Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 June 1877 — POMPEII. [ARTICLE]

POMPEII.

To'auoht from a railway train, to parguide, and then, after walking a ooupne ot hundred yards, to find oneself traiuportod back and brought face to face with th* life of fiiirhtfttn ccnwhich no subsequent visiting of famous miles of the past can ever efface from tho mind. An ancient ruin is but a heap of stone, whether in Mexico or in Egypt. The maaftre blocks of Stonehenge or those of the Kphesiar Temple of Diana mean nothing to (hose who, from their knowledge and imagination, cannot call up mental pictures of the circumstances under which they were erected; and It requires no small cflort on the part ot even those eaeswslng the appreciative faculty tb eSrercisa it, when a locality hitherto surrounded by a halo of romance, sentiment, or historical interest, is for the tint time viewed from the window of a nineteenth-century railway train. Pompeii is perhaps the one exception. Tourists who have wearily ascended Pisa’s leaning tower and thought of nothing but the steepness of tbe stairs, or who have “done” the Acropolis at Athens at sunrise, with the idea of breakfast uppermost in their minds, find in the exhumed city an interest which leaves no room for such incongruous feelings. It is the internet which attaches to all things personal, the same interest which induced thousands at the Centennial to turn their backs on the magnificent Castellan: collection of antiquities and linger in the New Bartend kitchen. To reach Pompeii from Naples, a fiftyminutes’journey by tike railroad which skirts the bay is necessitated. The line cuts through me greaflava stream of 1794, over two thousand feet wide and forty feet thick, at the base of Vesuvius, and passes a number of little villages, inhabited (in face of constant danger from earthquake) on account of the great fertility of the soil On reaching his destination, the visitor pays a small admission fee, and enters at once into the streets of the ancient city. Pompeii was partly destroyed by two earthquakes in tho year 63 A. D. Its inhabitants were still engaged in rebuilding the injured portion, when, on Aug. 24, 79, a great eruption of Vesuvius overwhelmed the city and the adjacent towns of Herculaneum and Stabiss. ' So sudden was the outbreak that the escape of the people was prevented. A dense cloud of black smoke burst forth from the crater and settled thickly over the town, plunging it in complete darkness. A dense rain of thin light ashes followed, and then showers of hot stones, mingled with masses of lava giving off mephitic gases. Meanwhile gTeat rivers of black lava poured irwsiibly down the mountain sides, filling the streets and cutting off the exit of those who had taken refuge in cellars -, while others, who were attempting to leave the city by the gates, were blinded by the drifting ashes and overcome by the sulphurous vapors. For three days this terrible infliction continued; and then, when the smoke dispersed, where once was a beautiful sown was but an arid mass of ashes, pumice-stone and hardened mud. Centuries went by. The rich volcanic seif became covered with a profusion of vegetation, and a new town sprung np over the buried city, only to bo destroyed by earthquake 400 years after the great eruption. Pompeii then existed only in tradition; shdthis located the lost city several miles from the uninhabited plain under which it was eventually discovered. In the middie of last century the finding off relics in the vicinity induced the government to undertake systematic excavations. An inscrintion was soon unearthed establishing toe (act that the true Pompeii had undoubtedly been found ; and since that time the work of uncovering the baildmgs has been slowly and carefully carried on. Fortunately the material which chiefly covered the citv was not lava, which would have set like stone after probably horning paintings and melting objects in metal, but a fifte, light ash, which inafteo itself into the minutest crevices, ,md even through porous earthenware. The writer assisted in opening a large wine Jar still bearing the seals placed over its mouth at the time of filling. The white ashes had replaced the wine, and made their way through pottery of close texture and now hafder than Stone. Generally, however, the presence of the ashes has proved a positive advantage, because, in-opening a street, for example, they are easily dug out and removed; while by packing closely around perishable objects, they hare formed perfect moulds, retaining the form of the objects after the same have wholly decayed and disappeared. It is not frequently that articles are found at a height above four feet from the floor, as their weight naturally carries them downward through the soft mass of ashes. The digging is therefore rapidly prosecuted until the above uniform level is attained. Then shovels and picks are put aside, mid the ashes are taken out by handfuls, each workman carefully crumbling the material to powder before rejecting it. As soon as the experienced eye of any worker recognizes the indications of a mould being formed in the ashes, labor near that point is stopped, and tamping irons are cautiously inserted to make two or three vents in the cavity. Then liquid plaster is poured in, and after being left sufficiently long to harden, the ashes are taken away and the cast removed. It is believed that of the inhabitants of Pompeii thousands perished. Many hand in hand groped their way through the streets, and so escaped to the open country. At the chief gate there stood a sentinel, who sternly kept his post through the thunders of that dreadful day. He died in harness. Planted in his sentry box, he covered his mouth with his tunic, and held on against the choking and sulphurous shower. Bat tbe ashes fell and fell, gnd finally filled the box, and buried the soldier alive, still grasping his weapon in one hand and vetting his mouth with the other. There, after ages of rest, he was found—a grisly skeleton clutching a lanty sword. Bad discoveries were made in the street leading to that gate. There were two skeletons locked in close embrace, the teeth perfect, indicating youth in its prime; skeletons of a young man and maid. They bad (alien together in their flight, and death had wedded them. There WM' a mother with her three childred hand in band, who tried vainly to outrun death. Perhaps the mother singly might have done it, bat she coaid not leave her children. Plenty of food for sad thought is furnished in remembering that six hundred skeletons have been already exhumed !—many in such positions and circumstances as to suggest very touching episodes accompanying the final castastrophe. Of the family of Dtomed. seventeen persons were stilled in a wine cellar well stocked with amphora of wine, some of which bore the date of the vintage. Tbe fugitives id their agony ot fear stood all huddled in a corner. One svropeing girl fell forward on to the K bed of ashes

