Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-28
A Venetian Practical Joke
From the Pail Mall Gazette.J

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| This year the Venstians have made a vigo-
rous effort to revive the Carnival which had
| fallen into a draggled and moribund condi-
| ton. A committee of festivities was formed
| to receive subscriptions and to organize gay
cites. The result week of dancing on
the great platform in the Piazza, where O
| band made music till past midnight games,
horse races and triumphal professions in the
public gardens; and four or five masked
balls in the SaIa di Ridotto that great saloon
SO filled with the memories of the galantry
and inanity which closed the life of the re-
public But the real success of the Carnival
was achieved by an impromptu company
The students of Venice and Padua, remem-
bering the terrible distress wrought by the
autumn floods in the Veneto, determined to
give grand show, and to devote the pro-
ceeds to the inundated. They began at
Udine, and passed through Conegliano and
| Treviso, reaching Venice last of ALL A con-
siderable discussion was raised concerning
| this show. No one knew exactly in what it
was to consist; but some odd stories had
leaked out, and by the time the students
| came to Venice the curiosity of the town,
always lively, was worked up to high pitch.
The affair promised to be something of
importance, for the municipality had granted
the best places on the Piazzetta to the stu
dents for their booths, and some soldiers
from the barracks were at work lifting the
pavement and fixing the uprights. Then the
company arrived-two hundred and fifty lads
in body, and fell to upon the work with
will, hammering up the planks with great
din, driving in four nails where only one was
required, chattering, laughing and joking
with the crowd whose curiosity was rapidly
becoming unbearably acute. The day before
the opening of the show had come, and ap-
parsntly nothing to show had arrived as yet.
Neither st. George nor his dragon, nor the
city of Malta, nor the museum of natural
history, nor the monster with his head where
his tail should be- nor any of the sights that
were advertised. 'Cossa fsnno sti natl di
cani ?" s'What are they about, these sons of
dogs?" But the only answer was a laughing
f'Pazienza; pazienza- Come tomorrow and
you will see." And sure enough on the NOR
row the show was opened, and there were all
the students with drums, barrel organs horns
and voices, shouting, banging and drowning
the other showmen along the Riva, running
their custom and drawing all the people into
the Piazzetta. ''Walk up! walk up, signo
ri! Here is the only real San Giorgio al
natural So the crowd pressed into the
small both between the two columns One
by one they we're invited to look through
peep hole, and there was their old friend San
Giorgio Maggiore stariag them calmly in the
face.
The students had calculated on the curiosi-
ty of their fellow-courtrymen to override
suspicion of the bare looking booths and to
draw them inside they counted with equal
certainty upon their holding their tongues
when they got outside for fear of being
laughed at. And those who came out, as q
matter of fact said never a word, until pres
emily the Joke took wind, and for the rest of
the day the crowd streamed through the
booth, each one paying his ten centimes. 1t
was the same with all the other booths. At
the theatre the company suddenly lost their
voices when all the seats were full, and as
suddenly recovered them when the last disap
pointed pIay-goer had filed out of the house.
The city of Malta proved to be heap of
lime. The museum contained solitary car
rot The monster with his head where no |
head should be was the famous one white |
horse of Venice turned the wrong way in his
stall The slaughter of the innocents was
represented by certain process of hair
dressing not unknown among the people.
The most audacious jest of all was the booth
where there was absolutely nothing but a
high platform reached by ladder. At the
top of the ladder stood a student with res
onant piano organ. You paid ten centimes
to go in, and, once in, they invited you up to
the platform if you would see the show. The
platform was soon crowded; then away went |
the ladder, and one had to pay before one |
got down. No change given. priest IN
nocently handed ten-lire note to the lad |
with the organ and waited for his change.
But off went the organ; the priests voice
was drowned the crowd was against hIm
'Almanco una volta ha fatto La carlta
least this once he has given aims so moth
ing remained for him to do but to get down |
as best he might at the price of ten francs.
The Italians always love "burla; and
nractical Joke on this enormous scale hurts
no individual susceptibility, for all felt that
thsy we're in the same box, and that these
sssons. of Dogs of students were sharp fell
lows who deserved support. So the joke
held out for three days with the utmost good
humor upon all sides; and at the clese there
remained the very substantial sum OF 10, 600
francs raised in Venice, and another $4,000
francs in the country, to be carried to the
account of the 'spoveri inondati.'