Year: 1876

| AMRRICAN GIRLS ABROAD.
Other Tongues than Ours Amateur Opera
A skeptic at the shrines -Florentine shop
| keepers.


OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENCE New NORTHWEST
| FLORENCE, Nov. 18th, 1875 AS we de.


vote few months to Italy | peg away al
the Italian and have got the hang of few
verbs which are great acquisition. Nouns
are good enough in their way and adject-
ives are useful at times, but you cannot
make much execution with either unless
You have lot of verbs to string them to-
gether with, SO my advice is, learn plenty
OF verbs. I had to recite three of the three
different coniugations for my last lesson. l
had them SO on my mind that I used to
wake up in the night and say them over,
and when had tapered them off with ge-
runds and participles went to sleep again
quite happy. Writing from dictation by
guessing at the spelling from the sound,
not knowing the meaning of more than one
word in twenty, is enlivenng to the facul-
ties. Try it.


LETTER DAY IN FLORENCE.


1t is cold, rainy morning and I have
set down for comfort and letter-writing.
have lighted a wood fire in the little Frank
lin stove in my room and after much per-
suading with scraps of paper and the bel
lows | have overcome the innate deprayity
of the wood which would not burn if it
could geta chance to go out. have jol-
ly blaze which diffuses gentle warmth
through the room, concentrates itself most
agreeably upon my back and right shoulder
and will probably creep up into my cere-
brum and cerebellum, or wherever may be
the seat of ideas, and thaw out a gentle
stream thereof, which, diffused with iudg-
ment may give your readers pleasure as
well. Twill turn little more squarely to-
wards the fire SO that my bumps Of judg-
ment may get its share Or the happy COM
bination may not be affected. In the first
place thegirls had


AN AMATEUR BALLET
in Annie's room the other night. They
went to the opera, and having wept over
the sad fae of Lucia de Lanapaern,oor thew
stayed to the ballet, which was diverting
enough to detain them from their downy
beds until a. m. The next night they
gave flannel skirt imitation of the per-
formance which elected shrieks of laughter
from the participants. They regaled them
selves afterwards with ice-cream as they
called it, a sort of cross between pomatum
and custard ID my mind, and which l de-
clined with iome scorn, but which, with
the omniverots capacity of "sweet sixteen"
up to twenty-one, they pronounced deli
eious. To them, anything is good that is
sweet, SO they send the waiter out in the
evenings to procure the aforesaid com pound
which they deyour with infinite enjoyment.
NOW when l go for treat, I stop at char
coal bra zier and buy quart Or so of hot
roasted ehestnnts, they are the big Spanish
''''' OFF 1lFf FOR RatE8Bized R81E hv thn n"


Our stay in Florence is drawing to a
close. We are about to leave its stony
halls and stonyhoors and cold stair-cases
and 60 to Romt-in fact in three days we
go to Perugia. I grieve to say that have
not yet investigated the guide-book to find
why We stop at Perugia. I can give a
guess that then are churches and pictures
there, or we slDuld not be interested in it.
Then for the s,ke of st. Francis we stop at
Assist where there is wonderful church
filed with frescoes and mosaics and relics
and everything which goes to make first
class shrine for pilgrimages. | have not
given you a detailed account Of the per-
formances I have witnessed hero in the
churches, forI know | shall have to give
that subject some attention when l get to
Rome, and then | am not very sympa-
thetic observer of the ceremonials of the
Church. AS to its influence ON the people,
I hope it is only the goddess and unregen-
crate who cheat us at every turn. | will
give the pious ones the benefit Of the
doubt, but surely there is sad need of q
revival among


THE SHOP-KEEPERS.


For instance, Annie and Emma went
forth with limited amount of French and
considerable Yankee shrewdness TO buy
some Leghorn hats, having heard some one
say they could be bought cheaper here than
at Leghorn. They returned triumphant
with three for which they paid e5 francs
each. A few days afterwards Belle went
out on the same quest reinforced by an
Italian lady who boards in the house and
returned still more triumphant with much
finer one for 1G francs. Great indignation
and disgust on the part of A. and E., but
their francs had been paid and there was no
redress. go to the stores which announce
themselves as having fixed price. !"
There they cheat me but they won't abate
the price whereas, in other stores | al
ways have distressing doubt whether my
Jewing down has not stopped short of the
lowest price they would have taken. Now
have no objection in my own country to
paying an honest price for anything want,
SO I do not thiuk this shopping here has a
| good influence ON my disposition. Still we
have had good time in Florence. and
am sorry that we are to move on, even if il
| is to Rome. NJ. j. E.


A Lighthouse Built Under Difficulties.