The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-07-25
VENICE, GOING
TO FALL DOWN

VENICE. July 1.-the Compatible
detached bell tower) of St. Marks
church, ninety-eight meters high. col
lapsed at 10:40 this morning and fell
with a great crash into the piazza.
The campanille, which was entirely
detached from the cathedral, collapsed
where it stood and is now heap of
ruins. The cathedral and Palace of
the Domes are quite safe. but corner
of the royal palace was damaged. Re-
pairs on the Campanile were to have
commenced today. 1t is feared there
was some loss of life. The ruins are
surrounded by a Gordon of troops
The first intimation of the danger
was the sudden appearance yesterday
of a longitudinal crack in the corner
of the wall facing the clock tower and
the breaking of two windows. a con-
cert which ha' been arranged to be
held on the piazza yesterday was stop
ped by order of the Project, with the
object of preventing concourse of
people.
The ruins are piled up to a height
of 100 feet, and the Piazza di San Mar
co and the adjoining squares are COW
cred with debris and dust. Some dam
age was uone to the Sanssovno Log
getta, or vestibule, on the east side of
the campanille.
The campanile stood opposite the
church of the Cathedral of st. Marks s.
1t was founded in SSS, restored in 1929,
provided with a marble top in 14l7. and
in 1857 was crowned with the figure Of
an angel nearly sixteen feet high.
NEW YORK, July ia cable to the
Sun from Venice says: Professor Wag-
ner, city architect, is of the opinion that
practically the whole of Venice is
doomed to destruction. He says that
the subsoil has deteriorated, and piles
and pillars are rotten and unable TO
stand the pressure on them. Shrink
ages and sinking have been observed in
the subsoil for many years, although
an official commission lately declared
| that there was no danger from these
causes.
Professor Wagner advocates the re-
storatiOn of the loggia of Sansovino,
but not the tower. He says that if the
tower is rebuilt it should be in modern
style.
VENICE. Italy, July l6.-Offers of
money to aid in rebuilding the Campo
nile continue to be received from
abroad, including offers from America,
but there is disposition to make its
reconstruction a purely national affair
and to rebuild the structure exactly as
it was prior to the collapse without
foreign assistance. The cost is esti-
mated at 5000 900 lire.
The bronze gate of the loggetta Of
Sans SOvino was found beneath the de-
bris, twisted and with one of the lions
&c, hnp ha ha ,fnt
by Tintoretto and others may be saved
Three-fOurths of the Piazza of San
Marco is covered with debris and traffic
is completely stopped.
NEW YORK, July ls-Within bar
ricade surrounding the ruins Of the
Campanile, workmen are sorting into
separate heaps the marble statues.
broken bronze bells. copper roofing,
carvings of the caps of the col
umns and iron bars. cables the Venice
correspondent of the Herald.
Signor Kasi, Minister of Public
Works, and Signor Calderon, Director
of Fine Arts. have arrived from Rome
tn conduct the inquiry into the causes
of the disaster. 1t is now thought the
collapse was due to the e,S st wall of
the tower having been damaged 'by
lightning in l7i5, when TIL republic
built a new wall against IT,
The two walls never Joined properly
and the old wall began to settle in
1850 The two We're united with iron
and thus made stable. Against the
east wall was the Sansovino logetta,
which greatly needed repair as rain
entered where the wall Joined the cam
panile To put steel supports. The old
wall instantly fell some inches lower.
Half million lire tlo0.o0o) has already
been subscribed for the rebuilding of
the tower. which will be the work of
several years.