The Harrison times., 1900-11-24
THE CITY OF GONDOLAS.
Something OF the Life OF the Gay Vene-
tianS-The Churches and WOrShiperS.
VENICE.

The Italians are a politer race than
the French, in my judgment They
are kindly people; they take a keen
interest in you; they want to know
something about you; if they like
your looks land they will make a
! close and careful inspection as you
pass they will smile, tip their hats,
and sometimes murmur something
low and soft, and pass on. | am not
speaking of the beggars, of the de-
1s<Pses(e-Ws1sea-tssrr~ss;rsm-wa+tafor-
you about the portals of the church
es, of the infirm tacchiDi who infest
gondOla landings and affect to assist
YOU to alight and then hand their
hats to you, of the ubiquitous hotel
| attache, old or young, who arises, if
he IS sitting, as you approach, there
by protesting his belief in your in
nate superiority over all other peo-
|
ulterior motives. l am speaking OF
| the people with whom you cOms in
contact on railway trains, and on
steamboats,, and IN crowded thor
| Oughfares OF course | have had no
opportunity to Judge of the prosper
| Gus classes in their homes On the
| trip from Genoa to Milan, a hand
some young Italian Travelled Il part
of the way in my impairment, and
| though l could speak no word of his
| language, and he no word of mine,
he pointed out the battlefield of
| MarengO, and one or two forts, and
and made me understand that Ma
| poleOn Bonaparte was the nero of
that occasion. When he left ne
train, he lifted his hat, shQG11 hands
with me and wished me bon voyage
There was nothing perfunctory
about his action either. He was a
civilized human being, who was cvi-
IDENTIFY actuated by the idea that
ones fellow-travelers are social be-
ings worthy of being treated with
ordinary courtesy. | have been
looking the Italian over, here in Ven
ice, and he is not as bad as h as been
spaiuted----MI~-RQWsllS.-Wbobas has
written more entertainingly of Ven
etian life than anyone else, and
whose powers of observation and
discrimination are so well known,
and appreciated by a wide circle of
intelligent readers, had led me to be-
lieve the great yellow Italian was
an idle, pleasure-loving, inquisitive,
| impertinent fe v, liable to thrust
himself upon unprotected females. l
think he may be inquisitive, and |
belieye he is essentially pleasure-lov-
| ing, but l have the testimony of
many keenly obseryant American
women that they have nowhere been
treated with more kindly and polite
consideration than in Italy. | had
advised several of my acquaintance
of Mr.. Howclls' opinion, thereby
warning them against possible i'm
pertinences, but they afterwards, be-
ing of an independent turn and dear
ly liking to linger at shop-windows,
and to study street life, told me that
the American writer had either mis-
Judged the Italian, or that manners
had changed these latter years.
Handsome young fellows, it is true,
with waxed mustaches, and con-
questioning Junior army officers.
will stop and look at pretty girls,
anywhere under the sun, and attest
their admiration by ardent glances,
and sometimes such conduct is re-
sented by women of the strictest de-
votlon tc he proprleties. But l
submit tha. there is Ia wide differ
enCe between such action and the
rank impertinence of the profession
al masher. | do not know how |
came to start this letter in Just this
way, unless it is because l am lust
back from the Lido, where there are
several hundred pretty women and
an equal number of men of various
gifts in the matter of pulchritude,
bathing in the Adriatic surf. with
other hundreds, mostly natives, sit
ting on the balconies watching them
with friendly interest, | had observ-
ed the attitude of sIghtseers towards
the bathers, with Mr.. Howells
harsh judgments in mind, and had
concluded that the Italians, and es
pecially the Venetians, had been mis-.
understood, and | wanted to saw so
There are over 100 churches ir
Venice, according to the guide books
and | do not know how man,
priests, | see them everywhere