University of South Carolina Libraries
* WILL SEABROOK'S TRAVELS THE BEGGARS OF NAPLES. ,y William Buehler Seabrook. (Copywright, 1909. by W. B. Sea brook.) Special to The Chronicle. Reprinted by Permission of Au thor. Naples, Italy.-"See Naples and die!" How many times this estatic exclamation has burst from the lips of the enchanted traveler as the vessel upon which prow he stands draws nearer and nearer the Italian coast, as the verdant isle of Capri awakens in his soul the vision of Ulysses and the siren voices, as the rocky prom ontory of Posilipo recalls the Virgil ian legend of Aeneas and the Trojan heroes, as the morning sun appears behind 1he smoking suimit of Ves uvius and reveals the wondrous pan orama of the gulf and harbor. See Naples and die! A splendid scheme, that, if it were literally pos sible, but unfortunately it isn't. Sim-! ple death is a mere.bagatelle in com parison with the fate that awaits the wayfarer who approaches for the first time these classic shores. The phrase "Voir Naples, et mourir!" has be come a proverb, and, like all proverbs, it is treacherous and misleading. To die were surely not too rich a price to pay for a single glimpse of such a glorious landscape, but the stranger who disembarks at Naples, is destined to suffer instead of death an unre lenting series of petty annoyances and impositions that destroy half the charm of his long-dreamed of and ea gerly antieipated visit. Naples is a vile hole, despite its pretend-ed sani tary and moral regeneration under the reign of Victor Emmanuel III. It is. a dirty. den of thieves and beggars, human vampires, who live by preying upon the tourists. The saddest part of it is that continued contact with Neapolitan porters, beggars and lazo roni, which at first involves no more serious consequence than the empty ing of one's pocketbook, ends by de stroying all faith in honestly and virtue, by driving fromn the heart all sentiment of human kindness, all pity for the poor, all consideration for the. afflicted; sights, which at first in spiire--especially when disclosed to the unaccustomed eyes of an Ameri ean-the keenest sense of pity, end by eliciting nly repulsion and dis gust. My unpleasant experience began even before I set foot upon the quay.! Before embarking at Marseilles, I had* .made the acquaintance of a young Egyptian, who, thaving previously spent a year at the University of Na ples, knew the city, and offered to aid me in landing and finding a hoteL. As our steamer was bound for the Orient, she did not dock at Naples, but simply anchored in the harbor, and the few passengers who were bound for the Italian port were com pelled to make their own arrange ments for getting ashore. Our vessel had become the centre for a veritable swarm of small boats, and my friend drove a bargain with one of the least villainous looking watermen, by the* terms of which the two of us with our baggage, were to be rowed ashore for five lire (one dollar), dear enouni in all consciene'e for the landing pin'e was only a couple of hundred yards distant. Paying the money in ad vance, to obviate all possibility of dis pute, we seated ourselves in the steru - and the boatman, aided by a o~m panion oarsman, pushed off froint the ship, but after a few vigorous strokes and a irhispered colloquy, the two conspirators halted their craft, mid way between the vessel and doek, and i.nquired how much of a "tip'' we intended paying them "per maca roni'' "Not a cent," replied my compani ion, "we have already paid you twice as much as the service is worth." However, as the boatmen were dis posed to argue and as we were in a hurry to get ashore, he tossed then a silver eoin worth ten cents. "'That is not sufficient," insolently cried the first Italian, and he disdain fully refused to touch the money. ''Well, it is certainly all you are going to get," said my friend. "'Signore evidently wishes to take a mean advantage of the poor and helpless," snarled the hypocritical old pirate as he folded a pair of hercu lean arms upon his hairy chest, ''You must pay us two lire for macaroni." "I'll be dammed if I do!" shouted* the Egyptian, dropping the Neapoli tan dialect to register his own vow