The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-06
MOTORDOAT OUT OF PLACE IN VENICE May Eventually Dust Con
 dolas, But, Not Soon SPEED NOT DESIRED Only American Tourists Who Do" Venice in Day or So Are in a
 Hurry-Passing of Gondola
 Would Re Irretrievable
SPEED NOT DESIRED

| AS the hansom cab was the gondola of
 London, so is the gondola the hansom cab of Venice, and as the hanson cab has undergone extinction, so. 1t Is
 thought. may the gondola, says a writer
 in the London Daily News It's rival
 and maybe successor-is the motorboat
 which Is to be seen on the canals in in
 creasing numbers.
 | It was, I think, De Musset who said
 that the secret of the subtle charm of Venice Is only to be discovered by him who lies in happy idleness in the black
 cabin of a gondola, slowly padding along
 the silvery canals on a midsummer night | De Musset of course, knew all there was to know about the fluctuations of the Queen of the Adriatic and his romantic excursions in luxurious gcndolas are still a tradition amongst the Venetian popu- | lace.
 One may rest assured, therefore. al-
 though the passing of the gondola is | predicted to be at hand, that the hour is yet far off Were it true, Venice would suffer an irretrievable loss; the loss of | its peculiar, old-world atmosphere, which seems to breathe on the foreign visitor | an irresistible invitation to a restful and careless laziness The slow, rhythmical methodical gondolier never in a hurry to get anywhere and always ready to ex- | pand on the beauties of his native laguna, would disappear forever.
 Opposition of the Motorboat | And what would take his place if tho gondola succumbs to the motorboat9 A | greasy, hustling and mater-of-fact chauf- i feur, who would rouse with his sacrilegi- ous hooting indignant echoes among the | historical palazzi, who would fill with | the smell of gasoline the sleepy canals where, from the fronts of the old houses
 1asmin and. roses stretch down to the | water edge.
 | It is true indeed, that an increasing | number of motor boats have lately been seeis in the laguna, and there Is reason | to believe that few more will soon be carrying on a vain and unequal compe- tition with the gondola. Yet Venetans. 1 who strongly deprecate this attempt to rob their city of one of it's charms are not greatly concerned. They firmly be- | lieve that at Venice at any rate, mere | speed has not a serious chance against picturesqueness and beauty.
 | As far back as 1880 the municipality in- | troduced a service of omnibus teamers between Venice and the Lido. Although | there were protests, the service remains l tOudy. TOT AnleflcAn lOuTlSGS WHO WISH
 to do" the town in a day or so gon- dclas, of course are too slow. But the
 motor boats, as well as their occupants,
 are out of place. Nothing is more ludi-
 crous than the sight of a motor boat
 spluttering through the old calli (eanals). where every stone, mirrored by the as yet unruffled water, recalls to the sympa- thetio mind memories of days long gone by. But, then. Americans, when touring Europe, seldom have time fer memories
 Scomed by Venetians
 1 Venetians, with the feeling for beauty | of which their hotelkeepers lacked, re- l scented the appearance of motor boats by | tho piazza of San Marco, and peted them | with stones and rotten fish and fruit as
 a protest. The mayor, Count Grimani, who was urged to reinstate the old
 buses (gondolas seating up to 12 peo- ple), was powerless against the hotel | keepers, who cared little about the dese-
 cration of the ancient waters, but much
 ahout the exploitation of the foreign vis-
 itor. It Is the latter who uses the motor
 beat, Venetian being seldom seen In one | A small syndicate has now been formed | to build new fleet of motor boats. It ought to be understood, however, that | these are only to ply between Venice and | the neighboring islands of La Giudecca | and Murano and the Lido. From Venice | itself the gondola never will disappear, | because of the mazing net of narrow ] canals, mostly unknown to tourists, in the interior of the town, which could not