Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-06-15
REAR ITALIAN BOOT STRAP
Fertile Region Whose Plains Are
Dotted with Historic Cities.
Venice, Mistress Of Adriatic and Once
Seat of Most Powerful Republic
in World, Menaced by
War.


Italy known as Venetia which the Aus
trian offensive now threatens is the
subject OF a war geography bulletin by
the National Geographic society from
its Washington. D. c.. headquarters.
The bulletin gives the following data
about this fertile region whose BIOS
sominE plains are dotted with numerous
cities famous as centers of great historic
interest and custodians of art and
architectural treasures OF incalculable
worth
"Venetia, whose eastern, northern and
western boundaries have been the fight
ing line Of Austria and Italy since the
latter nation entered the European strug-
gle, is the rear boot strap OF the
Italian peninsula. II juts far up into
Austro-H Hungarian territory. at the head
of the Adriatic sea. and Is bounded on
the south by the Adriatic and the ter
rtorial division of Italy known as
Emilia OF which Bologna is the principal
city. The southwestern boundary is
Lombardy Of which Milan is the
metropolis 1t has an area about equal
to that of the State of Vermont, but
its population is ten times as great.
Among the noted cities whose literary
shrines, historic buildings and wonder
full art galleries are endangered by the
far-reaching iron fingers Of war are the
great mistress of the Adriatic, Venice,
| once the seat Of the most powerful re-
public in the world; Verona. treasured
| in the hearts of the English-reading
world az the home of literature's great
| est lovers, Romeo and Juliet: Padua,
| also familiar name to the Shakespeare
an student: Vienna rich in Pallado
palaces; Udine, the military base for
! Italian operations on the Isonzo during
| the long-attempted drive toward the
Austrian port of Trieste. and that de-
| light Of artists, Chioggia, the chief fish
ing port Of Italy
"Venetia is largely delta land. having
been formed by the alluvial deposits
| brought down from the Tyrolean Alps
| by numerous rivers including the two
! largest watercourses of the kingdom.
the Pc and the AdiGe. The lower
reaches of these rivers flow through ex-
tensive plains where levees are neces-
sary to prevent frequent foundations. In
this section the Pc has a fall Of not more
than half inch to the mile. Natural
ly this silt soil IS extremely fertile, pro-
ducing large crops of wheat maize, rice.
tobacco and chestnuts. together with
mulberry leaves for silk worms
Many Of the towns Of Venetia are
manufacturing centers, the chief prod
ucts being glassware. wooden. silk and
cotton goods. paper and candles. venc-
tan lace has become so widely known
m haV bo ooI,i c
significance Of its name
THE territory derives It's name from
the Veneti. the tribes which inhabited
this region during the early Roman
days. When the barbarians poured over
the Alps and Atilla sacked Lombardy,
the people Of the interior fled to the
Adriatic coast. taking refuge on the low
islands which cluster around the mouths
of the numerous rivers. It Is to this
hegira that Venice owed the initial i'm
petus for its rapid rise to power, begin
ming in the fifth century. Her fortunes
finally waned with the discovery Of the
Cape of Good Hope route to the Far
East, in 14S6. this ocean lane to the
Orient striking a fatal blow at the
island city's supremacy as trade
center A large part Of the Mediter-
ranean traffic was quickly diverted to
the Atlantic seaboard. establishing
Englands dominance as the world
greatest commerce-carrying nation.
I'm 1897 Napoleon gave Venice and a
large part Of the contiguous territory to
Austria. The city and province were
incorporated as a part of United italy
in 1866, after the defeat of Austria by
the Prussians on the field of Konig.
gratz, in the Seven Weeks War;