Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-01-20
SMITHSONIAN Lrcrunr-The Rev. n. g.

SMITHSONIAN LEcrunEs The Rev n. g.
Comingo delivered the second Of his course Of
lectures on Rome, last night, to a large and in
telligent audience. IL was, as we anticipated.
very interesting, being founded on The lecturer.
own observations In the Imperial CITY He smoke
eioquently OF the monuments Of ancient gran
deur that had withstood the war Of the elements
for fifteen and eighteen centuries. On a large
map Of Rome he pointed out and described the
old Capitol, around which cling so many classic
assoc.stlons OF olden time He pointed out the
were confined, and which Peter and Paul are
said TO have honored with their presence He
sPose OF spring in the prison, which the guide
told him had been miraculously called into er
istence by Paul for the purpose Of baptjzIn0 the
)allor ana twenty-seven of his fellow. prisoners
whom he had converted. The lecturer. opin-
Ion OF the spring was that 1t was an artificial
arrangement, similar to our modern bvd rants
He pointed out the various temples CLASSIC in
history-that Of Esculapius, the Ouirinal the
Temple OF the Sun, and others He traced ont
On On lne map the great thoroughfare called Via
Sderd, which corresponds. in a measure to onr
pennsylvania avenue. He pointed out and de-
scrioed the &C LIBERATED Temple of Jupiter Cant
tolnus, covering four acres of ground, and being
most opulently furnished of all the temples.
Ihls was the great depository of the spoils Of
war, and was most magnificent structure cost.
ing equivalent to fifteen millions of dollars. He
dence OF Imperial grandeur. The grandest and
best preserved Of all the ruins of antiquity was
the Coliseum, mammoth drawing Of which
was suspended over the stage. This was glad
iatorial establishment, constructed under Nero
Ii was of an eliptical form, and covered six
acres Of ground. During a period Of four hun.
dred years, this was the scene OF the most inhu.
man barbarity, thousands of men and beasts he
Ing sacrificed in bloody combats for the pratif.
cation OF a morbid public taste. AT the end Of
four hundred years the Christian religion put a
stop TO these bloDdv sports. The Pope had re-
Gently endeavOred TO convert the structure into
WOODEN factory, and subsequently into saltpetre
factory, but both of these enterprises had failed
and the ruin was kept for the Qualification of the
curiosity of tourists.
We have not room to give ANYTHING like =, nor
fett idea Of these lectures, and they oup ht to he
attended to be enjoyed ard appreciated II Is
expected that the next two will be still more in
teresting than the last
FisB-About o'clock this morning FIRE was
discovered to be breaking out IN the two story
frame bouse, owned and occupied by DR. Jacob
d. Gardiner, on street, near Third, on Capitol
Hill. The fire caught from d dumb waiter near
tue nue., IN the basement story, and ran with
great rapidity inside the Iathfnr 10 the roof
In short time the Columbia, Perseverance.
Franklin and Union Fire engines arrived ON Tho
ground, and shortly afteIward the American
HOOK and Ladder Truck. IL then took consid-
cradle time TO log of the hose, by reason of the
distance from the pool in the east Capitol grounds
IN The scene OF the fire. Meanwhile the furniture.
etc bad oren all removed from the building
put sucn nad oeen The progress of the flames that
but little could be done to STAY them and the
enoTts OF the hremen were principally confined
to saving the adjoining buildings. in which
they succeeded. Tne house was soon bntnsd
to the ground. Value of the propertv is esu'
mated at 81 900, on which there Is an insurance
o. 80 COO
WATCH REIURSs.-John DeIany, drunk and
disoTdeTlv, was arrested by Officer McNamar:
fine and costs, IS ID. Chas. Toby was arrested
by Officer Reynolds for being drunk; fine and
costs, % Is. Geo. Bitter was drunk and disor.
Derry, and falling into the hands of Officers
Tnnmas and Thornton was taken TO the guard
house, where he was made to paw 50 Is accord
ing to law. Walter Clarke, do was taken nv
Ohcers Neitz and Luckett; but unfortunately he
naa heither money nor friends, and so he was
seht 10 the work house t9spend term of 90 DAYS
labor on the farm There were twentytwo
lcdgers In the cells last night.
NEARLY FATAL AccrDENr-Mr. Cookson,
OF the firm OF Clemson Il Cookson, distillers,
came near losing his life few DAYS since under
the following circumstances: was sitting In
a room at the distillery, superinteDdinp the
brewing Of some yeast over a charcoal furnace
While seated upon high desk in the room, be
fell into doZe, and in little time was over.
come by the gas from the charcoal, and fell from
his seat to the floor, which aroused him He
had scarcely strength enough remaining to get
out OF the room In time to save his life so great
an effect had the gas had upon him.-Alez. Ga
ZsNs
The ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE learns from a gen.
tleman from Washington, that 1t is said that w.
w. Corcoran, Esq intends, in the Spring, to
have erected in a convenient location, in the me-
tropolis, building for Art purposes 10 be given
10 aud for the use Of the Artists of the country
containing gallery for painting, another for
statuary, another for a school of design &c II
Is In hor jlv
Institution.
CoURT OF CLAIMS, rEsrERpAy-Natbanjel
Riddick, administrator Of Willis Riddick. w
The United States. In this case Judge Loring
delivered the opinion Of the court adverse to the
claim.
Abraham Martin VS.. The United States. Mr..
Rockwell opened the argument in behalf Of the
Claimant The United States Solicitor replied
on the part of the government, concluding at 3
O'Clock, when the court adjourned.
The SALE, by MCGUIRE this morning, of Gov
eminent work-horses, mules, oxen, carts, &c,
drew large crowd. Bidding was spirited, and
our good Hooking friend, Fisher, had his hands
full. The animals have the GU So brand while
In government possession, and on being sold are
marked with "C,n otherwise the pos.essor
would at any time be liable to get into trouble.
CENTRE MARxET-The sales in the Centre
''H'ACh oPPcdiSu " Oc uull tDlS morning. The
dealers were numerous, the supply ample. but
purchasers were comparatively few The hay
stands were closely occupied, the prices ranping
from 20 cents to 81 per cwt Pork was offered Al
the scale house for SeaS IS per 100 lbs. Poultry
was much cheaper than usually.
CoNcERT.-The Choir Of the Ninth street Al
+. Church, assisted by many Of the most popu
lar vocalsts Of this city, give Concert Of vocal
music, at the church, this evening The bro.
ceedS are to be devoted to the benefit OF he Door
Good music, in good cause, will hardly fail 10
attract large audience out Of our metropolitan
public.
WATER.-The Commissioners Of the First and
Second wards have been engaged In improving
the spring which supplies a number of pumps
south Of F street in the Second ward This has
caused d falling of in the supply Of water, bu:
which will be only temporary, and will doubt
less be succeeded by a constant supply 10 all the
citizens in that section
THE THEATRE.-The usual routine of perform
ances at the theatre gives way to hit for the
first and only appearance here of Mile Piccolom-
I'M, OF W hom we have already fully spoken AS
the rush for tickets is very great, we advise all
va ua1 Lor.