GONDOLA 



2533 



GOOD FRIDAY 



Union. This organization became through his 

 efforts one of the most successful trade unions. 



His aim has been to work along constructive 

 lines and to promote industrial arbitration, 

 and he has used his influence to secure legisla- 

 tion favorable to the working classes. With 

 other officers of the American Federation he 

 was sentenced to a term in prison in 1908 for 

 refusing to take the name of the Buck Stove 

 & Range Company from the boycott list in 

 the official organ of the union, but after sev- 

 eral appeals the case was dismissed in 1914 

 by the United States Supreme Court. It is 

 worthy of note that he was almost the only 

 labor leader of national influence in 1916 who 

 advocated military preparedness for his coun- 

 try, a movement which was generally opposed 

 by organized labor. Gompers is the author of 

 several pamphlets on the labor question, and 

 of Labor in Europe and America. See LABOR 

 ORGANIZATIONS. 



GON'DOLA, a curiously shaped and often 

 highly ornamented, silently moving boat or 

 barge-cab of Venice, the water-city that favor- 

 ite subject of painters. The typical gondola 

 is a flat-bottomed boat about thirty feet long 



ON THE CANALS OF VENICE 



by four feet wide, each end curved perpen- 

 dicularly upward to about the height of a man, 

 and ending in a sharp point. Toward the 

 middle there is a gaily curtained chamber for 

 passengers. Usually there is but one boatman, 

 called a gondolier, who faces the bow and 

 propels the boat quickly and deftly with a 

 forward stroke of an oar. In accordance with 

 an ancient law passed to prevent extravagance 

 and competition in the decoration of gondolas, 

 all are painted black except those of high 



officials. In his Beppo, Byron paints a word 

 picture of the gondola. 



This picturesque means of conveyance is now 

 being replaced to a great extent in Venice by 

 noisy little gasoline launches. The origin of 

 the name gondola is disputed. See VENICE. 



GONSALVO DE CORDOVA, gohnsahl'vo 

 day kohr'dova, GONZALO HERNANDEZ Y 

 AGUILAR (71453-1515), a Spanish general called 

 the Great Captain, was born at Mont ilia. He 

 rendered distinguished service in the war of 

 Queen Isabella against Portugal and in the 

 conflict which drove the Moors out of Europe, 

 and was instrumental in bringing about the 

 union of Granada and Castile in 1492. In 1495 

 he united with Ferdinand, King of Naples, 

 against the French, and in a few months suc- 

 ceeded in vanquishing them. In 1500, when 

 Ferdinand of Aragon and Louis XII of France 

 decided on the conquest of Naples, Gonsalvo 

 led the invading Spaniards and took possession 

 of the kingdom. The conquerors soon quar- 

 reled over the division of the booty, and war 

 was declared between them in 1502. Gonsalvo 

 vanquished the French at Cerignola in 1503 

 and took several important cities, including 

 Naples. He sustained the single defeat of his 

 life at Gaeta, but ultimately drove the French 

 from Naples. Ferdinand then appointed him 

 viceroy of Naples, with absolute authority. 

 He was soon recalled to Spain by the king, 

 who resented his general's growing popularity, 

 and his last yeafs~were spent in retirement. 



GOO'BER, a popular name applied to the 

 peanut (which see). 



GOOD FRIDAY, the anniversary established 

 by religious bodies as a memorial of the Cruci- 

 fixion of Christ. It is solemnized on the Fri- 

 day before Easter by churches of many de- 

 nominations and by various schools and public 

 institutions. Its" commemoration is of ancient 

 origin, dating to the time of Constantine, who 

 prohibited all public activities on this day. 

 It is still a legal holiday in Great Britain and 

 Ireland and the British colonies. In the Roman 

 Catholic Church the mass is somewhat different 

 from that read on other days, the Host having 

 been consecrated on the previous day. In 

 the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches the 

 Three Hours' Devotion service is held between 

 twelve and three o'clock, in commemoration of 

 the agony of Christ upon the cross during those 

 hours. In accordance with the calculations of 

 the Royal Astronomical Society of Berlin, a 

 German scientist has fixed the exact date of 

 the Crucifixion as April 6, A. D. 33. 



