No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1925-12-2, Page 3*.. The following interesting -article reader is that of "The Rialto," be - written by Miss Kate Deadman, of pause of its associations in Shake - Braude, is taken from "`Just and speare's `"Merchant of Venice," In West,,' a Sunday School paper pub- lished in Toronto, dated 'November 21st, 1020, and is well worthy of re- production. The scene of the story was vieited by Miss Kate Deadman. last yeast --•The mere thought of Venice suggests romance. Everything about our conception of it roman- tic, and Venice itself quite lives up to its reputation, It is alluring in the present; its past was no lose so. The city was founded and fostered under unique circumstances, and to appre- ciate it to the full, one must recall a little of its past history, By the fifth century, A. D., the glory of the great Roman Empire had waned, and other people and nations .were gaining the, ascendency. Chief among these were the Huns, with their war -like leader, Attila, rather significantly caled "the scourge of God," Attila boasted than"'grass could not grow where his horse had trod. Rather than suffer conquest at the hands of theinvader, seine of the inhabitants of Northern Italy left the mainland and thrust them- selves upon the mercy of the sea. Henceforth the sea became their mother, their protectress, and with the courage and strength of youth, they set themselves the difficult task of building a city out of the numer- ous small islands grouped together in the northern Adriatic, and of not only combating a powerful foe, but of ek',ng out a liying for themselves and their families. . In spite of the fact that they might be said to have become pirates, we cannot but admire the determination of purpose and dauntless courage of these people in the face of tremend- ous odds. They ,might truly be said to have been pioneers. Meanwhile the low lying islands were built up, and the . foundations 'made strong and sure; and the fascinating city of Venice sprang into existence. It was said that the foundations of the buildings cost more than the struc- tures themselves. The Bridge of the Rialto is only moderate in size, but k had a hun- dred and fifty feet of marble and twelve thous.•tndstrunks of elm trees, ten 'feet long, used initsfoundation alone. In time a powerful republic had arisen, and the warriors were proud of their prowess on the sea, before which the enemy trembled. Tremendous wealth and booty were looted from vessels which dared to come near their waters, •and even peaceful countries were plundered. No wonder that in time, the city be- came exceedingly wealthy, and that we find such structures as St. Mark's Cathedral and the Ducal Palace. - An interesting told of Ven- ice. � story ice. In the old times on Ascension Day, the Oodgo, or ruler of the re- public, descended from his balcony and stepped upon a barge adorned with canopies of gold and velvet, and with• a deck inlaid with ebony and mother of pearl. To the sound of inertial music, this splendid vessel swept out towards the sea, propelled by eighty gilded oars, until, amidst the roar of cannon and the shouts of the assembled populace, the Doge cast into the blue waters a ring of gold, exclaiming solemnly:` "We wed thee, 0 sea, with this ring, emblem of our rightful, and perpetual dom- inion." Venice has, for this reason, been called "The Bride of the Adri- atic." dri- atic. " As we approached Venice., we felt this very spirit of romance. A bridge two and a half miles long connected the mainland with the city, and then we' reached the station, not to find a line up of buses and cabs, but instead a great array of gondolas which are not unlike large rowboats, with 0 coquettish addition at the ends. Our gondolier saw us comfortably seated, and having stowed away the luggage, he himself stood up at the end, and with one large paddle, deftly guided his boat in and out of the many can- als, under the rustic bridges, and past the overhanging balconies, until Cat were brought safely to our own hotel steps, which were right on the water. Quite recently, boats for question of substituting gondola was discussed. One feels like pleading that the full individual- ity of Venice be allowed to remain, and that she be left in her most .fit- ting setting, undisturbed. Nodoubt it was this romantic beauty which inspired the great art- ists, such as Turner, Tintoretto. Guar - di, and many others tb paint their Venetian pictures; or made it a place beloved by poets, writers and music - lane. It was in the Palazzo :Vendee - minis that. Wagner died in 1883. Myron lived not far from the Grand Hotel, also Robert Browning, The The Nome of Titian was a14o. here; Ruskin was always an ardent admir- er of it. Although Venice is composed of more than one hundred 'elands, and there are one