In general, theaters and motion-picture shows in Italy are well patronized. Opera is still popular, and performances are given in various cities. Society does not consider it good form to wear evening dress. It would not be in taste for women to be elaborately gowned, or to attempt to give dances or house parties. Officers do not wear their dress uniforms, no matter what may be the function they attend. Ladies avoid the use of jewels, and there is, generally speaking, a soberness in the dressing of both men and women. Italy, however, is not gloomy nor depressed. On the contrary, the Italians are vivacious, and their sunny dispositions are manifested throughout the troublous times. Sports generally have been abolished. There is no horse-racing, but, for the purpose of breeding fine animals, horses are still being trained. Travel is freely permitted, though, of course, the war zone has been carefully guarded. In the restricted area a pass was necessary, and vital reasons had to be given for permission to travel. On account of the shortage of coal, the number of trains has been reduced, as well as the number of cars in each train. Travel is therefore lacking in comfort, and it is not uncommon to see people standing even in first-class compartments throughout journeys lasting six or seven hours. The discomforts are accepted good-naturedly, and there is far less grumbling than one would expect. _Conditions in Venice_ The morale of the Italians has never been better. Caporetto has been avenged, the Austrians were thrown back across the Little Piave, and brought to their knees. Venice has been saved. The city by the sea has had its trials. Severe, indeed, have been some of the air raids, and three-fourths of the population fled. About fifty thousand of the inhabitants remained, but this represents but one-fourth of the people that lived along the canals of Venice before the war. [Illustration: THE LAST SUPPER. By Leonardo da Vinci This famous painting has been half effaced by the ravages of time] [Illustration: THE LAST SUPPER PROTECTED BY PADDING Da Vinci's great picture is painted on the wall of the Refectory of the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan, Italy] Many hotels are closed, tourists come no more. No Italian city has suffered from the effects of war so much as Venice. Industries have been ruined, its commerce depleted. Its churches and hospitals have again and again been bombed from the air. Frescoes have been obliterated that can never be replaced, though much of the damage done will soon be repaired. All about the populous Square of St. Mark heaps of sand-bags were piled to protect the arcades. The beautiful façade of St. Mark's Cathedral has been, for some time, hidden from view. The famous horses were taken down, the wonderful Byzantine mosaics were removed, and the entire front of the building covered with sand-bags and protected by huge timbers.