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Show VENIGE ISliDW'DNLY MARBLEJD WATCH Former Fascinating and Picturesque City Shows Effects of the War. j IS NEARLY DESERTED "Queen of the Adriatic" Is But a Ghost of Old-time Magnificence. By C. CIANFARRA, Intern? onal News Service Staff Correspondent. KOMVh Feb. 10. Professor Antonio Fiadolet'o has just relumed to Home from a v is it to Venice, one of w hose constituencies he represents in the Italian chamber of deputies. Speaking of the present vendition of the Queen of the Adriatic, Professor Fradeletto said: Venice is now a wilderness of marbles mar-bles a tut waur. The lovers of the ahs'.raci Ivautiful might rir.d the city even more fascinating now tl cn when crowded with its picturesquely at rayed population, but he who has looktNl after its industrial and commercial com-mercial development, tiie w eifare of its people, the preservation of its " monuments, cannot bo but sadlv a f-; f-; fee ted by the spectacle the deserted . j city now presents. ! Nearly Deserted. j As u.n know, the uty has been I pracia ally t acuu ted. As soon as t;:e army abandoned tiie Tugltainento i river line and fell back on the liae. 1 thr nu: horuies con-hlei ed it as -x-! t: emely i.um;erous to U a e . in the ' y it v t ;ie at amounts o: stores and i supplies wmcn hud been accumulated ! there for the use of the navy, tn ; arn.v arid the civilian population, j With tie removal of these stores the w hole population of able -hod led men was ordered out and scattered j tnrouqhout the north :n and cential i provinces of the kiusJom. ' At the same time every well-to-do family spontaneously left the city, taking along everything the present state of Italian railroads permitted to be earned away. The government institutions have also been removed to near-by cities. The chamber "f commerce is now in Uome. The Academy of Fine Arts has been moved to Florence: tiie Higher School I of Commerce is now in another ck, ! while the students of the National i college have been sa t cored C .rough-j .rough-j cut several cities. Tiie daily papers ha c all suspended their public: i ions I witn the exception of the Ca z-nta 1 of Venice, w inch, has been published j for I'M veils without interruption. I even under former Austrian domina-j domina-j lions. Famous Shops Closed. In less than two weeks the popu-j popu-j Iption of the citv wa reduced from 15o. 'A'O to less than IhhOOO. composed chieT.y of old men and women :r.d : children under 1- years of asr. Then ! someth.lng very r ainfui and replete with sinister meaning began to happen. hap-pen. The cafes and cozy, charming meeting places where the Venetian was accustomed to repair for the eve-ring eve-ring chat, his coffee or his Ires, closed one after the other fo- Uck of customers. The shops followed and then all the bakeries and. meat stores closed as soon as their s-'ant stocks were exhausted. One morning morn-ing as I strolled into St. Mark's square there wpre one- the pigeons to greet me. The famished birds fell on me in swarms and their chirp- j ing seemed to me a song of sorrow and mourning. At night the city resembled a vast cemetery of palaces and bridges. Not even a shaded lamp lights the narrow, crooked streets, partly because be-cause the gas works and the centra! electric power house have been shut down for la'-k of coat, and partly because be-cause the naval authorities, to whom the city ha-s been turned over, have forbidden all kinds of traffic after sunset. Only bluejackets on patrol dutv are met in the streets aud along the' water front. The civilians must all be indoors unless provided with a special permit. Churches Are Bolted. The most deserted section of the city is that which used to be the most fashionable and where the descendants descen-dants of the dogaresses' used to display dis-play their Titian beauty and their fascinating warble. The marble palaces pal-aces majestically rising from the J still waters of the Lagoon. the : fashionable mansions are all closed ; and a detailed list of their furniture left behind 1 nailed to the door. The churches are also all bolted. The sacred vases ofygoid and silver, the chiseled chandelier?. the canvases, can-vases, the laces a tut the priestly robes, often of priceless ancient texture, tex-ture, have all been removed to safer places known only to the patriarch of Venice and the government authorities. au-thorities. Only the statues of the saints, deprived of the votive offerings offer-ings which often adorn thorn and tell to the faithful a thrilling story of performed ruira'-tes. are now left in their niches. Only one church has been Wt open and there the population popula-tion meets twice a day to pray the Almighty to spare the -city. |