Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-09-11

HIATUS Evefywhere we won't We saw tht
little reptiles running along tho Homegrown
waits or dartine into the ruined Threshold
OF some once stately mansion.
Our VISIT 10 the unfortunate city ives
rendered. far less pleasant than it would
otherwise have been by the intense heat
OF the sun, which fairly withored every
object subjected TO It's rays. How the IN.
habitants OF the town managed TO move
about ia the early part of summers after
noon ia more than wo Virginians GOULD
understand and certainly we do not come
from frigid cline.
VENICE.
Naples, vesuvius, and Pompeli are sub
iects that have engaged the pens of thou.
sands OF writers. We have pothing to add
10 or subtract from what they have SAID.
Let them have their way and say. Besides
we modestly take IL for granted that IL u
not IN those cities but in us that your
readers are interested. SO let us say that
from Naples (where we found watermelons,
muskmelons, and peaches excellent ana
/ abundant) we went ola Rome end Florence
| to Venice. Arrived at that famous city,
| upon debarking from the train we took q
| gondola for our hotel, and we were there,
| fore OF once ushered into the MYSTERIES OF
that great community which has no
| horses, where the pestilential cabman Is
unknown, and tho stiffness of which Is
something startling after one. has been
/ hearing the beating of horses hoofs on
4 paving stones, the. rafting OF trains, and
| the countless other noises that assail the
cor 10 cities such as New York. Lon
I don, PARIS, home, and Naples. But 90 NOT
imagine that Venice has no streets. III has
| hundreds Of them, but generally they are
ONLY about ten feet wide. These. used
| only by pedestrians, cross the canals on
| beautifully sprung stone arches, though
! we were panied TO see one or two new IRON
| bridges marring the antique architectural
harmony OF the scene.
You can walk 10 almost any point IN
Venice, but If you have any great distance
TO 90 You will prefer TO call gondollef
rather than be hopelessly lost in maze OF
narrow streets and numberloss bridges,
and he will give you his services tor 70
cents an hour. What IS more, when you
have ridden sixty-one minutes he Will not
charge YOU for two hours, and II you give
him cents as a gTatulty he Will be truly
thankful-or at least will say so by raising
his cap and saying something that you
can't understand.
10 was our great happiness TO be out on
n gondola-ride one warm night. when the
air which famed our trayel-stained checks
was laden with delicious music-music
from two orchestras in gondolas, and from
a military band of fifty pieces In the pub
lie park. Whether 1t was the musicians.
the scene. or our own comprehensive self
content-Or oil combined we, one and
ALI. vowed that we had never heard such
delicious music before.
If you go TO Venice 90 out upon the
water at night-a moonlight night. II pos
sible-and If convenient take your sweet
heart: il not, take somebody else's. Then
Venice will be seen TO best advantage,
and YOU will be bound TO admit that the
poets and painters have not exaggerated
its charms. BY daylight. as truly vera.
cious characters, We are bound TO admit
that Venice looks little too old and
shabby. The city is not as prosperous as
il used to be, and there are many palatial
buildings there which need patching up,
and. we doubt not, could be bought
cheaply.
We take credit TO ourselves for not
writing any description of the Bridge of
Sighs or of tho kialto, though we saw
them both.
One of the most striking things about
the remarkable city is the immense num-
Der of tame pigeons which ty about the
streets and fill the public places. During
the day. the air is fairly alive with their
cooiDgs, and pedestrians can scarcely move
along st. Marks Sduare-the rendezvous
of the Venetian e'He-wlthOut stepping on
the pretty birds. They are not the least
t'mid, and will take food from the hands OF
strangers. If you show the least attention
70 them they will flock around you by
scores. No one molests them-in fact.
they are regarded as wards of the public
and part and parcel of that unique tout
ensemble which makes Venice the most re-
markable and picturesque city IN the world.
BY the way, while giving Venice her
dues, let US say that the Venetian mos
quito, IN size. sound, and blood-thlrstiness,
is equal to any like product OF America,
and II did not find the skin of our newspa-
per-men too pachydermatOus to penetrate.
Sweet Nenlcel Your music and mosqul-
toes will long linger IN our memories
TOWARDS TIE ALPS.
From Venice We went to Milan (Which
was going from the low country TO the up
country and through fertile agricultural
region. Here we saw III their best form
those features of the Italian landscape
which had now become SO familiar TO us
low white stone or succeed brick houses.
rooted with red tiles, built in the midst OF
gardens or vineyards; clean little fields OF
grain or vegetables over which tall and
stately Lombardy poplars stood sentinels;
al intervals lrrlgatlng canals. and growing
along their banks green. and beautiful
basket willow trees: wells, from which
water was IN many instances drawn with
the BUCKET ana hWOOD 50 COulllloI III ' ~
ginia noticeable scarcity of beasts of
burden; women. bdtOnS IN hand, acting
as fiagmen at the majority of t. railroad
crossings, and at nearly every station,
symmetrical piles of black brlcks-bricks
of bltuminous coal-moulded out of fire.
coal and cOal.dust for the use of the loco
motives.
Going from Genoa by way of Pisa (where
we saw the Leaning Tower 10 Rome, we
were nearly always IN sight of the noun
tans and sea both now we were III sight
of the mountains only-still the same ashy
heaps of earth and stone; bare at the tops.
but fertile ut their bases. and always COW
cred with vines or other crops.
THE CATHEDRAL AND ARCADE.
We found Milan superb city. II has
grand public and private buildings, streets
az good as those of London, Paris, or
Rome; charming parks. and u population
that seemed TO US to be superior IN lntelll-
gence and activity to that OF Rome,
Naples. or Venice. 1t is city OF manu-.
features. and is also the musical centre OF
Italy-some say of the world-and Is re-
nowned for its Conservatory and private
masters. and its municipal band, whlchlast
is supported az great cost at the public eX-
pense. and Is gong To the Chicago EXPOSE
ton TO advertise Milan music and show
Americans what a really fine band Isl
The thing that most tourists go 10 Milan
to see is the Cathedral. which was com
menced about 400 years ago and Is not yet
quite finished. II is one of the largest
church buildings in the world, and Is by
many considered the lovehest of all. Inside
and out-chiehy outside-it has 1000
statues, and its towers and spires are In
Vulnerable. II deserves ITS reputation for
beauty. 1t is a gem of architecture truly.
Tie arcade facing the Cathedral square
excels any that we saw else where. 1t, too,
is a sight of the town, lined as II is with
SNOWY shops. in whose windows are goods
OF every conceivable sort TO tempt the pur-
chaser, and the tourist-purchaser espe-
cially.
These arcades are made by the extension
of the fronts of imposing buildings to the
curbstone. where arches rise two stories
nigh, and under the covered way thus
formed the sidewalks are laid. Thus the
owner of the houses gains ground for his
buildings; thus the people have furnished
them sidewalks which protect them very
much better than awnings can from the
heat Of the sun III summer and from rams
aud SHOWS in winter. At Milan the arcade
crosses lntersecting streets with arches
which look almost as noble as the monu-
mental arches of Paris. And, by the way,