The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1919-01-03
The Ugly Sister OF Venice.

Ven1CeS ugly uLCl0 SlSIGF. 0p11"i
ing, unsanitary, crowded, this neg
lected annex Of peerless Venice has
somehow taken on Importance dur
ing the eight long months while the
Austrian guns have been booming
steadily almost within sight across
the water True, the fishing industry
by which most Chioggians lived be-
fore the war has all but vanished.
Most Of the lace workers who wound
their long threads daily in the shaded
loggias are missing. Yet because of
one chance addition or another the
towns population has remained sta
tionary, until today it rivals that Of
shrunken Venice, which is nearer by
several miles to the front.
All Of which gives two American
Red Cross workers enough to do
In that isolated place, out Of sight Of
other Americans and Of the sound of
their native tongue for weeks at a
time and always within reach OF the
enemy airplanes that menace the la
COON towns, single American Red
Cross lieutenant and one district
nurse have carried on alone for
many months the battle against war
time poverty and disease.
When the little unit of two ar
rived six months ago a committee of
Chioggia citizens was already feed
ing several thousand people weekly
i'm the communal soup kitchen. Even
then many dependents for whom
there was no room and insufficient
food went half-nourished, while the
chill wind that blows i'm winter
across the fiat Chioggia sands found
numbers thinly clad. Today an
American Red Cross Soup kitchen
serves $50 portions weekly of soup
that is a nourishing meal in itelf.
Into the mixture go such items as
these, shipped recently from the
American Red Cross Warehouse in
Venice: 1865 tins of condensed milk,
$50 pounds of Texas beef. Group by
group, too, children in tatters and
their needy elders are being clothed.
All needy dependents of men who are
fighting at the front are entitled to
apply for American aid. Under
Lieutenant A. r. Chambers direction
q sewing room turns out week by
week enough garments, ranging from
layettes to black gaberdine dresses
for war widows, to keep more than a
score of impecunious soldiers wives
employed and the ragged fringe of
ne population clad.
Even more vital than the food and
clothing records are the statistics
turned over to the Italian medical
authorities by the American Red
Cross nurse who investigates every
street of Chioggia. All the alleys and
the crowded, disease breeding courts
know her, disinfectants in hand, with
her penchant for soap and water and
other simple preventives of calamity.
During the melee of war, Chioggians
have had no time for hygienic pre-
cautions and the death rate tells the
story. Cleanliness is Miss Rose
GandOlfo's austere gospel, and it is
true that no one but an Italian could
preach and practice it so vigorously
as she does and keep the unmitigated
affection of the Chioggia multitude,
tween life and death in humble
homes. Miss Gandolfo satisfies all
requirements, for she was born in
Genoa. Through many years resi-
dence in American training schools
and hospitals she has kept her know
ledge of the Italian language and
some OF it's dialects. Her first quail
tication for Chioggia, for example, is
that she speaks Chioggian.
The outstanding thing about
Chioggia today is a gigantic "Croce
Rosa Americana" sign across the
most modern building on the water
front. By day it is a lure to war
victims to come in and be fed or
medicated; by night it serves another
purpose. That function lies solely
in the fancy of the Chioggians, yet
it is the most touching tribute the
American Red Cross has had. For
every night and all night wierd CRY
goes up from the towns watchmen-
'buon guardia nell aria1 ("AIls well
in the air!") Chioggians turn peace
fully over in bed at the sound, as
sured that for another hour no enemy
bombs will drop from the air. The
same cry is heard i'm Venice, the
same cry in all the lagoon settle
ments. It is the most soothing
sound In the world to the bomb
weary.
Sometimes on moonlight nights in
spite OF the watchmen, the rumor
spreads that Austrian planes are
driving on toward Venice. Not long
ago they did come the elimination
OF long series Of death-dealing ex-
petitions over Venice for eight
hours frazzled every nerve, though
the actual damage was small. To
day, when those vague alarms roll
In from nowhere and anywhere, it is
under the big painted "Croce Rosa
Americana" sign that dozens or
Chioggians huddle for protection.
III the Americans can bring food
FOR the hungry across a submarine
infested ocean, IL they can prevent
disease merely by cleaning up, WHY
isn't their symbol a good protection
against the iron death in the air
SO some Chioggians reason.
lf the air raids over the Iagoons
recurr the Americans are considerina
the installation OF a carefuIly-con-
structed bomb-proof In their base
ment-and not for themselves alone.