Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-07-19
A GLIMPSE OF VENICE.
A City Whose LONELINESS Attracts
Thousands Every Year.

a lily whose LONELINESS ACCT0CC8
Thousands Every Year.
You all have heard Of Venice, that
curious city on the Adriatic Sea,
where the streets are canals and the
men go from place to place in gon-
dolas instead of in carriages, writes
John Mott in st. Nicholas. Long ago
Venice was one Of the wealthiest cities
in the world; its great fleets brought
home the merchandise Of the east,
jewels and silks and spices; its mer-
chant princes built those beautiful pal
aces which stand to-day beside the
Grand canal, most Of them sadly in
need Of repair, it is true, but majestic
still, though the plaster is falling from
their weather-beaten walls. Perhaps
Venice is even more beautiful now in
its decay than it was In the days Of
its greatest glory, for age has beauty
Of its own, softer and more delicate
than that Of youth. The bright colors
which once shone with dazzling bril-
liancy under the Italian sky are now
subdued and mellowed like those Of an
old tapestry. So, though wealth and
commerce are deserving the city on the
sea, its loneliness increases from year
to year and attracts to 1t thousands Of
visitors from all parts Of the earth;
from Germany and England and Amer
lea, and even from far-away China
and Japan. These visitors come in the
greatest numbers in the early spring
time, for then the weather Is best; the
days are clear and fine, and the bright
southern sun makes Italy warm and
delightful when people in more north
ern countries are still shivering with
the cold. So, during the pleasant spring
days the old square Of San Marco, tho
public gardens and the bathing beach
at the Lido are crowded with stran-
gers, while the graceful black gondolas
which dart through the narrow canals
are nearly all decorated with flags Of
foreign countries, among which the
stars and stripes are not lacking.
But it Is on a moonlight night that
Venice is most beautiful. Then the
lights. along the quay adjoining the
Doge's palace show throngs Of laugh
ing people; the ancient mansions that
line the Grand canal seem to be gazing
calmly down at their broken refec-
tons in the dark water, and the moon
rides high in the heavens above the
white dome Of the Church Of Our Lady
Of Salvation. Suddenly the soft strains
Of sweet music fill the air. They come
from large boat, all aglow with gay
colors and lanterns. It floats along the
center Of the Grand canal. The crowd
on the quay cease chattering and
laughing for an instant, the balconies
Of the hotels fill with eager listeners
and the fleet gondolas which have
been darling about in the moonlight
cluster quickly around the boat, where
boy is singing to the accompaniment
Of two or three stringed Instruments
Theyoung Venetian's beautiful voice
rises clear and strong on the still night
air as he sings an Italian love song.
To many Of his hearers his words are
without meaning, but the language Of
music Is universal; so the stranger, as
he leans back on the cushioned seat
Of his gondola, understands as well as
the native. All discordant sounds are
hushed; only faint murmur from the
people on the quay, the soft rubbing
Of one gunwale against another as the
gondolas snuggle closely together and
the tapping Of the ripples mingle with
the singing to make it different from
any that the listener has heard else
where. But ever afterward, when the
music Of that song flashes through his
memory, as music has way Of doing,
he will see again the moonlight and
the dark canal, the somber old palaces
and the cleaning lights along the quay.
Iifnrofyuwo en- AlocI~o