Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-12-23
IAiR BONES CREATE
HAVOC in lTAlY'S
SCENIC CITY, VENICE,

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OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES,
venice Italv nec -fCorrespond-
eiice ~ A9sociaeeu ~ oppo
tunity TO see the destructive erect OF
the bomb raids on Venice was given
today "a tho Associated press. when
~ ainsrect;nr nndar official escort was
MADE 81 the havoc ana min IA the Ia
mons old church 81 the scalxi one OF
tina ! - mon,iments az the world. now
Is ureck v,ith its roof blown Off its
ma ssive wall. totterlnp. and the IA
nous Ceiling frescn Nv Tiepolo. valued
atEa million francs. living in heaps of
rubbish In The r,,ins Of the building.
There have bean three bomb raids on
Venice b,,t tfis was the worst. and the
historic church bora tha full brunt of
II.
Approaching the massive edifice one
nees gaming. hole In the roof. EXTEND
ing from front to rear. The facade,
fronting the Grand canal. is intact,
and three sculptured figures standing
along the cornice remain untouched.
Rut hack az the ffpnres the roof "a rs
away in a curved line downward and
then nm again 70 the rear wall. az tho
some giant hand had reached down and
form ont the who,e ton of tha church.
leaving only the front and the rickety
side walls intact workmen can be
seen high above beginning the work
of salvage and renair and heavy tim
beers are being laced across the gaping
hole left by the bomb.
Entering the historic church a
scene of havoc and ruin is presented
twisted beams and arches. panels and
columns or alabaster crushed into bits
and lying around in heaps, the richly
carved pulpit blown to pieces with only
a faint outline Of it's former wonders
remaining, ana above, the roof wide
open to the sky, with the wonderful
frescos OF Tiepolo dumped in huge
masses Of debris ON the stone pave
ment Faint edges OF the brand old
frescos still cling to the side walls, CIV
Ing some idea of the beauties Of the
work torn away. Six enormous arches
spanned the edifice meeting in the
middle, and giving an intervening
space for these frescos Not vestige
remains Of the main subjects, the visit
nf the Virgin &c Lorsttu, containing
hundreds of biblical and allegorical fig
ures, the ragged edges showing only
cloud effects and the BACKGROUND with
q few figures. The high altar, with
spiral alabaster columns and rich dec
orations. Is not touched, and another
curious feature is that the electric can
dies circling the church are undis-
turbed. and electric bulbs shining as
brightly as ever. But with these two
exceptfons-the high altar far in the
rear, and the clrcling candles-every-
thing IL ruin, frescoed ceiling, inlaid
marble sidewalks. sculptures, confess
SIGNALS, memorial tablets, baptistry,
and marble mosaic pavement-all lying
about in fragments.
II was about IL o'clock In the morn
ing when the explosion occurred. This
was the busy hour, when the Gondolas
were crowding the Grand Canal, and
tn. yenetians were shopping and mar
ketine. Suddenly a single monoplane
was seen In the northern sky, coming
from the direction Of the Austrian
frontier. It was flying very high
about $500 meters. People at first did
not recognize this speck as an enemy
bent on destruction. Soon, however.
s.e steam siren at the arsenal gave a
aL.k wail-the signal OF warning-and
the people scattered to cellars and any
available cover. The aeroplane was
now in full view, heading straight for
the big railway station Of Venice, the
Aenter OF a network OF railway con-
nactions. Just above the station the
aelroplane began to circle round and
round. Clearly 1t was going to bomb