that had drifted in, Bhe left the Impress of her bosom in the drift like a seal in softened wax. An interesting little circumstance is connected with one of these houses. Tbe skeleton of a dove was found in a niche overlooking the garden. Like the sentinel, she had kept to her post, sat on her nest through all tbe storm, and from beneath her was taken the egg she would not .eave. Tbe shops and taverns which have been exhumed are very interesting as illustrating the domestic life of the people. Eighteen hundred years ago, a baker, having placed his loaves in the oven, hsd closed the iron door, when he had to fly for his life, A few yean since tbe batch was drawn. The loaves are Jet black and of stony hardness; but the marks of the baker’s flngess show plainly on them. In an eating-house were found raisins, olives, onions, figs, fish cooked in oil. and other articles of food, some retaining their natural appearance and all plainly recognizable. ft is a carious fact that a precisely similar mode of cookery prevails in the modern Italian villages to that indicated by the utensils sod prepared food found in Pothpeii; and in some instances vessels have been found which might at the present day be put to their original use, as they differ little from those now employed. In one eating-house, for instance, is a dresser of brick-work in which are large metal and earthenware vessels for soup, with furnaces to keep it warm and ladles to distribute it, precisely as are used in modern restaurants. Amphora of wine are marked with the vear of the vintage, the characteristic quality, and the name of the wine merchant from whom they were purchased. Taverns are indicated by checkers on the door-post, or by a sign painted on the wall. The streets are Saved with solid blocks of stone warn in cep ruts by chariot wheels; and at one drinking fountain, where slaves stooped and drank from the flowing spout, on the edge of tbe trough is a spot worn smooth by the pressure of the many hands that rested against it. The dwellings for the most part are small and low," lew exceeding two stories. They have little ornamentation externally, and are well adapted to a people accustomed to pass most of the day in the open air. The upper stories being of wood, with flat roofs, were speedily consumed ; but as those portions of the house were generally used as store-rooms or apartments for servants, their loss is of little consequence. The ground apartments have escaped serious injury; and on their walls some of the frescoes appear as brilliant as if recently painted. The walls of the city, which have been traced throughout their full extent, indicate that an irregular, oval area of about two miles in circumference was occupied. It has generally been supposed that the population was from 20,000 to 50,000. but according to Hignor Fiorelli, the General Superintendent of the excavations, Pompeii had not more than 12,000 inhabitants at the time of the eruption. Eight gates have been discovered, and the roads outside of them were lined on each side wffh tombs of ebbs tderabto size and architectural pretension. The Street of Tombs, before the gate of Herculaneum, was probably the principal burying-place of the city; bat the sepulchral monuments adorning it give evidence of the refined taste and great wealth of prominent Pompeiians. The streets, which for the most part run in regular lines, are, with some exceptions* barely wide enough to admit a single vehicle. The widest does not exceed thirty feet in breadth, and few exceed twSmy-twofedt. Five of the main streets have been partially or wholly traced; and with these a regular system of minor streets appear to have been connected. These thoroughfares, with a single exception, terminate in or traverse the western quarter of the city, which is the only part yet completely explored. The public buildings were profusely decorated structures, ana included temples of Jupiter,’ Mercury and Venus, beside two theaters. The thermos , or public baths, were elegantly adorned. The most important paintings and objects of art discovered by excavation have been deposited in the National Museum, at Naples. Until recently, the excavations have proceeded slowly ; but at present the Italian Government is liberally assisting the work. The space now laid bare measures abouto7o,ooo square feet, or onethird the whole area occupied by the city. Signor Fiorelli calculates that, making the excavations on an average twenty-five feet deep, and employing eighty-one laborers daily, the whole city will he unearthed in 1947. —Scientific American.