| Show t LLENiS ir lllii j ITREKT1 LAMPS LONG IN COMING TO HISTORIC CITY i r leves and Footpads Swarmed tto place and Operated Under Cover ofDarkness Gas Introduced In Year 1846 Home Rorao until tho eecorid half Elf tho nineteenth century was tho worst lighted city In tho world nnd yet says an old chronicler no place J e tled to bo well Illuminated at night io > much as Home as hero tho most Celebrated vagabonds of Europe con Igrogated It Is true that Illuminations and ireworks were of frequent occurrence fin the Eternal Cityambassadors Sardlnala and princes never missed an occasion to light torches and < bonQros but these Isolated patches of light only served to bring out the contrast Jf the darkness In the surrounding qua res and streets which was rarely roken save by some feeble Dickering amo burning before a shrine The carriages of tho cardinals and jnbblos wore preceded by armed serv rants carrying lanterns but tho poor pedestrian who ventured out at night ran tho risk of being robbed by footpads foot-pads who lay in wait on tim steps and under the porticos of churches privileged places where tho arm of the law could not reach They stolo not only valuables but also articles of apparel Cloaks were greatly sought Sifter by thieves in those days as they cost a considerable sum and they were made to last for a couple of genie gen-ie In 170G the state of darkness in Svlllch the streets wero left almost provoked a revolution Tho king of Spain sought recruits for his army in Ramo and ordered his agents to avail themselves of the darkness in the streets and press into service all tho oung men they could lay their hands bn Tho inhabitants rebelled and led by the people of Trastovero attacked the two palaces and set free all the prisoners who carried their chains in triumph to the Madonna of Ara Coell In 178G a halfhearted attempt was Dindo to light the streets with the y 1 r a s lantern of Iron of Prince Urbano Barberlnl profits from the salo of tickets in the Tuscan lottery Two years later Rome was still In the dark the lottery profits being evidently otherwise employed Prince Sciarra having lost patience waiting for the government to lllum finale the streets placed at his ex penso two lanterns large and of beautiful workmanship on the front Jot his palace where two gas lamps snow stand and had them lighted at night Prince Don Urbano Barberlnl followed the example to the great advantage of tho public and bad a pocalled Fiaccola inglese English flambeau which gave the light of 14 ordinary oil lamps placed in a lantern lot iron the work of tho architect Olu seppe Scaturzl on one of the corners of his palace In 1798 when the French took tho city sent away Pope Plus VI and es Etabllshcd the republic they realized that it was indispensable for them to have the streets well lighted as the people of Trastovere had developed the bad habit of stabbing in the back every French soldier they met in the dark Gen Marchand accordingly issued Is-sued a proclamation ordering the cltl jzens to set up lights on their houses With the fall of the Roman republic Ron i was again plunged Into dark lies and It was only as late as 1813 that tie municipality granted the sum of 2 < OOO scudl to provide for the cost lot a hundred oil lamps to be placed In the most frequented parts of the city and for their upkeep When this papal government was restored 1814 Cardinal Rlvarola ordered tho rovolu jtlonary lamps to bo pulled down but Itho secretary of state Cardinal Con salvi opposed this measure and left ftho lamps in place Gas was Introduced In Rome In the yeah 1846 but only Piazza Venezia and he Cafe Ruspoll wore then Ilium inat d the former on the Initiative of Prince Luciano Bonaparte who owned a palace In that square In the year 1854 gas illumination was extended to fall the streets of Rome Electric light was introduced after 1870 but St Peters square was Ilium Hated by oloctrkltj only three years ago |