hundred and fifty 000- lds, yet one 000 readily ':o frons one to the other without thegondola, if ,:o desired, as there a•,' no fewer than four hundred bridges ----fab: sle- d bridges, tiny ones, wooden or Romantic Venice 13y KATE DEADMAN the old days it was here that mer- chants meet in a vest exchange, else the laws of the republic were pro- claimed from The Rialto, The other bridge of whieh we read is "The Bridge of Sighs," which connected the prison with the Ducal Palace it was over this bridge that prisoners bad to go to be tried, so that it was quite appropriately named As the gondola quietly glides along the Grand Canal, which is the larg- est and most important of the canals, one is most impressed with the Piaz- za of St. Mark, the Ducal Palace, and St. Mark's Cathedral. On the water- front are two granite columns. On the top of one is "The Winged Lion of St. Mark," and on the other "St. Theodore on a Crocodile." These were brought from Syria, or Con- stantinople and were erected in 1180. In the old days, prisoners were put to death between these columns, and had to face the sea during the execution. Now it is merely a stand for gondolas. Near by is the Ducal Palace, for more than one thousand years the residence of the Doges. Ruskin once spoke of this palace as "the central building of the world." On the giant staircase, between the statues Mars and Neptune, the Doge took his oath of office. In all, there were a hundred and twenty Doges. When the republic ceased to be, the palace was devoted to art and an- tiques. The most interesting paint- ing here is "The Glory of Paradise," by,Tintoretto. It is seventy feet in length, and has six hundred figures in it. Tintoretto was over sixty years old when he painted it—surely a great achievement! Connected with the. Ducal 'Palace, and facing St. Mark's Square, is the famous St. Mark's Cathedral. It is not so high as the average cathedral but is very ornate in appearance, be- ing built in the Italian Byzantine form of architecture, with a blending of the Gothic. It was begun in 830 A. D., and rebuilt after a fire, in 97a. In the eleventh century, it was re- constructed in the Byzantine style,; after the model of the Church of the Apostles at Cgnstantinople. The fanciful effect of the facade was en- hanced by the Gothic additions it re- ceived in the fifteenth century. The edifice is in the forst of a Greek cross or with equal arms, one large demo being in the centre and one at the end of each of the four arms. Ex- ternally and internally the church is adorned with five hundred marble columns, mostly Oriental andin many styles, chiefly booty fron battles. Some of these colored marble col- umns came from Jerusalem, some from Ephesus and Smyrna; they even • lobbed Christian churches, such as St. Sophia at Constantinople, in or- der to enrich their own. > For five hundred years the Venetians -beauti- fied their church. Over the principal portal are "The .Four Horses," in gilded bronze, They are five feet in height and are among the finest or ancient bronzes' and the sole ex- isting 'specimen of an ancient quad - riga. They probably once adorned tete Trium)*ial' Arch of Nero and afterwards of Trajan, Constantine sent them to Constantinople, whenre the Doge brought them to Venice in 1204. In 1797, they were carried by Napoleon to Paris, where they graced the Triumphal Arch in the Pince du .Carrousel; and in 181.5. after the .Battle of Waterloo, they were restored to their former position so that they have had various vicis- situdes. In the interior of the church, guarded by the Twelve Ap- ostles, is buried the body of St. Mark, patron saint of, Venice. One of the elements which helps to make St. Mark's ornate in appear- ance; is the great amount of mosaic work, both in the interior and exter- ior of the building, The floors are inlaid with marble mosaic, but the rest of the mosaic is mostly, gold be- tween plain glass. In St. Mark's, there is over one acre of gold mosaic alone. The work in the sacristy is very, chaste and beautiful; in fact it is said to be the finest of its kind in the world.. In front, and to one side of the cathedral, is the Campanile, which is three hundred and twenty-two feet high: The view from the top 18 splendid, commanding as it docs, the whole countryside and giving 0 Very good topography of Venice. Im- mediately In front of St. Mark's are two .very richly decorated bronze pedestals. One cannot,go'to St. Mack's Square without forever afterwards associat- ing the pigeons with it. Here they gatheein hundreds and are a great source of pleasure • to the children, who love to. -feed the tame, gentle creatures out of their hands. An in- teresting story is associated with them: In the thirtoeetli cantury, the Venetians were fighting Caudill They noticed sono pigeons and killed them, .and under their