, 1890-06-05
A ClTY ON THE sea-.
euavity of tho Gondoiie,
When Robbing.
GRAND CANAL IN THE MORNING
Ascending the Mountain Three
Thousand Feet to vallc.n-
brosa.

YALLONfDROsA, ITALY, May g.
Tho human interest OF Venice is
after oil, Its chief cnchantment. II
one can fling or the cnsiavcment ol
tho fiction woven about IL, there l.
eth enough "a know aud enjoy. In
ondeavoring to Anslyzc causes foi
the creation Of tho universally false
usntiment existing concerning II,
the best excuse can nnd is In the
psculinrlty Of its situation. II has
always Impressed travellers strange
II. A city without q horse or other
bsast of burden strikes one as n cur
tous anomaly. This unceaslne
ssomiug Of strange and remarkable
phases has easily been distorted Into
the wonderful, the marvellous. The
vivid fancy with the opulent
Imagination and poetic sense have
done the rest. Each succeeding
traveller has scraped tho empyrian
II imagery to outdo his pre-
decessor In fIorid description and
lnatchless simile. Coming from the
mountains Of Italy at once across
what SCENE to be an arm Of the sen,
but which In fact In so shallow q
lagoon that . schoolboy might wade
Y In many places at ebb.tide, to a
city built ~ that the earth II really
stands upon, and the piilng, form
ing the perfso<ly secure foundation
Sbf other structures and street sides,
h wholly hidden from view, the
feeling Of actually being ut sen Is
difficu1t to overcome. Indeed. this
one fact about ones almost ineradl-
cable flrst impressions has had more
TO do than all else in giving poet
travellers their Venetian frenzIes.
Then aguin the constant iutensifi-
cation Of this impression further
unhInges the average mind. In no
other city can one avoid tho roar
and thunder of battling tides
OF humans aud conveyances
upon the streets. There Is not
= sound OF this sort In Venice.
Then, wherever one secures vista
toward the horizon the waters Of
the Adriatic nre first seen, and the
impression of being upon the sea Is
further emphasized. Agnin, the
quaint, strange craft OF these waters,
instead Of here and there the land,
are in view whenever glimpses to-
ward the outer world are had. One
must be at sea Is tho impulse of
mental conclusion. And more mys-
flying than all, you who always
looked from your window into n
street where the solid earth IL below
must here pcrforceg SEQ nothing but
water, moving craft upon wator,
and, as though You looked from the
porthole Of some mystic craft, you
wee through this nautical sense of
riding upon the ocean. In the struct-
ures opposite your windows, other
fnnciful craft which must be floating
alongside your own. j have passed
over the Bahama banks In "A sailing
yessci, where, for 125 miles, bed OF
coral more than 1000 feet high was
often less than twelve, and never
more than eighteen feet from the
seas level. II that bank stood
against the Florida, instead Of the
Bahama shore, the capitalists would
have the winter resort city
standing upon the white coral
bed inside OF "a quarter oil a century,
and would regard the expenditure
Of 500, 900, 900 OF $500, 900. 900 to
make an American Venice very
trifiing incident In American devei-
Qpment. One must come to think
OF Venice in some such way as this,
In order to measure IL In justice and
truth.
1t In probable that tho sanity of
one who should visit Venice with
out making a study OF the gondolier
would be doubted. endeavored to
do this honestly, but find, after all,
that he is very ordinary sort OF a
fellow He In better than the Amer
lean hnckman, because he robs you
with some slight siiavity and grace.
In but one other respect Ii he In any
degree remarkable. lie Is tall, 1.-the
and slender. All his limbs show re-
markable development from rowing
upright, every muscle coming into
play at every stroke of the oar. This
gives the gendoliers sinewy devel-
opment moat admirable. There are
soInew hat more than 200 licensed
Rondoiiers; 10 cents am hour Is the
legal rate for the services of the boat
and boatman, this tariff being
doubled for every extra gondolier
you hire; and the gon-
do1ier's costume In summer
comprises linen trousers, "a linen
shirt, open at the throat exposing u
binck and hairy chest, greasy, col
orcd sash and dirty straw hat
with jauntily-rolied rim. He works
AZ little as he can and live. He
sleeps and eats, and smokes and
guzxies when not at work. He is
the yef'iest coward about the water,
used as mo is to IL, and never allows
his clumsy craft 10 approach the
5agIon OF "choppyn waves. lie is,
briefly, vain, offensive animal
whom poets have spoiled and anna
fcur photographers have developed
Into an insuffsrable bully Of these
winding, watery streets. For real
manhood, bravery, hardihood, sun
ulness OF heart and manner, and
true picturcsqueness Of costume aud
bearing, the gindanefo of Havana
hartsor Is incouiparabiy the more In
tsrssting man and character.
To my mind socne In early
morning on Grand canal In Venice
Il far more intere>tIng than one in
fhc early evening, when the fndcd
& 6rlstoclscy Of the city ars moving
ehout with apparent iistlessress IL
!. tt,eis priyatc black gopdolns. decor
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