Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-01-30
adjourned, after having held very short sessions,
to Monday at two O'Clock.
Excavations at Pompeii.


manner in which the process Of excavation a
Pompeii is conducted. The occasion was tn
uncovering of two houses before untouched, il
honor and for the qualification of the American
scientific party on their way to Sicily to observ
the eclipse of the sun:
"On arriving at Pompeii, the party were frs
conducted TO the present limit of the eXcaVa
tons, that they might witness the entire process
of the labor--a process which it may be inter
estng 10 read as well as to see. 1t is to be bornC
in mind that the city was more than buried I'M
der the ashes and cnders which fell upon 1t dur
ing the eruption, and the soil which has since
accumulated; it was almost crushed. The roofs
were of earthen tiles, grOoved and Overlappcd
which rested on frail framework of wood; if
by any uucsual chance, there was a second
story, this was lightly foored upon slender
croSs-bars, which cannot without eXaggeration
be called timber or joists; the weight of matter
cast from Vesuvius broke down roo S, pillars
framing and floors, as well as almost every pro
lection from the walls, even though slight, and
carried them in mass to the pavement. There
fore, until a certain depth has been reached
perhaps fifteen or eighteen feet from the surface
no especial superintendent is needed.
The first thing TO be done, in beginning upon
a new section is to clear the street from house
to house. The wheelbarrow is still unknown to
the Italian laborer, and his rude, broad pick and
his zdppd, which serves alike for hoe and spade,
would be disdained by the meanest Of an Ameri-
cans adopted fellow-citizens." Men and wo-
men, boys and girls, are employed lnditferently,
and 90 scrambling and chattering up the steep
bank, with their little baskets full of dirt upon
head or shoulder. A miniature railway, opera
ted by boy-power, is laid near the edge of the
cutting, and as fast as the cars are filled they
are pushed away beyond the line of the city
walls, and beyond the amphitheatre, where their
contents are dumped Close upon the diggers
foFxu orl-r, nm
crooked walls; repair breaches made by the
tearing down OF roof supporters and lintels, if
these are Of such extent as to threaten the
crumbling of partitions; cut OFT carefully and
carry away mural paintings or tablets as have
any unusual value and can be removed in good
condition, or roof over and otherwise protect
such as must be LETT in place, but might suffer
from exposure. may remark in passing that
as a rule the Pompeiian treScocs are perfectly
durable they do indeed decline from he bright
ness they exhibit when first uncovered, just as
the mere masonry grows duller after few days.
Being exceedingly dry when reached, they seem
to absorb suddenly moisture from the air,
which gives them temporary brillancy, as
wetting an old pitcher will momentarily make
il lustrous; but after little time the texture of
the plaster adapts itself to its new atmospheric
relations and the cOlors again "sink in little,
thenceioIward remaining so without any notice
able fading. The interior trescocs ale more SEN
sitive, having been painted upon finer grounds
and with more delicate cOors than were used
fer outer walls yet even of these there are scores
in Pompcii which were too much injured for re-
moval, but which are apparently as clear as they
were wears ago.
In like manner the interiors of the buildings
are cleared from the top downward, but of
course, with greater care. The nature of the
first building opened in new section is general
ly standard for all its neighbors, for the
Pompeiian population seems to have been well
classified and diStricted. Where shops abound
ed can be determined from without by the Sc
quence of the openings for doors and windows,
as well as by the signs of the occupants painted
upon the walls or even inciSed therein. If the
neighboThOod be a common one the work goes
on uninterruptedly, since there can be nothing
of any consequence TO eXhume; but when there
is reason to believe that the house of an opulent
citizen or the magazine of a. considerable mer-
chant has been reached, extreme circumspec-
ion is necessary.
Just at present the excavators are revealing
nothing of any intrinsic value, for the street now
opening appears TO have been almost exclusive
ly occupied by minor shopkeepers-som of them
possibly in the military equipment business, for
a portion of full length and ite-Sized painting
of a Roman legionary in complete armor has
recently ten brought to light beside one shop
door. In many other places in the neighbour
hood are painted up what seems TO be the
names of candidates for various local offices, so
ward politicians of an older day. Accordingly
Prof. Peirce's party were warned that they must
not anticipate the finding of any treasures, nor
even be disappointed if nothing were found, for
this is the case with many buildings, everything
having been either carried away or destroyed.
The street itself must have been Il pretty one,
for the buildings throughout nearly its entire
length were painted in high alternate panels of
red and black, relieved with some light Orna
ment. Doubtless it was also a lively one, for
beside all its shops it lOasted livery stable, in
front of whose broad doorway the sidewalk was
sloped to the roadway that the charots might
roll out freely; the more modest art of donkey
riding too found its opportunities here, for
great room in the rear OF the stable indicates
by its frescoes thar the proprietor did not con-
tent himself alone with carriage customers
But possibly even an antique Pompeiian "swell"
did not despise the humber and safer beast; for
still the sprigs of NeapOlitan nobility delight to
parade Of an evening along the marina of Cas-
telammare, in the height of the fashionable
summer season, like Hlmlefs actors, each on
his ass, with lon -legged rapscallion pounding
and putting behind, while the plump and fasci-
mating young ducbeSSe and mdrcbeSe roll Ian
guidly along in little phaetons drawn by the
same much-enduTing quadruped. The great
Stabian baths were close by, and no doubt the
little stall-keepers did very pretty business as
the public foated back and forth between riding,
driving and longing in the great chambers and
gardens of the bath.
Two or three OF the more promising shops and
houses had been reserved by the superintendent
for particular attention, and in front of them
chairs were placed for the company The debris
had been lett, as have intimlted above, to the
depth of TWO or three feet over the floors, and
the doorways had been blocked by large stones
TO keep the lOoser dust from rolling out into the
Clean-kept street. A dozen men were immedi-
ately set TO work, and about as many clyStOdi
stood by, watching with all the sharpness of
their long-trained eyes that nothing might be
caught up and concealed Experience has
taught the directors in what parts of each par
ticular kind of building objects are most likely
to be found; and, therefore, while one man was
digging away with the utmost inSOucidnce, his
fellow, close behind him, would be upon his
knees, carefully scraping away the dirt with his
fingers. The first building was evidently shop,
with a liying-room at the back, but there were
no external indications of its character. Dig
ging soon developed a great iron furnace or
oven, leaden-covered, and set in brick, in
the centre of the front room; and the
most popular surmise was the owner
had been a cook, for few bronze vessels of
the saucepan type were found near the furnace,
together with the bones of two or three dogs
and cats, which imagination figured as having
sought the shop after its masters fight, in
search of fat pickings, and as having paid for
their gluttony more dearly than by beating, A
couple of wine dnlphOF0, a lamp, a bit of mon
ey, a bronze ring, some ivory pallets for the
hinges OF doors and moveables, door key, and
a few nails, completed the treasure-trove, the
back room being absolutely empty Fragments
of the red tiles and some charred bits Of wood
wOrk-which throughout the city was almost all
ignited by the blazing cinders Of the DIES ire
were mingled with the ashes and pumice, as
also were few broken jars and lamps; but all
these latter pieces were broken to atoms as fast
as found, that nothing recogniz BILE as a bit of
Pompeii might 90 elsewhere than into the
museum. The next door neighbor of our shop
keeper had left nothing Tor posterity but his
simple mosaic pavement; perhaps, on the other
hand, we thought, his friend had left his trifes
behind him in order to take h 5 stone carpet
with him, for in his two rooms we had found
nothing but the base earth for flooring"
Paris Under FIRE.
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