The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-24
Place Where Ilesde1nona Wait ed for OtheIlo Shelters Sol- diers and Marines in Great Struggle of the Old World.

j
 Venice. Dec. 2sTaIxe a gondola. for a trip, through the Grand Canal during these war days, and one sees many changes in the centers of inter est Well-known to travellers and read ers-the war-dress of the homes of Lord Byron and the comp poser Wag- ner, of the poet Browning and the American writer w D. How els, the romantic palace where Desdemona waited for Othello. and further along. in the market quarter near the Rial to bridge, the house of Shy1ock, the quaint building standing there un- changed today. but now used as a butchers shop where. a lusty Italian butcher exacts Shy1ock war prices of go cents a kilo for thep ounds of flesh dealt over the counter. 2 Starting from the quay San Marco. the broad 1agoons entering the Grand Canal have an air of martial and naA val preparation rather than the usual carnival aspect which marks this een- ter. The quays are lined with, soldiers and sailors and the sgondo1as are carrying great loads of war supplies back and forth, and transporting troops and marines from point to point while the launches from the iwarships dart in and out among the Tgondo1as
 Ordinarily there are 2,600 gondolas in regular service-60O private and
 
 these remain in use owing to the ter TOT inspired by the bomb raids.I Most of the wealthy residents have hur- riedly left for the south, and there are no touriste to make use Of the public gondo1as. Only one first-cIass hotel remains open. and half of it is given over to hospital for the wounded brought in from the near by fighting lines.
 Entering thet Grand Canal, the great domes of Santa Maria della Sa- lute stand out on the left, but always with their war trappings, for here is located the headquarters of the army Red Cross, where most of the work of the field hospitals is rEgulated. The palace Venier next to the church is similarly used for army hospital administration, and the Red Cross flags are flying everywhere, as a warning of immunity from bomb raids. Further up the Canal on the right is the house of Desdemona- Just what Desdemona did in her day is a matter of tradition and Shakesperian TO- nance. Now the old palace is occu- pied by a rich merchant family who have fled to the south; the curtains are drawn, the lower windows guard ed by steel shutters and the gardens neglected.
 On the left of the Canal is row of palace soften occupied by promi- nent American families. Two of these, the palace Balbi--Vaher and the PoIi Iignac-are closed and closely shut-red, while most of the others in the quarter are partially abandon ed. Opposite this group is the palace Fa1Iier. where w. D. Towels lived while he wrote his scenes from Vene- tian life. It is one of the few places still showing life and activity, and the well-kept gardens are full of flow CTS which hang into the canals flank i'm in front and along one side Inst across the Grand Canal is the palace Rezzonico where Robert Browning Iiv- ed and died. Usually this is a very gay quarter, with crowds of gondola-s passing and the palaces alive with brilliant entertainment But now ap ss silent and lugubrious, and the few gondoIas creep along like Indian ca noes on a deserted river,
 One touch of life has been given to this quarter by some American art ists who have pulled down an old pal aee and built very showy front