was sitting in a
box in tho first tier. She was dressed in
decollete with very short sleeves, but
wearing very long gloves. The heat of
the house was too much for her and she
pulled off her gloves. There was then
apparent the long sleeves of a green
woollen chemise she was wearing under
meath. The house. which had taken
great interest in her diamonds, first
gasped and then exploded with laugh
ter Accustomed to green woollen
length in adopting her new position.
There Is another class of pescicane
vino is only Just beginning to realize
that the slump Is coming. He is the
small and the big shopkeeper. For
year he has elevated his prices. basing
them on the exchange. or course he never
bought when sterling was 1O4.5O and the
dollar 81 lire, but 1t was a good enough
excuse He had probably bought when
Il was 40 and 81. or pre-war stock. stu,
people would buy. and he made huge
profits. But he has still large stocks
and recently liquidation" notices have
sprung up over stores In Rome as quick
ly as crocuses in the spring. If you enter
the shop YOU find the goods are OF ex-
tremely poor quality (the best had gone
long ago TO the bigger sharks). but they
must be sold. III you want to buy the
furniture OF the shop II is yours for the
asking.