Show I 1 TO e 0 1 ta ac aring events I 1 4 ti al gp g p W D f D M int P PISA AN OLD CURIOSITY SHOP OF HISTORY A city of before peter bought manhattan island for the present price of a supper at a broadway cabaret A city that warred an and d traded with empires bet et plunged into a disastrous struggle with ith a rival city over the rights to a lapdog A city which was seized after afler a florentine hobson bottled up its harbor entrance with mill sunken boats sir centuries before tile the battle oft off santiago bay such is pisa whose choso leaning tower was endangered by recent earthquake eaith quake tremors in italy record abounds in incidents as freakish as its famous tower yet it possesses a history necessarily more significant than any british or amerlean american city indicative of importance in the century was her sending an ambassador to rome thereby hangs the story of the lapdog during tile the coronation ceremonies of Fie diederick derick if 11 the florentine emissary admired the lapdog of a certain cardinal so that dignitary promised to ghe the tiny animal to its admirer next day the ambassador said a few kind hind words about the same dog and the cardinal just as readily promised it to him the florentine sent tor for his gift and got it the sent and received an apology florentines florentinus Floren tines began joking the plains about this incident and fights ensued on the roman itoman streets when the home folks heard this it gave them an excellent cliance chance to pick a quarrel that had long been simmering A sort of medieval boston tea party was staged by the bisans who seized all the enemy e my me merchandise within their reach and thus precipitated the first of a series of wars with florence which culminated in the subjection of pisa by her longtime long time rival the laddo lapdog story seems trivial yet characteristic or of a certain childish q noticeable anion among the juvenile civic nationalities that preceded national italy As further proof one might recall the occasion when the victorious army of lucca hung upon a alsan tower a mirror with the inscription oh women of pisa us use these to look at yourselves no other challenge wag nias needed for the rosaris to march to the gate gale of lucca and there to plant poles topped with mirrors bors beering retaliatory comment were a super rip van winkle of medieval pisa to clotile with his latter day compatriots to kills ellis island in 1920 not only the national nat lonal bird of ills his adopted land but the skyscraper line of new york might make him blui feel at home towers they were called these pisa skyscrapers huddled together for all the hie world like groups of 0 tall apa apartment rement houses two reasons are assigned for this method of building common to italian towns of the twelfth century one v was as that the wall permitted only vertical expansion when population pressure inci eased another believable in view of the con constant factional fights find family feuds at attributed them to the necessity to for r protection bridges that could be thrown from tower to tower further suggested the skyscraper likeness on these precursors of the ra modern cidern fire escape many a community battle has raged the leaning tower of pisa served humanity well aside abide from becoming the most effective bit of city advertising yet vet de demised ased for it permitted galileo a native of pisa to carry on his experiments with the laws governing the pendulum |