The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-24
ROMANTIC SPOTS IN ANCIENT
 VENICE NOW RESOUND WITH
 PREPARATIONS FOR GRIM WAR

reaching down to the water The bright yellow and red are in marked contrast withxthe sombre, palaces all around. The military escort accom- pahying the party pointed out 7an- aband toned garden with a fine old pal ace built only to the first story.
 There is a story there,'' said the
 military escort. That palace was be- gun by a son of one of the Doges. But the son got to gambling, lost all his money, and mortgaged tl-e palace yet unfinished. And so the old Doges ordered that all work on the palace should be stopped, and never again started, as an everlasting warning stands today, after four hundred years, jusc as it stood when work was stopped, still giving its warning
 Further along on the left, is the gray stone building used as the Aus trian Embassy until Italy dece1ared war against Austria. The flagstaff which used to bear the Austrian col DTS, stretches over the canal, but the place is deserted. Up a side canal is the former German Embassy, also de- serted. They were two of the most active centers of entertainment and of ficial exchange during peace times.
 In front of the former German ern- bassy Qredges are now at work clean ing out the side canals. This is mammoth work, done every 200 years in the Grand Canal, and every 20 years in the side canals. The present absence of traffic has given oppor- tunity for this Securing. Great mass es of black mud are brought up and of Venice ernpties into these canals, but the tides of the Adriatic sweep out the sewage and keep the city in a reasonably healthy condition.
 In the market section of the city the Grand Canal shows it's usual ac- tivity with the fish and vegetable markets surrounded by boats and crowded with customers. Venice has recently finished Veritable palace for it's fish market, and the military escort told how this had come about.
 stThe Queen came here about five years ago. said he. She was shown the beauties of the Grand Canal, and admired them greatly-al1 except the old fish market. She declared that was blot and a scandal. And so the city decided to spend a million francs for new market. And yet, the Queen has never since come here to see this building erected to meet her taste, and Venice is beginning to ask whether it was really worth while to spend so much money to meet a Wo- mans whim."
 The RiaIto bridge is the very heart of the busy merchant quarter. This famous bridge is the only one known to have been made stronger by in creasing it's weight. It began to crack at the outset, and the architect said add more weight.
 Bazaars and stores were therefore added all along the bridge, greatly increasing it's weight and this so steadied it that it stands secure today. | One of the bomb raids was in this viciR:-y, and the people crowded the l bridge and quays watching the air. craft as it dropped it's. bombs. One of them was the bomb which destroy ed the famous Scalzi church nearby.
 The house of Shylock, not far from the RiaIto bridge, is a small two- story rough stone structure. The first floor is now a butcher shop. A price | list of meat hung back of the butch | er's stalls, the prices being fixed by the city They showed the effect of | war stringency in meat. Beefsteak was set down at 90 cents a kt1o, and beef and mutton at 60 to 80 cents. 1 The cause of this, the butcher ex- pIained was that the army used so much meat. The butcher was very suspicious while his pricelist was be- ing examined, and finally said:
 Are you Germans? We have to be on the lookout always for Germans
 The markets and stores in the v1-