in excellent and forceful English. But we soon found that we were absolutely at the boatmen's mercy. and in order to reach the quay were finally compelled to accede to their outrageous demand. Otherwise we would have spent the day in the mid dle of the harbor. I thought before leaving America +hat the custom of "tipping" ser Vants had degenerated into an abuse; I found the French "pourboire'" sys ten still worse; but -the incessant clamor of the Italian for macaroni money is the ultimate abomination. The American servant expects to be tipped, but if he is given nothing or a smaller sum than he hoped for, it seldom occurs to him that he has a right to evidence 'his chagrin by out ward signs. The French garcon who sees his pourboire escaping from his fingers discreetly presents his open palm, and if he judges the fee insuf ficient sometimes permits himself to raise his eyebrows in a deprecatory, grimace. As for the Italian, he bra zenly demands his "macaroni" and becomes blasphemous and insulting if it is not accorded him witb suf ficient generosity. After our luggage had been sub mitted to the custom officers' in spection and de'livered to a dray-' man, we emerged upon the Corse Um berto Prima and started on foot for a not far distant hotel.. At each step we were beset by beggars, by beggars of the most frightful and revolting type, dirty, whining, h1alf-naked creatures of both sexes and of all ages, maimed, disfigured, blind, dis eased, disorted, horrible-a condition of affairs doubly disgraceful because the kingdom of United Italy is now rich enough to provide asylums for all its crippled poor and powerfull enough with its excellent police sys tem to enforce th-em all from the pub lic streets. As we pursued our course, an old woman, clothed in indescrib ably filthy rags, arose from the gut ter and barred our path while she tore open h;er dress to exhibit her cancer eaten breasts, and then, with her in flicted hands, laid hold upon our coat sleeves. A few steps further on, an apparently ablebodied mendicant, not content with repeated refusals began to dog our footsteps, and my comrade who was thoroughly out of patience threatened to call an officer. There upon, the .vagabond abandoned his cringing attitude, arose tall and erect, raised his elenched fists toward the sky, and uttered the words, which I translate literally: "Thrice dammed hog of an infidel, by what right do you interfere wi:.n my affairs? It was not from you, unclean animal, that I was asking alms, but from your slightly less des picable companion!" The young villian, a moment be fore as humble as a whipped cur, once convinced that his pleading was use less had become haughty as a su perb and wrathful Roman senator. Despite my resentment and dis gust, the splendid torrent of invec tive, the clear, ringing periods, com pelled my admiration and reminded me of Cicero 's oration against Cata line. Ten minutes later we passed the Plazza Nicola Amore where a num ber of hacks and cabs were standing idle. T'hey swooped down upon us like a flock of ravens, and I recalled, by force of contrast, the respectful solicitations of the cochers upon the Parisian boulevards, the deferential' "Want-a-cab-sir'?" of the London cabbies, As we trudged onward, one of the hackmen trailed in our wake and assailed our ears with the follow ing reflections: - I "What do you suppose carriages are made for'? Is it stinginess or pov erty that compels you to walk? How an we honest and noble Italian hack men gain our daily bread if the fores tieri adopt such an ignoble method of locomotion?" Perhaps the most aggravated of all these is the Neapolitan bootblack. His name is legion. He lines the curbing and bl6eks the entrance of public buildings. Armed with a heavy brush he spies the tourist from afar, and forj fear that he will be passed un noticed begins to beat a noisy, in sistent tatoo upon his box! at the same time he arises and, as the in tended victim draws nearer, shouts in his face an imperative and inso lent invitation. The ubiquitous peddler of matches is as a rule simply another species of beggar. Yesterday a little girl ap proached me with such a sweet and winning smile that I bought a