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King Humbert (Umberto I) died in 1900. Margherita of Savoy (1851-1926) became Queen Mother on the accession of her son, Victor Emmanuel III. According to Wikipedia one of Margherita's claims to fame is that the Margherita pizza was named after her.
Source:
Queen Mother Margherita in her gondola – the late King Humbert seated beside her. Photo by Gribayedoff.
Outing magazine, vol. LI no. 6, March, 1908, p. 647.
Vance Thompson's Cab Drivers / 43
The Gondolier of Venice / 4
Covered with black cloth, with black silk, and black lamb's-wool, the gondola is complete – with lounge-seats in leather, a chair or two – for summer wayfaring. For days of rain or storm there is thefelze. This is the little house, framed of pine, covered with woolen cloth, containing a door and two windows, one on either hand. The interior woodwork, of walnut, is richly carved. Giuseppe's, for example, is carved with scenes from his favorite story of the "Casa dei Morti," and in one corner of the felze is a shrine with a picture of Saint Joseph, his patron. The entire cost of the gondola is about $200, though all depends of course upon the luxuriousness of the fittings. You have seen, in fact or fancy, so often these graceful black skiffs, high-prowed, somberly beautiful, that words can add little to your knowledge. One thing, however, you may be as ignorant of as I was. The gondola is not symmetrical. It is a flat-bottomed boat, but it is not built to lie flat on the water. It is tilted slightly to the starboard side, thus taking on that side a few inches more water. Moreover, well back, the flat bottom bulges a bit, forming a sort of pivot, upon which the boat turns readily. Then again, the right side is straighter than the left, thus correcting a tendency to go in a circle when driven by the gondolier on the poop. Looking at a gondola lying up in asquero it is easy enough to see the twist and the wise purpose of it. Every one who has been on the water, in wood or canvas, knows that no two boats are alike, even though they may have been machine-made on the same model. Indeed they are no more alike than twin sisters. Each has its own peculiarities, which must be known, studied and allowed for at all times. Your gondolier – this bright-sashed jockey of the lagoons – loves hisbarca, because he has to humor it. 'Tis the way of a man and his wife.