wings, they found messages, from which infor- mation they were able to tulce the MIAMI in twelve Ileurs. The pigeon became almost a sacred hied, and steel bridges, elaborately carved, 01' :down to the close of the eepnblle plain Ones, hump backed, or straight, E were fed at the public expellee.. Perhaps the most interesting to the '.there 000 other churches 01 real 1 Ron. T. A. Crerar Was re-elected President and General Manager Of the United Grain Growers, Limited. at the meeting of directors at Win- nipeg last week. interest in Venice, and several of its industries deserve notice, especially the making of the beautiful Venetian lace, all hand done, and celebrated the world over rot its exceeding fine- ness. ' And visitors will scarcely leave the city without a few chains of Ven- etian beads, or without having seen them made, from the spun glass to the finished product; also the excel- lent Venetian glassware. A walk of about two miles along the promenade from the Piazza of St. Mark,' win also reward you -with a beautiful park; with variegated shrubs, semi -tropical trees, fountains and flowers. _. Altogether, Venice' is a charming place, and we had 'real regrets when the time came to leave it, and we once more went up "the liquid streets" to, the station, carrying with us a lasting memory of the romantic city, with its gondolas and care free life, its Grand Canal and St. Mark's Square, with all that surrounds them ofbeauty and interest. A fine Series of Articles Of all the American newspapers, none is so favorably remembered by Canadians as having championed the cause of the. allies during the war as the Providence Journal. Under the able editorship of John R. Rathom, who was been in Australia, The Jour- nal not only ably advocated American participation on the side of the allies, but did wonderful service in expos- ing the campaign which the Germans were conducting in the United States to hamper munition manufacture' and to prevent American help, for the al liad armies. It is for these reasons that Can- adians will read with particular in- terest a pamphlet issued by The n • of a • al consisting ' acs J ut n g Provide 0 cries of articles on the Dominion written by Ashmum Brown, the Washington correspondent of The Journal, entitled, "Canada, Our Most ate O4ute cYVlessengerr By GEORGE ELMER COBB CCvprrisat, • tst;t, by thq woeiera Nowt'- psr on,) Ben Dymonyad waUsls out 01 a job and there wee a hungry wife and child at loam, Ile had moldered the streets all the morning without meeting with the tenet encouragement as 10 employ. went. Footsore, down -hearted, faint from the want 0f food, be was rest- Ing estIng on a refuse box In front of a ho- tel when a bareheaded man In over.' Ills came out ou the sidewalk, observed his 'woe -begone appearance, and ac - coked him. "Ready for a two hours' task?' he inquired incidentally. "Ready for two years, night and day, so the home folios have regular meals!" responded Ben with alacrity. "Well, there's flfty cents an hour in It," volunteered the other. "Come on. Hello 1 no drink in this, I Hope?" "Never touch that," said Ben. Then with a weary smile: "Nothing ex- cept it couple of crusts since last night," for he had staggered and his companion had mistaken the cause. "Very well, you come with me," he directed. "The meal will be a good one, and thrown in with the dollar," and indeed it was n famous meat in the hotel kitchen, There was more than a plenty. Ben ate sparingly un- til one of the cooks, comprehending the Situation, shaved in his pocket a box tilled with choicest viands and "lunch at bedtime—see?" Ben was taken to the roof of the hotel, where he MILS given a carpet beater. and a pile of possibly a bub- Bred small rugs. no attacked them with a will: Iu an hour and a quar- ter by the clock ire had completed his task and his employer handed him a dollar bill. "I haven't worked the lull time," submitted Ben. "No, but you've done two hours' av- erage work, all the same. Now per- haps there's some odd work for''to- morrow. You stay here till I hunt up the manager and find out." -Ben wns nothing loath as to seat- ing himself on the cornice and resting up: He became aware of a comae - tion in the street, and peered four stories Clown. Aoross the street was a great skyscraper, and in its shade a crowd was gathered, eyes fixed sky- ward. Ben followed their gaze. Dan- gling from a telephone wire waS s pigeon. The pigeon had struggled into flying position, fluttered up and took off in a violent dash: The string held and the bird was jerked back to helpless- ness. Women grabbed the arms of men they 010 not know and Implored then to "do something!" Wordless prayers seemed concentrated upon anxious, sympathetic lips. Again the well-nigh exhausted pigeon fluttered up, drew the string loose, 'tumbled wearily through the air and dropped inert at the feet of the interested and pitying Ben. Its eyes were open, its breath.came.iu spasms. As he took It into his hands and caressed it Ben no- ticed a small mete' disk surrounding one foot. Cleeely traoed upon it were the words: "Carrier dove, regis- tered.A 32e Property of Arthur Bloke, 32 Webster terrane. 