box of luifers and paid her double the cur rent price. Supposing, therefore that she had struck an "easy mark," she poited, shook -her head, and said: "Non abbostanza. signore."' (Not enough.) I walked awvay wit'hout respondin g, and the child hurried after me. with an obscene gesture, these words: 'Mananima che da morte." (MWy our eternal soul perish.) Fortunately the English or Ameri can tourist, lie does not, as a general rule, understand the -insulting lan guage of the lazaroni. Ever though he be an excellent Italian scholar, the phrases escape him because they are not pure Italian. rather a sort ot ~omina tion Neapolitan patos anct lower class argot. He simpi.y knows. that the beggar whom he has refused to notie-e is utteri og a violent protest. Onenct it i's well for his~ peace of mind t ha hisk-1nowleron is not- more spe eiic. But, after all, you may perhaps at1k, suppose the tou':iat instead of hardan ing his heart again;t all thi-; misery, bestows a few of his spare coppers upon these un'happy supplicants? It happens that I can picture in a very few words the exact result of such a course. An American gentleman, whose commercial affairs briog him to Naples every wiater, tells me that one morning, as the result of a wager, he changed a pie-e of 20 lire into soldi (500 soldi), loaded his pockets with the pennies, and then went ab,ut his accustomed business, neither seek ing or avoiding the thoroughfaro-s most frequented by beggars, but giv ing one soldi to each mendicant who asked personally for alms. Between B:30 a. m. and noon he spent only a little more than two hours in the streets and cafes, but at 11:20 a. m. the last of his 500 soldi had dis appeared. "MAR.T" FLOYD WINS. Strong Protest, -it is Said, Will b~e Made Against His Appointment, Despite His Recommendations. rhe State Bureau. Washington, April 15.-The presi lent today sent to the senate the aame of William M. Floyd to be post mater at Spartanburg. That's "Mart." Although, at the insis tence of .a number of Spartanburg people, Postmaster General Hitch ock agreed to withdraw the name ha iad sent to the president, it was ither. too late or Mr. Hitchcock .hanged his mind. Senator Smith left here this after aoon for Florence, but it is known :hat -he will ask the senate to with lold confirmation pending any pro est which may come, and it is under tood such a protest is on the way. The remarkable psychological phe iomena in Spartanburg suddenly de eloped by the postoffice vacancy is 'urnishing material for curious spee alators in certain quarters of this 4apital. Ten days ago the Hon. Mart blew nto town, within the umbrageous uardianship of Hon. Leumas W. C. Blalock -of Clinton and other places. Blalock on one side, John G. Cap ers on the other, he was duly, cere xoniously steered into the presence f the Hon. Frank. H. Hitchcock. There were emptied out before the itchcockian gaze some three or four )eks of personal letters of encomi ims of Mart. They were written by nerchants, lawyers, .tailors, doctors, ;eachers, preachers, bank _presidents, ailroad presidents, cotton mill presi ~ants, college presidents, city and* ~ounty officials, politicians of every. ;tripe, color and previous condition, 1l testifying in the most superlative ;erms that Mart was about the most igh toned, honorable, handsome and listinguished citizen among them and :hat if there ever was a man preemi-, ently qualified to be postmaster at partanburg he was "it.'' Neither could the postmaster gen ral or any other escape the inevitable. >onclusion that there was an oppor :nity for Mr. Taft to make himself olid with Spartanburg by appointing :he man that everybody seemed to, 1ave hit upon as the one and only nd the very pet of the community. Lo, what is the astonishment in the ostmaster general's and other peo ale's minds when word comes post iaste and through the medium of two: ,enators that Mrt Floyd isn't fit for he job, that in fact of all the unfit nen in and around Spartanburg for :he job of postmaster he is the un ittest ! Petitions, protests, personal etters to the postmaster general dis aussing Mart in all the relations of ife are coming in, and Mr. Hitch lock is studying psychology. Zach McGhee. Mr. Floyd Congratulated. ['he Sta,te. Sparta nburg, April 15.