Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-10-02

WheelerS, low and with two open decks
They are speedy-sixteen to twenty
miles an hour-and the men at the
wheels are truly experts. To dock
land passengers and away again does
not usually consume two minutes.
The sky above is cloudless and oi
azure blue, no prettier, though, than the
waters beneath us. A coin overheard
can be seen shimmering to the bottom,
and naked gamins are ready to dive
twenty feet for twenty-centime q
cents) shining nickel. Fish of various
siHes are seen darting hither and thither
while wild duck, geese and swan (al
apparently sacred) swim or fly around
you unmolested. Hundreds of miles
from the ocean, these lakes are the
haunt of focks of seagulls-tolled hithel
to prey upon the tourist, as all Italy is
taught to do. 1t is part of the pastime
to throw cakes, nuts or chunks of bread
into the air while steaming along, fol
the seagulls to catch; and they are
well trained. Hardly a toss ever
strikes the water. The gull takes it hot
off the bat in midair-and one took a
hot stump of cigar thrown from a
cruel hand; but he did not swallow it.
On every side is foliage most beauti-
full, fruits in prodigal abundance. The
mountain sleeps nurse villa after villa,
chateau after chateau, and all pass as
in panorama. You pinch yourself to see
If it is real or that you are not doing.
Like elsewhere in our travels everything
is of the most substantial. Marble,
stone, brick and cement are used for the
commonest purposes, even for fences
and docks Not yet have we seen q
frame house or rail fence in all Europe!
We touch here at town nesting at the
foot of a vine-clad mountain, and
yonder at another, thousand feet be-
low an old castle, convent or monastery,
to take on and let off passengers. his
place has history, that plSce is the
residence of some notable-and look
yonder floats the stars and stripes above
lordly villal Our portrayal is nc
longer an apparition; it is a reality.
Here a bankrupt count brought an
American heiress, and the price ofpeace
is that he must display the American
flag from the flagpole. No villages are
built on the level here; there is but
little level ground, end that seems to
be devoted to pasture. Steep hill sides
seem to be the favored spots for the
clusters of villages, pursuing the feudal
idea of protection by unity and height.
The houses, all of stone, marble, or
brick covered with cement, looking a
thousand years old with their ragged
tile roofs. are joined together, one row
stepping above the other as the hill
leads upward. For streets they must
pass under arcades, houses built across
the ma. row streets. No vehicles, no
beasts but the burden-bea ring donkey
allowed in these rural villages, hence
the streets need be only a few feet
in width.
Another night is spent at Como, and
on the morrow we survey the ancient
town withits battered walls and towers,
first to resist the Roman invasion and
afterward to aid Caesar in conquerine
Helvetia and Gallia. Then Milan, of
and Museum fame. gets us for
the rest of the day. The tourist is
indeed thankful for the excellent rail-
way service throughout Europe. A
train almost any minute, compart-
ment to yourself and fare very reason
able. Sunday at Milan and services in
the vast cathedral, and we speed on
our six-hour journey to Venice. We
are still in Northern Italy. Venice, if
you will look on your map, is almost
due east from Como or Milan and on
the Egean Sea.
Venice could well appropriate a chap
ter, or even volumes, to itself and still
be undescribed. Touching the -''high
places" only in our flying trip, we must
in this short space touch up the pima
cles, as it were. Verona where still
stands the reputed Capulet house from
whose veranda Juliet sighed upon her
Romeo-historical and one time mistress
of al. this land, is passed; and a little
later we cross a sea on viaduct several
miles long and are in the heart of Ven-
ice. Builded on an island, or more
marsh, the ancient Venetians
outlived the predatory tribes that drove
them hither for refuge, and saw the day
when their arms and arts commanded
the respect of the world. To this day
the pigeon is held sacred in the city
OF canals because it was a pigeon that
brought tidings of the victory of the
Venetion fleet over the Turks. And
the same pigeons progeny are TODAY a
nuisance and stencil in every public
building, nook and square, and none but
an Italian could so brook its filth.
Not a horse, cow or donkey is known in
Venice. The railroad station butts into
the Grand Canal, and there scores of
the gondolas of song and story are lined
up, bidding for passengers, as do the
hackman of our cities. Our hotel nor.
ter puts US into one of the black craft
(all are black by law, save the roval
ones) while he takes another. Bear in
mind that .porters and others, though
gorgeously arrayed, are menials, and tc
pariey or ride with them lowers
the traveller in the eyes of host anc
servants. The moon is just rising, anc