The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-10

old buildings and everything had been re-
moved which can be Of future use. is the
only thing 10 which I can compare IL. a
few beams and masses of mortar showed
here and there, but the most vivid impress
sion / got Was the absolute crumbhng. An
American builder who is in Venice just now
declares that nothing could have saved the
tower; that it had lived its life, and. as he
says, went 10 pieces like the zone boss
shay The great bell is partly visible in
the heap and it seems to be exactly be-
reath the place where it hung The Cam
panile did not fall, it crumbled."
SIMPLY a COLLAPSE.
Those who saw 1t, and two of our own
party were on the piazza when the disaster
happened, say that a cracking sound was
heard, and that then the tower went down
as if sinking into the earth. The great
angel toppled over. and dust rose in suf-
locating clouds. and that was all.
The mass left seems less in bulk than
the tower. and the theory current in the
gossip of this afternoon is that the lower
portion has literally sunk into the ground.
The gondoliers. it may be remarked in
passing, believe that the continual wash of
the waves made by the steamers in the
Grand canal has undermined the piazza.
The theory is manifestly absurd, since the
royal palace is between the canal and the
Campanile.
That mighty a tower, 800 feet high.
COuIO come DOWN with so little damage Is
wonderful Last night as we looked at the
crack we decided that should the Campanile
fail nothing could save the southern porch
OF St Marks, and that in all proba pility
the ducal palace would suffer badly. The
royal palace, which was within a score OF
feet of the tower, has a corner torn out,
put the damage is comparatively slight.
The cathedral and the Palace of the
DoSes are absolutely uninjured. So self
contained-if may the eXpression-al-
most so gradual was the subsistence that
fOiurV-Sn director
of the Academia dele Belle Arti told
OF the party-to anything in st. Mark S.
Tho wonder OF seeing that pile OF brick and
dust and marble still higher than the
royal palace, covering the ground even TO
the steps OF st. Marks, and Of realizing
the the buildings around are untouched is
something which L do not know how to put
into words. By singular and most poetic
coincidence the golden angel lies in the
one might almost be superstitious enough
TO feel that II protected the golden front
of st. Marks from the ruin which seemed
inevitable.
The piazza without the Campanile is a
strange and mournful sight Yesterday
with the three great Italian banners on the
hagstaffs before St. Marks. the Venetian
| standards on the cathedral itself, the dull
Sray-pink of the Campanile against the
glowing mosaics Of the church the piazza
was song OF color and Of the joy OF life;
to-day II is mournful and sad beyond words.
st. Marks seems pathetically alone and
unprotected, and singularly enough appears
smaller without the tall tower which should
stand over il. Not only Venice, but the
world is poorer for the loss of this precious
Campanlle, and If tonight one should cry
on the Grand canal, Break off the music:
the King is dead! the words would be pa
thetically and pOignantly true.
The rebuilding of the Campanile of st.
Marco should be the care, and the instant
care, of the whole civilized world In a
unitarian age il may seem extravagant to
say that the disaster should be treated like
calamity Of flood or fire which overwhelms
property and life, but this is exactly my
feeling. Subscriptions generous and instant
are due wherever possible from every lover
of art and of culture the world over. Venice
has not the means alone to rebuild, and if
she had IL would be wrong for the rest of
Christendom to be deprived of a share in
the work. The debt which the race owes to
beauty may not be a tangible one, but ii is
not on that account the less weighty. What
we owe TO Venice is not to be set down in
nicely ruled columns of dollars and cents.
but no sane man, certainly no cultivated
man. can fail to appreciate II keenly.
This should be the concern of Italy
first" the director of the academy said
this morning. the tears in his eyes, next
of Venice and then of the world"