'Return or report, at owner's cost." The mum who bad bleed Ben sbowed up to tell hila that he could eoue to work on the morrow. Ile stared et the pigeon and listened with interest to Hen's e-eplanationr "It must be,0,bird of some value," he said. "Webster terrace? That's only n mile from here. I say, you stand a good chance of a reward for taking It to this Arthur Blake." "MI do just that,'; declared Ben. "Not that I want the pay, but the poor, gentle thing's heart is beating like a trip hanuuer," and he placed it within his coat and was on his way with his now adventure at once. Ills destine - tion pruned to be n hand'rmtne Man- sion 011 a select thoroughfare. The servant who admitted hiss led frim to a room where sat a stately old lady, who took; the bird from Ben's hand and held It as lovingly to her breast es though it veils some cherished child. She asked Ben a slumber of questions, thanked him for his restoration of the bird, and expininctl that it was a val- ued pet of her son. She took up her purse and insisted on Ben accepting a $5 bill, and lifting a wing of the pigeon drew forth u compact little wad of paper secured to a tiny metal ring, opened It, perused it, and read aloud the words: "Colne back and—for- forgive !" nd—forforgive!" Later Ben knew that this missive was from the fomites fiance of Arthur Blake, n Miss llthcl Brent. They had quarreled over a trifle. Blake lied been disappointed in recetving no word from Ids petulant love and had just left the house bound on a long journey, The old mother arose to her feet deep- ly excited.' She asked lien to hasten to a eertninn railroad depot, to board the Sunset Limited, to hand to her sone the little note and explain how he had come by It. Just ns the train was shout to pull mut Ben sped by. the gate guard, swung to a rear parlor coach*, made at vola• hie inquiry, :placed hr the hands O1- n bendsmme young 111011 010 tiny note, and both left the train Just as It vette 1110V rg 001: Ae they peeled, and Al, thin' !Slake hasteetel;to seek Ills rob• trite stveetheurt, he pressed Ripon lien hnif. the ronteals of his purse. slid/. Mont to keep Ilio wolf from the doot for many a day to cone, tt. 1' JOHN R. RATHOM Agreeable Neighbor." There is so much silly nonsense written about the Dominion by ill -formed writers who make a hasty tour through the country, that it -is a relief to read the articles by Mr. Brown, who writes informatively and interestingly of everything, from "Canada's Post - War Economic Position" to "The Achievements of Church Union," There is such appalling ignorance in regard to Canada on the part of the average American citizen, even the well educated, that any publicity of this character, which will put Am- ericans right as to the development, the progress, the problems and the ideals of the' people of the Dominion, is more then welcome, The Provi- dence Journal has donea good piece, of newspaper work for its readers and for Canada by this fine, series of n111010s by Mt". Brown. PERTH COUNT'' During the year endin1 0 •1 iia, there were 192 deaths and 485 births at Steel frud. The •linstelil titer Ohrotntei', al I,Ixrtrnwel, eeleln riled its a1xih. Mt. 11iverent y lristsver It. The harlot' of the ladies' Nut* nr St. Jo tot's' A11101( 4111 ping eh, 111, Marys, netlod 00 et. $8400. ,Llatno01 )iORO tal T, net litter heel a very aur'eeesful wear 7.'1ta1 mnhtten- fume tae $10,8.4.10 rut' the year, 1nhn 81 entnn, nahVie; ted or murder at Winnipeg, will hang on Feb.'tltln, Ile was n tortnee St, Marys restdetlt, GOVT; MAX UTAVe 2 LIQUOR PLANS Premier Ferguson Expected To In- troduce Matter in Legislature•-- Election in June --Would Appeal To Electors On Control or Option Platform Toronto, Nov, 25 The fact that for three hours yesterday the Ontario Cabinet had under consideration the program for the coming session, has strengthened the impression that be- fore lung there are likely to be de- velopments of some importance in provinclai politics, Since his recent speech, when ho said there were to be no more plebis- cites on the liquor question so far as the present government was con- cerned, it has been taken for granted that Premier Ferguson will appeal to the electorate on a "wet" platform of government control and local op- tion. The details of such a policy are no doubt engaging the deepest thought of the cabinet in an endeavor to please the "wets"' and at the same time keep within such limits as will retain in the party a sufficient num- ber of Conservatives with temperance