The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-05-14

Nowadays every thread of tradition is
rapidly being lost. the Venetian mariegoia
have not been consulted since lss6. and
the modem boatmen differ greatly from
the ancient. il we except those of the
patrician houses, who are privileged peo-
pie. At present, au fond. the gondoiiers
are good sort OF people, capable of yelling
like creatures possessed by the devil. but
incapable Of doing harm TO any one.
The wit of These boatmen Is peculiarly
pungent, and often cuts like q razor A
foreigner who asrived in Venice wished to
go to q friends abode. but had forgotten
his address. He got into gondoia and
ordered the man 20 take him to st. Moses:
when he got there il did not seem to him
right, 50 after searching III vain he went
10 st. Paul, with the same result, then off
he went TO another Of the various quarters
of Venice. all named after some saint.
After some hours, the boatman. looking at
him cuixz!cally, said. La regina conf pdro,l,
Ia tdssn Jar ana. iIOme with me, sir, l will
manage for you'll He took him to "All
Saints" where. arrived, he said, laying
down his oar, Qua IA iiga fati, la cor ca che.
tHere they ali are. and you can find what
you want)
The boatman who can stammer few
words Of French and tries thus to attract
foreigners is another typo; II the supposed
foreigner answer in pure Venetian dialect
that he does not wan; gondo.a, he abuses
him and uses bad language. Curiously
enough, Goidoni, the great Venetian
drana;ist. writes little about gondo!iers in
his plays; Alessandro Lanchi has COM
ISL. and then later on Giacinto Gallino
wrote the "Morosa della Mona" (The
u s.eo' "Reesni da Fessa.H The figure Of the he
old gondolier IS a real chef d'eusre. Cossa
in Cecilia" puts the ooa'man OF the
fifteenth century on the stage and Gio-
vanni Porati sings about them in the
sweetest verse.
Amongst celebrated boatmeu. true
heroes o; the oar. Venice records Toscanii,
Vendetta. Zancb.. Vo!tolina. Spagnolctto.
Tondo, Saba. One sees them in pictures
and hears them in tales and poetry.
Sometimes the boa.meu rise yet higher
and become poets and literary men on
their own account. Thus in the last CEN
tury. one Antonio Bijanchi is mentioned
rs the author OF poem In octave rhyme.
and IN the present century Antonio Mase-
ilco who is still living, read, studied aud
commented the nivlnla Commed!a He
afterwards Travelled throughout ltaiy
holding conferences on his favorite poem.
Antonia Maschio is no longer 5oatman,
bat follows his studies rs custodian IN the
Ioscarini iyceum.
Another Venetian custom. now dying
| out or rather which Is not celebrated with
/ the pomp and solesnnity Of bygone years.
! are the rrgattas. These regattas. copied
/ from the ancient Roman aud Greek boat
! races, were held by the fra!erni;.es OF the
! 5oa.naen, and soon lmpassioned the pco-
pie In 1890 is mentioned the FIRST official
regatta III Venice. Then the regatta was
FACED wiin calieys. and later co this Gus
tom served as 4 spur tor the training Of
the crews.
Win tue change Of the times and the
transform alton OF the gondola, tie regatta
became matter OF racing between the
gondoiters ia which one We'd With another
This gave sort OF prestige 10 certain
hoa.n1eu. whose families preserve Jeal-
ous.y all that once belonged 10 some la
moas ances,or. such as flags. prizes.
poetry manuscripts. etc. On solemn 3es-
Invites ali these things arc exhibited on
tae facade OF their houses 10 remind their
descendants Of their glory.
The gondollers aho took part ia the
n-s. regatta we're not dressed in costume,
they only wore pair o. thin and very
short trousers aud "A many eoloreI hand
krrChief on their heads. Later on ihev
wore srienG,d costumes and this 81 .sniar
VAS reflected in those rseseu; who fiIe!
the boats which were decorated win velvet
aui sls.
The place where the regatta occurred
was the ,sransi canal. rendered maguiis-
ceat br ITS superb patTtciaa palaces and
its ueole aad majestic buildings. The
balconies and windows were Gec0raics!
xitn brl<h; orocades and tac .ramens sc
crogt. grouped on The banks GA the
bridges and even on ihe roofs increased
the pageant
Tie snost celebrated regastas that toek
,Iare ln the tirsnd Caas. were iAose II
J is-s. loss is->, i191. i5fe. i79s, 10. i7ss
ISL. f-ei l~is i>Sh. ISIS and isnas3y shat
I az fAr sssh al guly. f>Ss. n which = ass
tired. hu, in vain. 10 revive the anciea.
sp.enssoT.
/ Iae rondolss in the TsEatiss are served
( hw tao ooa.naen. ore az the poop and ore
/ a; the uroa each baat has Its osu esiars.
ghsy star: t7oFss the pGo.sc gardens aas.
advance swiftly. close together ~ =
. straight line. a. far as the stake rota,.
+ which tAsv TaGss 80. then they return 'tse
ss.te~say WITH tAe greatest ve.oclty. Tao
gevgEss are four IN isGraoer. a~d conslS; 81
s tanner. Which ag~ kent Ay The families 81
the winners aast O. sums ot nscasv whscsl
! they s,.saA gaiir The lass ore "a aTglVt
| las The characteristics ana traditional. axe
/ pse as = reproacA Ter having aeiayet IN tas
race " hea fae regatta IS ausshsi Tbs
lme Of boats - broken and tAe trTassa. cana
seesgss literally sSssmaug ana shoes SAFE
arely soag. HsiSA ~i&sEz&AS.
Money deposited w.sh the Ps,ses Soaad
Savings bank wls. earn you q Per cent II
.erest.