Polly, put the kettle on,
We'll all have tea;
Sukey, take it off again,
They've all gone away.
Venice, Italy.
I must tell you about this lovely city and the beautiful sights I have seen. The fine old Church of St. Mark faces a square or piazza, and near this is an arch with a large clock; on top of this is an immense bell, with two bronze figures of men with hammers in their hands, with which they strike the bell when the hour comes round. There are several hundred pigeons here, which are fed by the city every day at two o'clock, and many times I have bought corn and fed them too; they are so tame that two or three have eaten from my hand at once. Two weeks ago this square was illuminated. It was called "The Illumination of the Architecture," and there were one hundred thousand lights in the piazza. The gas lamps, which are always lighted, had this night red glass globes on, thirty for each lamp. On the Campanile, or belfry, was the "Star of Italy," which had three thousand lights. The Church of St. Mark looked magnificent, illuminated by electric lights placed in front of it. An island called St. George was flashing with thousands of lights, so that it looked like an enchanted palace rising out of the water. Altogether it was the most beautiful sight I ever saw. A regatta also took place, which I watched from the balcony of an old palace. First I saw the King and Queen of Italy in a gondola, with their son the Prince of Naples. They had four men to row, called gondoliers. These men wore scarlet coats trimmed with gold braid. After a little while the nine gondolas of the race passed, their crews dressed according to the color of their boats—green, white, blue, yellow, solferino, gray, purple, red, and orange. The one in green won the first prize. After the race, the gondola in which was the royal family went up and down the Grand Canal, followed by hundreds of gondolas, some of them with streamers of silk, some with velvet trimmed with gold and silver fringe trailing in the water. Some boats larger than a gondola, called "bissom," were all covered with silk and velvet, the gondoliers dressed in gay colors. Some had eight and some ten men to row. It was a beautiful scene.
Alberto Dal M.
You have described the brilliant illumination in a manner both vivid and picturesque, and the thousands of bright eyes which peer into Our Post-office Box every week will thank you, Alberto, for this glimpse at fairy-like Venice, the Bride of the Sea.