Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-01-08
A Modern Version Of Adam ard Eve in the Gar
- le Venice Of To-Day-A Galyan-
zsi Corpse, but Beautifully Em6amti-
4 Gont5lS Procession.
Special Correspondence.

Church of Saint Xeno, is one of the rudest
and most interesting attempts at sculpture
that l have yet seen. Two artists,
Nicolaus and Wiligelmua, undertook to
illustrate certain portions of the Bible in
marble, about seven hundred years ago
The first picture shows Us Adam lying
asleep upon the ground, with one of his
ribs a%bnormally developed until 1t has
assumed the form Of a woman, who
stands looking down upon him with a very
intense and natural look OF sur
prise upon her comely face Near
them is Il figure intended to represent
the Creator Of All, but in size moi
much larger than Adam himself. In the
next picture Satan appears rs II very suaVe
and gentlemanly-loOking male snake, with
An apple in his mouth, OF which lrult Eve
ulready has her hands and Adam hls
cheeks full. In the next picture the gull
ty pair stand behind tig-ltares almost AZ
Large as they are, aud look as much
ashamed as possible. In another one Adam
has commenced working land for a living,
and is industriously clearing oil a stone
LOT. having already filled a basket with
these heavy hipdsranCes to successful agrl'
culture. Eve sits near by watching
him complacently, with TWINS upon her
knees. Aud 50 the story runs on through
Old and New ~Testaments; an entire lack
of proportion in every sculpture, head ana
body, body aud legs, being IN eacn case oil
of about the same length. But there ap'
pears in all the lines strict literal hdciliy
10 every Bible statements, "hlch ~ Starn-
iup rehuke TO the many iigurailNc render
ings that are now veutui ed from oar pull
pits Within this church the thing which
strikes me most is the marble figure OF
Ieao-patron saint Of tiShcrmcn-holdinE
suspended from his staff a silver fish.
But we must hurry through the remain
der Of the churches, with note books "tco
full for uttcrance, - and hurry.
ON To VENICE,
where we arrive after dark, and cannot see
much but tall, gigantic houses OF brick ana
marble, narrow roads and lanes oil water,
and now and then a wierd lamp lame
looking down at it, Own ghastly image Ia
the mirrOrpsvcments. A boat iOr an ON
nibus, and a man for both horse and
driver. who stands near our trunk5 upon
the rear end Of this carriage of tire waters,
and with ore long oar speeds NJ hotelward
through the misty dark. He twists Us
around gloomy corners, almost grazing In"
buildings and never touching them; lie
crecps with Us under dark roofs Of bridges,
he shouts n queer warning vert VI every
turn, that echoes from one C!us9 wall TO THE
other; aud AZ lat comes into a wide sweep
of water called the Grand Canal, - and
halts nj the door OF a palace.
Lights, atI;uary, flowers, and well-be-
havcd servants are her; the hotel keeper
wbu "iuus' this ancient pile of marble can
supply vs. with almost "a grand entertain
ment as could the old senator who once
owned it. The rooms aye large enough
for ten. The Iall- are trcsc0cd like =
cathedral. The llyors are As polished land
cold as ice. The windows are stained
with pictures. The ceilings are almost
hiyh enough to 20 ~hLlJOning under. We
slrcp. and dream that We dwelt in marble
halls.
The fist thing we do upon awaking ncAL
morning il to wonder who showed the walls
Of the room - toT back from u; the next
is, to make arrangements for moving ont
OF that palace. II il altogether too large,
aud Our stove, which looks very much like
i beautifully carved grave-stcne with a
little hole in it for fire, is considerably too
small. We settle down in n cosey pen
siOn,n and commence our short tourist
campaign 10y reading over and remember
ing every thing We can about ' enice.
Il j. the well-decayei London 81 tte
Middle Ages. Il was ut one time !he coma.
mcrcial caHital of the world, and governed
a fourth us much county ~ Rome ever
possessed. It was founded at first by
Roman rugitiycs who lied from the wrath
of Attila the Iuu-he drove them almost
into the sea. They took refuge in this
small archipelago Of a hundred and seven
teen little islands. They gathered cour-
age; they became more and more wealthy;
they were, commercially, the connecting
link betweeL Europe and Asia; the little
shivering settlement of islands bcclmc the
grandest town Of the world.
This city nation ripencd and rottcd-
like all of them. IL il nuw a sort Of gal.
yanized corpse OF what it used TO hc,
though one ofthe most beautiful embalmed
bodies That ever vas gazed upon. It has
hundreds OF marble palaces mass,d and
scattered all over il, each fit for q prince 10
furnish and live IL, and many Of which
can be had for the price Of very ordinary
houses in New York or Brooklyn. II IL
nothing, here, to live in Il palace. Shops,
stores, and tenemcnt-h0uacs are often
made ont of them. Many are empty, and
their foundations slowly giving away.
Stone r0ts as well as wood, though not 80
fast. and the silent hammering of the Gle
ments goes on day and night.
The local industries of Venice consist
largely of the weaving Of lace, the manu-.
facture of glass utensils and ornaments,
the selling OF all sorts OF old curioSitirs,
for as much rs the sellers can get tor them
and a ferveut series of solicitations for
copper and silver coins. The shipping in
teresls and trade with foreign countries are
said to he looking up, in 4 small way.
The place has now probably one hundred
and thirty thousand inhabitants, and il at
times lively, especially when there are a
great many tourists in town.
We will first "do' the Grand Canal. Il
is the Broadway OF N~enice-the principal
water street several rods in breadth, and
walled upon both sides with beautiful and
stately buildings. 1t il not ~ straight rs
| the dry Broadway at home; it il a letter S
made the wrong way, IS it looks upon a
type or from the Imprinted side Of the
page.
1t would be needless to here give 4 cata-
logue Of all the stately buildings that we
pass on our way up this canal from the
southeastern to the northwestern part OF
the city. Many Of Us have read them again
and again. and forgotten them before noon
the next day; aud the same fate would be-
fall any list that | could give. Let ns Just
now conlne our attention to what we see
upon the water.
Black passenger gcndolss skimmirg
about in every direction, and often enter
ing or leaving the smaller canals and
branch from this main artery. Big, dark
eyed, slOUch-hatted gondollrTs, two To a
boat whenever allowed by the passenger,
who then has to pay double iare-not
amounting to much, for twenty cents an
hour is the regular price. Boats full of
produce or groceries, corresponding 10 our
market.wagnus, at home. Large freight