Year: 1875

LfoA LII Oue CLUES tn6re Is an 1ncfed1-
BILE amount of thieving. In Naples one
is cautioned to guard closely his port
manteau as he rides along in an open
carriage, lest some adroit thief whisk it
away before his very eyes as he drives
through the streets. Pockets are
picked with a degree of skill and impu-
nifty that would astonish London thief,
One old English gentleman that I saw
had his watch stolen twice within
weeks stay. Another old gentleman
was walking quietly along in retired
spot of the public park, when a rufian
approached him, coolly took away his
pocket book, abstracted his money and
tossed the book back before the aston
ished victim could raise cry. He did,
however, finally come to his senses.
drew a crowd about him and, before
the crowd dispersed, had his witch and
spectacle-case stolen. Instance Aare by
no means uncommon where go a5und
spectacles and eye glasses ar9n lfsahed
from the face, and the climax WI WI lev
ing was attained by band OF pEnds
who attacked a man not far fr9 ~ Pom
pei, and even took away his golden
rooted teeth, leaving him to humble his
cries in toothless misery.


It is noticeable fact that, nofwith-
standing Americans form by far the
largest proportion of the travellers i'll
Italy, they are the least frequently
robbed. One reason of this may be
that they nearly always so armed with
revolvers-weapon of which the.hrigand
has a wholesome fear. We mn are
much more frequently attactslno, than
men, for these modern brigSi.Is are
arrant towards and only maIk their
victims among those who are defense
less, or at least likely to be an easy
prey to their threats.


It is said, and with some show of
truth, that The brigands that infest the
neighborhOod of the large cities are al
most always in league with the drivers
of public carriages, who advise them
when parties are about to make excur-
sions into the country, and whether or
not they are likely to be profitable and
easy victims. It is almost proverb in
Rome that all the robberies in the
Campagna are arranged in the Piazza
d'Espagna, the centre of the strangers
quarter and of hackney carriages. It is
an unpleasant thought when you are
driving among the ruins and about the
city that your coachman is in league
with brigands, but if popular report
can be relied on it is true in very many
instances. For this reason people who
have lived long in Rome or Naples
counsel one never to speak of a pro
iected excursion into the country out
side of ones own party, not even direct
ing the cOachman until the start is fairly
made. If the trip is to be made to
TivOh or AlbanO simply order a car
riage for the day, and at the start from
the hotel give the cOachman the first
intelligence of what his destination is to
be. 1t is an unpleasant state of things
to think about, but it exists neverthe
less, and travellers must be governed
accordingly if they would not run the
risk of being robbed and perhaps MUIR
dered.


With all this state of danger, which,
in justice it should be said, is much
less than under the old regime, Italy is
literally crowded with travellers. The
country owes much of its prosperity to
the money they bring and leave behind
them; this is fact that the Ital-
ian government will, undoubtedly, take
into consideration after a time, aud for
the sake of its own prosperity make a
campaign against the organized sets of
robbers that have long given to Italy
the reputation of being a badly gov
erned and dangerous country. Victo
Emmanuel's policy has been one of re
form, and it is reasonable to suppose
that the police system will be taken in
hand in the course of time In the
meanwhile travellers whJ go into the
italian interior towns and make long
excursions from the cities must be
counseled to go armed, and take much
the same precautions against italian
brigands as they would against the In
dians if crossing the Western plains of
the United States.-Rnn1e Cor. Hearth
and Home.