Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-03-16
N D OF GREAT CITIES.

Nearly all the great cities IN the world,
both ancient and modern. are so many
monuments Of the persistent energy Of
man, by which he triumphs over natural
obstacles and the elements Of destruction.
Favorable as the site OF ancient Rome. eS-
tending over her seven hills. might at first
appear for early habitation and defence, it
may be safely affirmed tina, we should
never have heard Of the Eternal City. never
would she have become mistress Of the
world. il her rulers and people had not
early fell, the importance Of sanitary meas
ures, and carried them on with 8 persist
ence and ability which should serve as
models for all succeeding ages. Much of
the ground between the hills wa, no better
than a swamp, owing to the trickling
down Of small springs and to the frequent
OVERLOOKING OF the Tiber. Without, there
fore, q thorough draining Of the ground, i.
mus, ever have remained. in a great
measure. uninhabitable, and the seven
hills would have continued to be the seat
Of so many separate villages, ,hs abode
and refuge Of a half shepherd, half robber
population, who had chosen tina, which
was afterwards known as the Capi,oline
Hill for their citadel. The work of drain
age and sewerage was begun by her kings
and continued during the republic. on a
scale Of such magnitude. and in a manner
so enduring, as to be unsurpassed, and
rarely equalled by any subsequent labor
Of the same kind in other countries. The
grand cloaca was q river-like sewer, with
q diameter of thirteen feet, sufficient 10
allow of its receiving other large afluxes.
Earthquakes, the pressure Of buildings,
the neglect Of fifteen hundred years. have
not" writes Niebuhr. moved a stone out
Of its place, and for ten thousand years to
come these vaults will stand ~uninjured as
a, this day." The reclaimed marshes be-
came memorable in the history OF Rome,
as sites for many of her most useful and
ornamental buildings and streets. The
draining of the Campus Marsius alone was
Q work Of immense labor and engineering
skill, to make part Of it a ft field for gym
nastic exercises and feats Of mimic war,
and to allow another part being covered
with numerous palaces, wooded gardens,
three theaters, an amphitheater and mag
ni6cent temples contiguous one to another.
On an equally large and magnificent scale
with the subterranean condui,s and GAL
leries for the purpose Of drainage, were
the aqueduc,s, which traversed Rome in
all directions.
London was built on low ground. and
a large portion Of the country around was
q marsh. and indeed the banks Of the
Thames. from Lambeth to Woolwich. was
one continued swamp. All these parts,
however, have been underdrained, ex,eE-
sive sewers constructed, the bitches filled
up, the river banked out. and the site
generally rendered so dry that London is
now held to be the most healthy capital in
Europe. The same instructive lessons Of
the vital necessity Of sanitary measures
being early begun are taught in the foun-
dation and growth of the three grea, cities
OF Venice. Amsterdam and St. Petersburg.
Venice. once queen Of the Adria,ic, and
Amsterdam, the great commercial mar. Of
Holland, are built on piles. ST. Peters,
burg also rests on made ground, once an
area Of marsh and bog, near the mouth Of
the Neva. Its foundation, unlike that Of
the two cities just named. was owing to
the despo,ic will Of one man, Peter the
Great, who sriumphed over nature. but at
IN rmous sacrifice Of human life.