Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-21
aoa INAaD
VENICE, AT THE HEICHTH
OF THE AUSTRO-GERMAN-
INVASION OF ITALY

whom we cam eupon. like some
anttquary in the midst of his collec-
tons, standing In q further and larg-
er. room. Here were tables desks,
|cabinets.. heaped two feet high with
such litter. shelves lined. with paper
covered. books. books stacked in front
OF the shelves and wedged in on top
OF other books in defiance Of all IL
Librarians. j.
And the man before us looked
nothing less than some old doge Of
Venice. stepped out Of the Middle
Ages. His hair was white and long
over his collar; heavy black eyebrows
contrasted with white beard: he wore
g skull cap, and a muller hung down
his neck like a stole. Unhappy man,
he said. tina in his g 1t should fall
to his lot to be charged with. the evac-
uation of his native district. But with
that, he fired to his task. and talked
brilliantly of the war, Of statesman
ship, Of Americas part in arms and
in civilian aid. OF the refugees he
said: ITO give all labor and not all
I'm Is my problem"
In his quick mind and vehement
speech we could gather why, however
much of the actual task Of admins
tering a comprehensive system of
care for the. refugees might fall to his
younger associates, this venerable
senator and member Of ministries
from the stricken district had been
imagination h care and provision
which the government had set itself
to give. And in a sense he stood for
another force in modern italian life,
OF which Americans are, for the o
part, unconscious. For-such have
been the tremendous mutations of the
centuries-this guardian of fugitives'
from the city of Antonio and Shylock
is. like the italian minister of foreign
lie life, a Jew.
We We're to visit many cities in. the
course Of our rapid. tour, but Venice
stands out among the rest. Through
out our stay there-we had a n Of
things impending. 1t was like Luzzat-
It's room. piled high with its records
of fifty years of Italian life. cut with
or day might hold. 1t was beyond
our powers to read. as Ruskin did. the
history Of her people written genera
ton after generation in carved and
ordered stones; but there was a poig-
nancy which no one Guild scape In
moving down silent canals beside
shattered buildings; a sense of frail-
ness in this beauty huilt in yester-.
years. fallen on a time of steel and
APIOcANCHs tCIiANO llou tCI oS-
ginnings in a fight Of refugees before
the invasion Of the Huns in the days
Of Attila. Was she to end as h be-
gan? e,
The Peril Of the Air.
The chroricler Of the life Of the la
"o"rs has pointed out that in the
fight of the early settlers to h lidi,
the long RIDGES o. sand that rim the
sea. they learned the, peril Of the
mainlard: and that at the outset of
the ninth century. when they held the
by the im~nenetrable network Of small
canals and oozy mudbanks." they |
in turn the peril of the sea.
So here, midway % the lagoons on the !
islands Of the archipe'ago. thev forth
with sink their communal feuds. drove
their Piles and founded a city ct
which tn" world has n 10 equal. But
what OF the reril Of TIE sky? There
is a legend that ore Of the churches
which. as foretold by a heavenly yisi-
tant to Bishop M,gnns Of Altinurn.
he should see a red cloud rest. and
another, vhero-a white cloud should
But the-e have ..heen NJ le-
perde or heavenly v%isttarte to fora
cast the black cloud OF war which.
p 'ter tan centuries. should come with
its alt0ge3he~ n"W neri ut the air for
church and citizens altke.
j. Venice suffered from b~ombardment ;
IN the fifteen morths' siege by the
which sr"fred out her revo-
luton in 1s48. hut that was before the !
age Of air craft. The church of the |
DAMAGED then and restored in
1850. was bombed in 1915. and the !
large fresco by Tieoolo shattered. The
ceiling OF Santa Maria Formosa was
destroyed the same wear and in 1917
= bomb brought down that Of the
Of SIS. Giovanni e Paolo. In !
the adjoining eF+eenth century 'Scuo'a
al s. Marco. which has been used as
@n osnedale 'civile since the time OF |
the Napoleonic wars. four peoo'a were
nineteen others wounded. and
half of the magnificent carved wood
en- ceiling. with the Lion Of St. Mark