-"You are ippointed; I rejoice with you.'' The above is the text of a telegram eeived tonight by W. Mart Floyd, ipplicant for the postmastership of )artanburg. from L. W. C. Blalock Later the following telegram was eeeived byM. )lyd from John G. anr,Republican referee of South Tarolina : ''Your name went to the ;enate today. Congratulations." Tonight Mr. Floyd said: "I am ap .ointed, and Mr. Young will be as ;istant postmaster. I intend to be ostmaster of Sparstanburg and treat dl alike giving them the very best ericlee-' A circular letter freely signed by >ank men, cotton mill men and other epresentative business men of Spar a:hurg was got up yesterday and cent to the postmaster general at. Vashington. This letter was a strong narsmenIt of M\r. Young. stating :hat in consequence of his long ser riee of 20 years or more as assistant Istaster, he was the man for the )mstmatrhin. T. J. Mackey. In connection with the death of former Judge Thomas J. Mackey o)f South Carolina. The News and Cour ier of Charleston, S. C., reproduces a characteristic charge delivered by him from the bench illustrative of his methods and conditions in South Carolina in reconstruction times. A Republican member of congress nam ed A. S. Wallace had given a note for $200 as part payment for a biog raphy of himself, published by some hack writers. It was a favorite weakness of the scalawags, carpet baggers and shabby adventurers who ruled the State to pose as old-time South Carolina gentlemen. When Wallace made the note he was asked what interest should be stated in case of his failure to meet it at maturity. He answered grandly that if he fail ed to pay promptly interest might be eharged at three per cent an hour. The note was so written. When it was overdue five years an ingenious and painstaking lawyer cal culated that Wallace owed his biog raphers $93,000 and brought suit for that amount in Judge Mackey's court. The judge in his charge said the evi dence showed that the biographers had described A. S. Wallace as a pa triot, a Christian and a gentleman and there damned themselves hope lessly and inevitably. He quoted Scripture to prove that the whole world is inadequate compensation to a man for the loss of his soul. There fore, the sam claimed by the biogra phers was moderate and he directed that the foreman of the jury come to the desk and sign a verdict for the full amount. Mackey at that time was a Republicaa, but, as may be -iessed from his charge and comments his feeling toward Representative Wallace was not cordial. Mackey was one of the smartest and most reckless of the reckless ad venturers developed by reconstruction, and the Palmetto State is full of sto ries and memories of him. It was he who announced, either from the bench or in a public speech, that he had made careful investigation and dis covered that Franklin J. Moses, Jr., was a lineal descendant of the impen itent thief of the Crucifixion. Dis cussing -the habit of "Tharasparilla'' Wright, the lisping Philadelphia ne ro who was an associate justice of the supreme court, of getting drunk and preaching in the Columbia bar rooms, Judge Mackey -said he had in estigat-ed Wright's ancestry and ac counted for his inebriate piety by th~e fact that his reinote ancestor on the. banks of the Congo had, single-hand ed, eaten a very devout Wesleyan misioary, thereby acquiring relig ious tendencies, which he transmit ted to his posterity. Judge Mackey, although a native of Charleston, was fond of amusing himself with the peculiarities of that ancient and respectable city. On one occasion he described dramatically the finding of a dead body at a point equally distant from Charleston, Au usta and Columbia and how a post ortem discovered that the stomach of the corpse contained three gains of rice and a spoonful of cistern wi terr whereupon the coroner promptly shipped the body to Charlest,n a-3 be ing proved by the evidence u;aques tionably to belong there. An>)ther of his stories was that he had been forced to flee from Charleston while yet a youth because he had iandver tently remarked that in the world there were steeples taller than