A SILENT CITY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 604, 6 September 1909, Page 8

A SILENT CITY.

SCENES IN VENICE. UNCHANGED WiTH YEARS. (Bγ H. T. B. DiiEw..): ' Imagine, a city without, horses, cabs, bicycles, motor-cars, trams, without noise and without dusV-and; without rates for theupkecp .'of .roads—where tho only.sounds" that disturb .tho serenity are tho medly pf church bells, the boom of. the midday gun, the whistle of. steamers, and the. voices of tho people., A silent city with 160,000 inhabitants. Such is': Venice; . ' . .

The trams of Venice are small, swift steamers, which ply along the main canal of tho city. The cabs aro the gondolas, which have their "stands" in convenient places. They can.take you-along thfc smaller canals where the "steamers cannot ply. The.drays and lorries are heavy barges, which are propelled gondola-fashion through the small interesting canals, which are really tho "goodstraftc;roads pf-Venice. ■ This is the only way in which; merchandise and heavy materialcan be transported from' store-to' retail -shop. .. It should not be inferrotl that , 'pedestrians cannot use Nature's gift' of locomotion • in Venice._ ; .on the contrary all portions of tho main city are .connected by bridges; and.it is possible to, go from part to part without once calling a gondola, or,'for speed, jumping into a steamer. Between the shops and the canals run. the narrow footways, all payed,.and they alsowind down between the buildings with shops on either side.' Altogether. 378 bridges connect up Venice, most of them: boirig of stone. Tho city, which is 6i miles in circumferonce, is built on 117 small islands. ;.. ■■■'.• ■:.'.,,.-.

These islands '. have, been deposited by the River,Po, which, towards its mouth,, has an extremely , small fall of ' little more than a quarter of an inch per English mile. An ebb and flow can bo observed iri all the canals of the city of about feet, and this is just sufficient to keep Venice sweet and wholesome,' without leaving unsightly piles .when the tide runs V)ut. These "lagoon' , islands were.inhabited from the earliest times, but' it seems: the. real'..founders of the city of. Venice and its- middle-ago : greatness ■ were men of • Roman blood, who sought, security here ~when; . numerous enemies came about thoni:_- : .' ■;.-• ■■. ••'■■■•■/-'.■■■■-■■■.•■.-"■ -':'..- : ■Vpnic'p at :-the present day .is a city 'of tourists;' ,_ The ;number of travellers of all nationalities -who perpetually come - and go is really astounding; Many ■ English people have their.'homes thefo. -Venice does , ner best to entertain her; guests, and her. citizens do their , .very .'best ;to live on.tho proceeds. The .city, is '. famed for -its manufacture ■of fancy\:Venetian.'..glass .and mosaics.: In niosaics,.of ■ the ;most delicate description- anything",js, turned out, from a. scarf-pin'to "painting's" ten feet square. But Venice, strange to, say, cannot exhibit' anywhere a single Venetian blind! Her windows are all shuttered;-and it is ', doubtful if 'the. lowerclass inhabitants know what a blind it.

