The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-11-08
The First italian Flag i'm Venice.
LETTER FROM AN AMERICAN rnAvrr1rn.

LETTER FROM AN AMERICAN TRAVELLER.
The following private letter from citizen of
New York, now travelling in Europe, tells of
an exciting incident in which the writer bore
q prominent part. He carried the first Italian
flag openly into Venice which was seen there
after the cession of that city to Italy:
There was a charming episode in our Italian
tour, so fuh of pleasurable excitement that
cannot resist the temptation to tell you of il.
We experienced more difficulty than we an
ncipated in getting through to Venice: not
wlthstanding the cessation of hostilities the
old routes OF travel are not entirely re-estab-
hshed, and the hated Austrians have not vet
evacuated Veneta After good deal of
trouDle and vexation in various ways We final
ly reached Padua. There found that 1 should
have to take carriage to Mestre-a four hours
drlve-and then gondola-two hours-to Ven
ice. Aswe left Padua 1 took out of my trunk
beautiful specimen of the stars and stripes-
God bless the dear old flagl-which / brought
from home with me, and hung it upon the
side of our carriage.
In the depth Of our sympathy for poor We
netia, and our detestation of the Austrians,
we thought the Italian flag would also be q
most becoming and appropriate adornment of
our equlpage Soon after comiug to this con-
clusion, we succeeded in purchasing hand
some nag, about four feet square, which we
raised on the front of our carriage-an open
ed from private houses on the road. Ours at
tracted great deal of attention ald was often
saluted, but not by the Austrians, who only
growled at us. NV u
:, As we approached Mestre observed that
the display of the italian flag from the houses
ceased entirely. When we entered Mestre I
noticed people running from all directions
ana following our carriage. Upon reaching
our landing place, where we were to take q
gonaoia ior the remainder of our journey, we
found OursnlVaS qnrr0nndol hxra -
eral hundred people, in the widest state of ex-
citement, screaming and hurrahing in the
most extraordinary manner.
AT first scarcely realized what itmeant.-
Ii they had been Austrians we would have
been torn to pieces in about five minutes.
quickly discovered, however, that they were
warm hearted, enthusiastic Italians, overioyed
at the sight of their dear flag An old man,
sixty or seventy years of age, seized the hag
and waved it over the heads of the people.
crying "Vioa PLtalia, vira z Italia," and the
cheers. ~--e
We then. directed the flag to be fas-
teheu % 70 the DOW OF our gondola, and
wnen that was done the welkin rang again
with the shouts of the crowd. BY this time
we mad entered the gondola, the cheering con-
unulng without interruption. 1 waved the
dear old stars and stripes, and our gondolier
cried out, "rAneeT1cd sdluta PItdLid," and then
we sailed away for the far-iamed and beauti-
inl city OF the sea" followed by the cheers OF
the excited throng on shore and cries of "Uiro
u PAmerico, UiUd PItdlia" a4idiIs U- fT
Once more on our way, we had to run the
passport gauntlet, and the Austrians looked
glumly enough at u.s. but of course could saw
nothing. You may be assured that was not
little excited by the strange scene through
which we had just passed.
H5 This, however, proved to be but feeble epi-
sode to what followed. had noticed with
surprise the entire absence of the Italian flag
from Mestre to Venice. Not one was to be
seen, save the one on the bow of our little
gondola. As we approached the city looked
IN all directions for some indication of the flag,
but not one was to be seen. Instead of that, /
noticed people running from every direction
and collecting on the wharves. Presently we
heard cries similar to those which had greeted
US at Mestre. When we entered the grand
canal-the main street of Venice-the wharves
were crowded with an excited multitude, who
clapped their hands and fairly rent the air
with their screams and cheers. Gray-headed
old men and women waved their hats and
handkerchlefs and danced like children.
young women wept, and everybody Shouted
We did not know what to make of it. but took
it for granted that it was all right and acted
accordingly. The excitement spread like
wildtire. AS far ahead as we could see, the
wharves and bridges and windows and roofs
of the houses were crowded with people. As
we passed along shout upon shout arose from
the multitude, and we were greeted on every
side with bravos and vivas, and waving of
handkerchief and clapping of hands Of
course I waved the American flag to the peo-
pie, and thus it was known who we were.
BY some means or other we had occasioned
tremendous excitement in Venice, but we
did not quite understand it. Victor Emmanuel
himself could scarcely have had more tri-
umphant entry into Venice and certainly not
a more enthusiastic reception at the hands of
not less than eight or ten thousand patriotic
Venetians. Now what do you suppose 1t all
meant? Simply this: The Venetians all
know that the war is ended, but the Austrian
flag still floats in Venetia and the Austrian
| troops are still here. The few educated Vene-
! tians of course know that Venetia Is to be
| theirs, but the mass of the people do not. We
were the first to carry the italian flag into Ve-
| nice and thus impart to thousands of anxious
| hearts the joyful news that Venice is free from
| the Austrian yoke! That was glory enouol,
| for us for one day. The occasion was one thai;
will not soon be forgotten by us nor by thou
| sands in Venice.