The Portland daily press., 1897-09-11
MILAN and VENICE.
On the Grand Canal in the Eve
ming.
SPLENDORS OF THE CHURCH OF
ST. MARK.

-------- ~-----~
draI-The Old Palace of the Dodges-
Canova's Tomb-Titan's Assumption
Last Days in Venice.
| Especial Correspondence of the PREss.]
Venice, Aug. 8, 1897.
| While every land possesses its distinc-
| tive characteristics that attract the
traveller with the charm Of novelty,
| there is subtle something, surrounding
Italy, and Italy alone. 1t is not only it's
blue unclouded skies and pictursesq ue
places, for under the former there is, in
summer, scorching heat and in the latter
innumerable discomforts, bnt the feel
ing awakened. the imagination kindled
there can be experienced in greater de-
gree we know only in far off Palestine
Who can realize physical annoyances
while listening for the call "Milano ~
This was to be the 'topen sesame" that
should spread before our eager eyes the
treasures of Italia. A dreamless night S
rest prepared us on the following day for
fresh churches and pastures new. =
These we found without difficulty in the
city which boasts the third largest cathe-
dral of the world, and the galerie of Vic
tor Emanuel. This latter, with its Inn
mense glass covered dome, is the favorite
shopping place and. promenade of the
Milanees. We did not realize in what
direction we were moving, as we walked
under the late kings triumphal arch,
when 10 fronting us was the mighty
House of God. The surpriselwas so COM
plete, the structure SO stupendous, that
we could only stand in aweu silence
before it. Thousands of threadlike
spires, each bearing sculptured saint,
rose high in air; flying buttresses carved
in many fantastic shapes, the most won
derful being the garden where every
flower and fruit, wrought in stone -four
ished in never-fading beauty. We reached
the topmost pinnacle and looked beyond
the city far away to Monta Rosa in her
robe of white; then down, down we went
into the crypt, to the solid silver chapel
that contains the sarcophagus, in which is
shown the body of the patron saint of
Milan; this relic has lain here for GEN.
turtles clothed in the official robes COW
cred with gems; the face brown and
are the emerald and diamond cross and
crown Of priceless value. Throughout
our journeyings we have carried with US
our cross-stitch cardboard motto in
scribed-" Above all things be temperate
in speech" Perhaps the struggles we have
made to live up to that inscription, are
not apparent in our letters, but when we
reached Venice we were worSted, and
casting that motto into the Adriatic we
gave way to our vocabulary. All q the
party in our railway carriage were of one
mind as the cent of salt sea reached us,
and pools of water came in sight, and
then small canals and we knew we were
in the city OF romance and of poetry.
The intoxication of the place began, the
moment we stepped into one of the hun
dreds of gondo]as floating near the
station, and saw all around US the paint
ed sails, red, brown and yellow. How
exhilarating it was to hear fifty swarthy
gondoliers wrangling in melodious
Italian and then gliding out under old
stone arches, and turning unexpected
corners. to have the Grand Canal before
us with its wondrous Venetian palaces
unlike all others as Venice itself is so
different, SO apart from all the world.
Desdemona' palace with its carved bal
cony was next our stopping place-"the
Grand Hotel''-itself an ancient palace,
and sure we were, no more enthusiastic
lovers of the very stones of Venice"
were ever entertained.
Enraptured as we were by day, the
spell the siren weaves by night is incom-
parable. A fairy structure reared itself
above the waters whose dome and pillars
wereIone vivid line of light, red, blue,
and white. From this Aladdin's palace
the sweetest music made by many skilled
musicians, was waited toward us as we
moved along the water, millions of
twinkling stars were overhead, and points
of light scarcely less brilliant CLEANED
from almost every house and window.
All this Arabian n lights entertainment
we had, not once merely, but many times
and only longed that it might last the
thousand and one nights.
To some OF our members the unusually
large excursion parties we have encoun-
tered, have been serious annoyance, but
to MS they gave deep cause for thankful
ness that we were not a Cookie" for
until we saw one leader gathering his
forces seveDty-fve strong both black and
white, we did not realize our individual
blessings, or our really luxurious arrange
ments for sightseeing in general. A
subject for debate presented itself in the
question What benefit is gained from
foreign travel when the very beginnings
are DEFICIENT when we heard the follow
ing remark made by young woman to
her companion; she being evidently
under the delusion that gondolas-though
she knew them not as such-were untrust-
worthy as vehicles of transportation. i
don t want to get in one o'them doges, !"
she said plaintively, cycling suspiciously
staid looking .gondola "but If Ia
knowed she was a'goiDg I'd a'went too. "
Feeling sorry for the poor girl, in various
ways, we bought our small bags of corn
and tarned our footsteps toward famous
St: Mark Square to feed the pigeons.
"Whirr-r" in one second we were almost
hidden, on our heads and shoulders set
tied the cooling birds-they would alight
three or four deep on each hand, strug-
CLING in most undoye-like fashion for the
last kernel; the Piazza disputed with
'.gondoling' for supremacy in our affec-
tions.
What historic memories cling to that
old Palace of the Doges what splendor,
Ga ConlDIntn