■ Away ' from c tho piazza St. ■ Marccj.. the fashionable quarter, .and into , tho.'darker recesses;.;of _, the city, :wher_e' tourists, rarely penetrate,. , is":.the, ni'ost interesting sightseeing Ipjaco. , ', Horo you mix ; with the Venetian as.ho -was centuries ago. The houses rise in , dilapidated ibid age on-either hand, leaning- tpWa/ils :'onb ; another, thpir email, deeply-inset . windows •' strongly ■ barred with epvpred 'with spider-webs. . , The women'.'.'of., the: lower-classes distinguish themselves- ;by "wearing no hats, simply coverinc;. their heads with', Wack .silk- shawls, which Bhow off , their naturally beautiful.faces to. the"best advantage: It is interesting to watch these .women purchasing their.midday and ■ evening meals, in pennyworths—pennyworths o£. bread, cheese, and wine.. . ■■'■ ■ 'In tho heart of tho. city is the Rialto Bridge: spanning tho chief waterway. Hereabouts old Shylock disported under ShaKespeafb's. imaginative eye. , Tho place 'is;exactly'what one would expect to find it. even to tile, numbers of old dark-skinned 'Italian Jcwsj.who. r stand: about ■or serve .'behind, their little .jewellery stalls. .. .In Shylock's day, however, ;ttioro wore duoats ■instead ; of liro, 'and'more of his",countryinon'. \yere ■ about here'.-' They.'had come:' from"iMooriili towns i to. seek safety.". Now the real Jewish qiiar--ter', occupies a site further' in tho heart of the;oity, a placp itis not.'altogether pleasant I to visit-on account of its extreme squalor. Gondola men, with clover onc-oir sculling, stebr.their; gbndolfis.through. i)ie traffic.of tho; carials'.Their'charges recline luxuriously among.the, cushions. • The: warning! cries of the men as'they approach corners wail out loud and mournful among the,-old .buildings. By_. some ancieit law' tho ■ gbndolis !arp all. painted black, and the gondola-men .abstain from -gay .colours,'.wearing "also-eitliet' 'blue , or' white, according, to the.'weatter. The gondolas are extremely picturesque c-bjects. Every artist who paints' thenvie first puzzled [ by their lines: and then charmed with their beauty and, grace. :.', ■' .' : ;• . You.cah. take a steamer at ono'of the numerous ;stopping-places-\on\the'-"Grand. Canal(_and ; see the nouses of, the nobility as you slip' along,"for the canal,'as in bygone days,■• is still, the fashionable'-' 'quarter .ofVenice. : If it is a Sunday afternoon a run out to' the; public gardens will■•be''enjoyable.. Tlie band will.;play, 'and there 'are numerous cafes, .whero one'can,'sit' under., the trees and drink tea, coffee, wine, or.bebr.. And if a walk.'further bnieads to the tootball: ground; ;where the Venetian youth are , at play/.; The-number of, players is generally''• from tlireo to four;.hundred,' .and i people about observe that a few years ago not one'of. these youths would know how to kick a ball./ The'tide: of- ''sport;" which, has engulfed the 'wholeof the' Continent, has also 'swept'south''.to' Venice. Some , boys also circle rfiund and round, a cycle track, their only means of using their ■ mabhines . about here;' ■^v,:': , "- ; :-':> '■ '' .''y v--' . ■ -;•■•'. :. '.-

Away . out, on the horizon; of the peaceful lagoon airs miniature islands; .which in, the mist appear like visions of ,'tno imagination, with'- their, pink houses and: tall Churches. Round, abput'aro islands,' but- each is covered -tg_-the water's edge with, buildings , and' genw'ally: has at least one , ; church. yenjce, ; indeed, is a city of- churches."-Lying .in bed in-tho hotel one can count , the hourly striking of. about a:dozen church clocks.' Beside each church [rises tho Cairipanilb,' or clock _to\ver, ..towtring ■ feet above -tho ■ surroundings," and some of -them, , strange to say, are canted like .the Leaning Tower of Pisa, though not. to the same extents , . ! Venice is proud of its ducal residence, or Palace of. the Doges.' Here one can see the best;• work's, of tho celebrated Venetian paint- , ers; , 'Underneath are dismal stone, dungeons nnd torture' chambers, which .tlie' old iron dukes of Venice. knew'. so' well how.to use. Oonnecting the castle over, a canal,with , the State "prisonr-still,. tho State, prison—is the famous and' romantic fridge or Sigh?, across which the manacled malefactors were hurried to; incarceration. It is the target of all cameras. - ' ;■ : •-';■■ ~-'■ ■"■'■: .. •,.' ■■:..'. ';. ■

.': /Close:beside tho-castlo: stands, complacent and: beautiful, tlie Church of St. Mark, the tutelary saint of Venice. "St. .Mark's Rest" is its familiar namo to readers of Ruskin. It is one of the-most charming churches in the world," a building in which the 'elaborate Byzantine ornamentation wnich. .the Venetians aqquired in their Eastern expeditions combines with tho. statelier lines of the Gothic. , : Like a beautiful poem, one likes to study it moro and more, and its charm inoreases each time; -The mosaics inside cover an .area of. 45,790 •feet. '■ This building was begun.in'B9o, and in it aro said to repose the bones of St. Mark, which tho Venetians brough.tr hither, from Alexandria in 829.' '' -In'.the summer evenings tourists and Venetians combine in the Pizza et. Marco, a paved courtyard enclosed with tlie 'walls of beautiful whitei marble palaces. Lit with numerous; lights if is, fairyland. Thousands sit about in chairs or parado up ami down. Nightly bands, of from sixty to seventy star performers .play, classical itoms, arid so varied are their repertoires that peopjo of all nations .can usually enjoy something, familiar. Strange to say,'"'i'ho Goisha" music is whistled now dpwn the canals of Venice,.and sometimes "Ching, Ching, Cliihaman"; is replaced with , "On the Bowry."