THREAT TO ROMANCE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 81, 29 December 1937, Page 9

THREAT TO ROMANCE

Venice May Lose Gondolas Once again the gondolas of Venice are threatened. A few years ago it seemed a foregone conclusion that motor launches would oust them just as motor cars replaeed horse-drawn vehicles on the mainland. Their number decreases, fares were raised to such an extent that only romantic axld un-rushed tourists could afford them, and Venetians saved time amd money by patronising lagoon steamers and motor launches. The gondoliers, who form a class by themselves and claim traditional and hereditary privileges dating back to the time of the doges, protested tQ the municipality, and. their case was taken up by writers, poets^ and artists, who opposed Fascist dynamism. Halfhcarted measures were taken to insure their survival and retard their disappearance, but their decline continued. Then they were given a new lease of life .during . the Sanctions, when the price of petrol was raised and the fares for.mQtor. launches. became prohibitive. Gondolas again became indispenaable, their number was increase.d alid motor launches were laid up. But now a progressive and enterprising concern has introduced electric launches. They are as light as gondolas, their* speed is only thirteen miles an Hour, which does not preclude sightseeing, and they are cheaper than gondolas. Their draught is low, which euables them to ply in the inland canals and convey passengers to the housesteps of palaces and hotels, they hardly raise any wash, and they are provided with a taximeter so that bargaining is unnecessary. The first two electric launches-— and electricity for industrial puxposes is cheap in Italy — successfully passed the required trials, . and their number will be soon increased. Once again the gondola seems doomed.