The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-03-12

is a strange sight, but one quickly gets
 used to these sorts of things in Venice.
 These hourly singular experiences of
 lower Italian life become so familiar to
 us that we lose all sense of horror to
 which they at first gave rise. I hope it is not a case of 'facile decensus''
 concerning ourselves.
 As we proceed we pass by Jeshuruns,
 the lace maker, where ladies from all
 parts of the world daily assemble to inspect the dreams that are wrought in
 lace, It is a singular experience to vis-
 it this great establishment and exam
 inc the wonderful laces and silks.
 And then the glass factories of Salvi- ate and Testolini are to be visited, and
 many copies of ancient Venetian glass | to be examined These are very beau | tiful very wonderful and executed with marvellous skill, and yet with all the
 auxlliaries of modern and ancient art
 which the glass manufacturers can summon to their aid; there are many
 specimens of ancient Venetian glass which cannot be reproduced I once | forded the river Belus near Acre on the l Syrian coast The Phoenicians first made glass from the peculiar sand WHICH they lOullO III llllo llNtlI anu there are to-day in the museums of Flu
 rope pieces of Phenecian (Tyriam glass which defy the skill of all glass makers to reproduce. The history of glass
 manufacture forms an exceedingly in-
 teresting chapter in Venetian history.
 A visit to the little island of Murano,
 where are to be seen the glass works of
 the Testolini company, or few hours
 spent at the establishment of Salviati
 in an old palace on the Grand canal, is
 a pleasure to be remembered as long
 as one can remember Venice herself.
 Come with me to the beautiful old
 church of "St Giovanni e Paolo." This
 grand old church was built nearly sev-
 en hundred years ago, and next to "St
 Marco" is the most impressive of all
 the churches of Venice. It is, so to speak, the westminster Abbey" of
 Venice, for here are to be seen the mag nificent tombs of many Doges and he- roes of the old city. Here is the monu- ment of General Bragadino, the de- fender of Cyprus; after it's surrender the Turks hayed him alive, all the de- tails of which are carved in marble. The city authorities placed this monu- ment here in 1570 Many pictures and one equestrian statue in this church date back to 1475. One beautiful monu- ment is dated 1347. The magnificent monument of Doge Morosini, who died in the city. There are scores of monu- in the icty. There are scores of monu- ments of huge proportions and splen didly executed to be seen in this inn mense church which were placed there long before Christopher Columbus sailed out of Palos ito discover a new world. In 1867 one of the chapels of this church was destroyed by fire and | the celebrated picture by Titan, "St | Peter murdered in a Wood,' was com pletely destroyed. A splendid Madon- | na by Belhni was consumed at the | same time At the side of this church | stands the bronze equestrian statue of | Bart. Colleoni, erected in 1495. Ruskin | considered this "the most glorious l work of sculpture in the world"
 As we return to our hotel let us visit l the Arsenal" one of the most inter- esting places not only in Venice, but in Italy. During the prosperous days of the republic sixteen thousand workmen were daily employed here and in the adjoining ship-yards; and it was the most imposing and celebrated arsenal in the world At the entrance are four antique marble lions which were brought from the Piraeus in 1887. The gateway was built in 1460 and is very imposing. At the present day there are two thousand men at work daily, and it is an establishment of the first order Large iron-olads are built here and there are to be seen all the latest improvements in the science of naval construction. The "Sicilia," one of the largest war-ships afloat, was built and launched here in 1891. The Museum" within the arsenal grounds Is filled with many objects of historical among which are the remains Jf the "Bucentaur," the gilded state barge in which the Doge proceeded eve " Ascension day down the Adriatic to throw his ring into the waves, thus in l singular manner contracting mar 'iage With the blue waves of that clas- sic sheet of water. Venice and the Adriatic were thus solemnly welded for centuries. Tn this muse nm are all sorts of gruesome instru- nents of torture, flags and great ships anterns of mammoth size, taken from he Turkish fleet at the battle of Lepon- o in 1870, when the Turkish power was broken and thirty thousand Christian yalley slaves released. There Is a suit of armor preserved here which was worn by Henry ". of Trance, and presented by him to the epublic in 1903. Among large collec- ion of arms are many revolvers and ,reech-loaders of the sixteenth century, which makes me think there is noth- ng new under the sum-" and that re- -olvers and breech-loaders are really lot modern invention, but merely eproduction of former models perfect d on a scientific scale. There is a mall breech-loading cannon here bout five feet in length; 1t is said to be cry similar to the first breech-loading un made by Sir w. Armstrong, and if he truth were fully known I venture Q assert that this old Venetian six eenth century breech-loader was the 0re-funner or parent of the modern reech-loading ordnance.
 To fully appreciate this museum lany visits should be made here and me taken to carefully inspect the con ents A short distance from the arse al is the little island of St, Pietro,