St. Michael's. In the year of the revolu tion, 1876, he "crossed Jordan," as t'he process of going over to the Deum crats was described, and beciame o-ne of Hampton 's most effective, unscru pulous and 'daring supporters. He an nounced his change of heart by rid ing into a public meeting at Edgefield on an ox and wearing a red shier. Go iig down to appear before the sni preme court in support of one of his peculiarly dutrageous opinion-. fav oring the Democrats, he told the peo ple ivho gathered at a station t-> near him talk, that he intended to present to the court 13 conclusive reasons in support of his position, which reasons he had then on his person. Where upon lie produced and exhibited iwo six shooters and a bowie knife. He was the originator of the assertion~ that the Republican p)arty had seven dstiet principles-five loaves and two small fishes. Probably no more brilliant man ever sat on the bench ,anywhere. When lhe was made a judge he never had practiced law, and so far as can be ascertained never had studied it. Yet lie always could find law for any decision or ruling he saw fit to make. If he couldn't fin~d it he invented it as he went along. His impnlses were ood. he was a fighter from the heart and -he had a way of arriving at sub stantial justice by the most absurd routes. He deligbted to say the wild (t th~ings with ani airi of profound i.avity and intensity. He was a born actor and love of applause was. per ips. the ruling passion of his life. erhap there have been and are oth er min like him. but for the full de velopment of a character and charac teristies like his, stress and turmoil and times of intense passion and' strong crisis are needed.-Riehmond (Va.) News Leader. When the Small Boy Scored. President Nicholas Brown, for whom Brown University was named, was fond of quizzing small boys.. One day, while walking in the streets of Providence he came upon a little fellow who attracted 'his notice. "How do you do, my boy?" said the president. "What's your name?" "My name is Harry, sir," replied th6 child. "Harry, it is?" returned Presi dent Brown. And did you know the evil one is often called Old Harry?" "Why, no sir," answered the boy. "I thought he was called O-ld Nick." CHARLESTON & WESTERN CAR OLINA BY. Schedule in effect May 31, 1908. ILv. Newberry(C N & L) 12:56 p.m. A r. Laurens 2:02 p.m. Lv. Laurens (C & W C) 2:35 p.m. Ar. Greenville 4:00 p.m. Lv. Laurens 2:32 p.m. Vr. Spartanburg 4:05 p.m. Lv. Spartanburg (So. Ry.) 5:00 p.m. , r. Hendersonville 7:45 p.m. .\r. Asheville - 8:50 p.m. Lv. Laureus (C & W C) 2:32 p.m. .\r. Greenwood 3:32 p.m. .A r. 'McCormick 4:33 p.m Ar. Augusta 6:15 p.m. Tri-Weekly Part"r Car line be tween Augusta and Asbevil.e. Trains Nos. 1 and 2, leave Augusta Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, leave Asheville Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Note: Th.e above arriv:l and de partures, as well as connections with ther companies, are given as hifor aiation, and are not Zuaranteed. Ernest Williams, Gen. Pass. Agt., Augusta, Ga Geo. T. Bryan, Greenvilie, S. C.. NEWBER Y UNION STATION. Arrival and Departure of, Passenger Trains-Effective 12.01 A. MI. Sunday, June 7th, 1908. Southern Railway: No. 15 for Greenville .. . .8.57a.m No. 18 for Columbia .. ..l.40 p:m \". 11 for Greenville .....3.20 p.m No. 16 for Columbia .... .8.47 p.m'. C., N. & L.E. 'No. 22 for Columbia .. . .8.47 a.m. Mo. 52 for Greenville .. 12.56 p.m. No. os for Columbia .. . .3.20 p.n 'No. 21 for Laurens .. . .7.25 p.m. *Does not run on Sunday Thi.s time table shows the times a. shich trains may be expected to de part from thirs station, bat their de -parture is riot guaranteed and the time shown ia subject to change with aut notice. G3. L. Rchiuson, Station Master. EXCUSION BATES VIA SOUTHERN RAILWAY. To Charleston, S. C., Columbia, S. C., Spartanburg, S. C., and Washington ,D. C. To Charleston and return :-Ae count Meeting of Sh.riners the South ern Railway announces very low round trtip rates. Tickets will be sold April 21 and 22 limited for re turn, leaving Charleston not later than midnight, April 23, 1909. To Columbia and return :-Account Musical Festiv.al very low round trip. tickets will be sold April 21, 22 and 23 limited for return, leaving Colum bia not later than midnight April 24, 1909. To Spartanburg and return :-Ac count South Atlantic States Musical Festival very cheap round trip tick ets will be sold, April 19. 