leanings to carry what will be es- sentially be a "wet" policy. Heard by Hotelmen The hotelmen are said to have in- formation from some source that a government control and local op- tion program will be adopted by the North 411.001:tInitali c,nrelr; Una. el wee the set 1lerr Le a r'"aiminie wettable on Writhes,1,y, Neve -ellen 18. at 1.2.13(1 p rtr , whet,tl",1;. reg lbnrte. , my daughter et A. .1 and Mee, '1'altridge, awns unit,,' SO inti- Ilege tar Leslie lloralitt 1';0ntlarnd, eeemid'soe of Mee, 1tentland atnri the late J. 11, Pentland, PREMIER FERGUSON present administration, • who will fight the next election on the issue, and it is believed to be not unlikely that before long an announcement will be made that this is the govern- ment's policy. It is regarded by no small section of the Conservative party that the government is taking heavy chances on such a platform, and members for constituencies which voted "dry" on the occasion of the last plebiscite are decidely,nervous as to what their fate will be. The reasoning of the partisan element. however, 'is under - td to_be tlr Cream Wanted We pay Highest Cash Price for Cream. 1 cent per 1b. Butter Fat extra paid for all Cream delivered a. t our Creamery, ' Satisfaction. Guaranteed Brussels Creamery Co. Limited Phone 22 not be more unpopular than it has been as the result of the 4,4 legisla- tion, and, gamble though it may be, it night retrieve matters somewhat if the support. of the "wets" were catered -for. Those who argue thus believe there are Tories who are more Tory than temperance, sufficient to put in office a government with a "wet" platform. Those,who are doing the fighting for the Conserva- tives in the "dry" ridings are not so sure of this, however, even suppos- ing the local option idea is: played up for all it is worth. Election in June' The feeling still persists that the government will decide not to hold tate six by-elections but that it will bring on a general election about June. Had it not been that Conservative expectat]ons were disappointed in the Dominion election by. Mr. Meighen not getting a clear majority over all parties, many belive that a surprise election would have been sprung in Ontario in January. - SAY ""WETS"' PREPARING Toronto, Nov. 25.—Publication of a piece of moderation league propa- ganda in the form of a survey of thy' law conditions in the United States has caused some stir to -day in the ranks 'of. Ontario prohibition - 1 ists. "There is no doubt that the moder- ation league and the liquor forces generally contemplate a fresh cam- paign," said Rev. Father Minehan. He is one of the leading spirits in the Ontario Prohibition Union. "It appears almost certain that they will try to get a form of local option," was the opinion of Father Minehan. "They are 'after something. and they are out to take advantage of every chance. They will carry their campaign ' into the municipal elections on Jan. 1 as a means of in- creasing their strength." Regarding the moderation league argument, that there has been a great increase in the number of drunken drivers, Father Minehan took the view that in the recent past there has been greater police activity in this line and this would help' to account for, the number of arrests. The increase in the number of motor cars being operated is another contributing cause. Fred hlolntosh, R le. No, 5, St. ?4arys's, was elected President of the U. F 0. Asshciation of South Perth, at the annual meeting_ held at 8t. Paul's. Gilbert White, aged, 67 years and a widely -known dr•aver, expired pnd- denly on the farm of Fred Hyde, East Missouri, from heart failure. Rev, G. P. Duncan was the guest of honor at the Port Credit BowlingOlub, Port, Credit. ou Friday evening, when the membership el the Club presented him with a beautiful man- tel clock, with a suitably engraved silver plate, as atoken of esteem and appreciation from the members of the Club. They also expressed sincere re- gret at the loss sustained by the Club by elr. Duncan's remobal to Strat- ford. s at the government can- READ THE ADVTS iN THE POST NEWSPAPER - ADYERTISING 1. Because it it secures the best distribution. 2, Because it is read. Because it is regular. It takes years of effort .to work up a news- paper's subscription list and the advertiser gets the advantage every week, And whereas probably not more than one bill out of three is read, every paper is read by three or four persons. For reaching the people of Brussels andBrus- sels district, there is no medium to compare with THE BRUSSELS POST, 1. It covers the field. It is a paper that is read through, 3. Its:readers belong to the purchasing class. The 'Quality of a Paper is , Reflected on its Advertising --If Business needs Stimulating try Advertising in -~ The Brussels Post g_ ' 0 021;a0 i i ; �iii as � %bl ''s. �'b a.1(. Si10 at