20, 21, and 22 for trains scheduled to arrive in Spa:rtanburg before noon April 23, 1909. Limited for return, leaving Spartanburg not later than midnight A pril 24th, 1909.1 TTo Washington, D. C., and re turn :-Accoun!t Annual Meeting Daughters of the American Revolu tion, Washington, D. C., very low round trip tickets will be on sale Apr. 3 and 16 only, from all stations, limited for return, leaving Washing ton up to and including, but not later than midnight, -April 28th, 1909. For detailed information, tickets, et(., apply to Southern Railway tick et agents or address, J1 L. Meek, .\ st. General Passenger Agent, J. C. Lusk, Divisionl Passenger Agent. Charleston, S. C. EXCURSION RATES. To Louisville, Kentucky, a.ud Return Via Southern Railway. Aceount Southern Baptist conven tion the Southern Railway announces very low round trip rates to Louis ville, Ky. from all points. Tickets will be sold May 10, 11, 12 and 13, 1909, limited for return leaving Louis ville not later than midnight of May 22nd, 1909. Round trip rates from principal stations as follows: Abbeville ..............$15.85 Aiken ................18.70 Anderson ..............15.85 Batesburg ............17.95 Blackzburg ..............14.95 Blackville ..............18.40 Branchville .............19.00 Charleston ..............20.80 Chester .. . ......... 15.85 Columbia ..............16.90 Gaffney ...............14.80 Greenville ..............15.10 Greenwood ..............15.85 Lancaster ..............17.05 Newberry ..............16.30 Orangeburg ............18.40 Prosperity ..............16.45 Rock Hill ..... .. .. .. .. 15.85 Spartanburg ............ 14.20 Sumter.. .. ...... ....18.25 Union ... ........ ....14.95 Yorkville............. .. 15.85 For tickets, detailed information, etc., apply to Souehtrn Railway tick et agents or. address, J. C.. Lusk, Division Passenger Agent, Charleston, S. C. J. L. Meek, Asst. Gen. Passenger Agt. Atlanta, Ga. CD. q4(D o 02 = Quick! Er. Drugg:1st-Quiek!-A box of Bucklen's Arnica Salve Here's a quarter-For the love of Moses, -huriy! Baby's burned him sef erbyJhnecthsfo wit th_xeMme' elddP boils-andmylcors Arnica Sae-gti Here'soanquarter-Fo the fmloy. Its thes greates heaby'o uearthiSld byeW.fE teril-hn&n, cutwberry,o ant iso cureby alle thatwily.lt make a final sttlement of the estate of Lucindia E. Jones in the court of4 probate for Newherry cou.hty on Thursday, April 22, 1909, at ele.vn o'clock in the forenoo7n, and immed iately thereafter apply for letters dismissory as administrator of said deceased. J. Y. Jones, 3-2309-law4 Administrator. BLUE~ RIDGE SCHEDULES. No. 18, leaves Anderson at 6i.30i a. u.. for connection at Belt<mn witn *hunIhern for Greenville. No. 12, from Walhalla. leaves An derson at 10.15 a. mn., for eomnection zi Belton with Southern Railway for Columbia and Greenville. -No. 20, leaves Anderson at 2.20 p. mn., for connections at Belton with Southern Railway for Greenville. No. 8,- daily except Sunday, from I WaThala arrives Ariderson 624 -p. mn.. with conne'etions at Seneda witih Southern Railwvay from po'ints south. No. .10, from Walhalla, leaves -An derson at 4.57 p. mn., for connectionq at Beltorn with Southern Railway for Greenville anid Columbia. Westbound. No. 17', arrives at Aunison at 7.50) . a. mn.. from Rolton with connections fromJ Greenvile. No. 9, arrives at Anderson at 12.24 p. in.. from Belton with connIectionIs from Greenville and Columnbi.i. (oes to Walhalla. No. 19, arrives at Anderson at 3.40 p. in., from Belton with connections3 from Greenville.I No. 11, arrives at Anderson at 6.29 p. in., from Belton with coju nections from Greenville and Colum bia. Goes to Walhalla. No. 7, daily except Sunday. leaves Anderson at 9.20 a. rn., for Waihalla, r;ith connections at Seneca fur local jpoints soeuth. Nos. 17, 18, 19, and 20 are mixed trtiis between Anderson and Belton Nos. 7 and 8 are local freight trains, carrying passengers, between X-'a.hntl ndu Anderror