The Lincoln County herald., 1871-06-22
POMPElI.
BY COL. JOHN n. JOHNSTON.

/ had seen the great Niagara Falls in
the United States, the Mammoth Cave 10
Kentucky, crossed the Alps aud the big
ocean, but on visiting Pompeii, i'm
agined had. seen nothing. | have wit.
messed the ruin Of many people, but never
thought there could be so much dovasta.
tion 10 the world as found in Pompeii
/ felt - If l woro on the way to ruin.
Those at Pompeii arc not only the worst
in tho world, but there are more Of them.
If any Que can describe them better than
myself, let him do it. c 5a.r. lbIl
This 10 . big world of ours-a man.
moth-a mastodon. Take il from the
centre, get its circumference, or view it
in any aspect you mav, and it 10 tolsf.
able busy concern. II is like mill which
runs without stopping, and worse than .
hen 10 barn yard, with dozen little
chickens. God created man, and man
created towns and cities, but these latter
are destroyed by 6re, volcanoes, or some.
things else equally as bad.
Pompeii was destroyed by volcano 10
20. 1t contained q population Of about
400, 900 souls, and was fashionable wa.
tering place for Rome, Florence, Naples,
aud other Italian cities, long before the
Christian era.
Most of the curiosities taken from the.
ruins Of Pompeii, especially the 6ue statu.
ary 10 marble and bronze, have been
placed in the National Museum At Naples.
Pompeii has not been discovered much
over q hundred years, and the French
havo done much Of the excavating, not
very difficult task, since, ss 1t 10 almost
universally known, the place Was des.
troyed by an eruption Of Mount Vesuvius,
which completely overwhelmed the city
With cinders and ashes. The houses we're
} for tho most part, one aud two stories
high, and built Of hard lava and cement.
The situation Of the city must have
been very beautiful. It rested upon .
gently swelling elevatation-the base Of
; which was q bed Of lsva-the product
probably Of come eruption long anterior
J to the earliest period of which history
makes any mention.
The loveliest Of seas spreads its ample
} bosom in full view of the Inhabitants, its
cooling breexes sweeping over the place
without any intervening object to break
their power.
vesuvius is about five miles distant.
I After sleep Of many decades or CEN
f turies, its sides were covered with gar.
} dens and vineyards, and its broken sum.
nit caowned with forest of oak and chest
nut Then it was doubtless an object of
beauty and grandeur. Now, it is mere
: mound Of awful and unmeasured terror,
9 and, like slumbering lion, ever watched
. with uneasy glances.
On ny FIRST entrance to Pompoii, Twas
!. reminded of modern city destroyed by
. fire, and all the rubbish removed.
When you have passed through the
e city, you reach wall Of grey ashes some
r twenty feet high, with vineyards and trees
s growing upon it.
Q Many seem to think that Pompeii was
3 destroyed by melted lava from the VOL
cano, but such is not the fact. Cinders
. mixed, as it is supposed, with mud Of
, liquid nature. which penetrated and
y flowed into all the lower parts Of the bull.
r dings, in manner that dry ashes could
not have done, were evidently the agency
8 Of destruction. 1t appears, too, that the
s destruction of the entire city was not
= Simultaneous. There are several stratas
Q or layers, which no doubt came from dis
Q tiuct eruptions.
!, At the entrance to Pompcii, the visitor
pays an admission of too frances, OF
Q twenty cents. A guide is furnished you
but if one does not understand the Italian
tongue one may as we'll be without one.
They are not allowed to take any money
Q from visitors. but on leaving, they offeI
l. for sale photographs Of prominent places,
and they expect you to purchase.
q The streets of Pompeii arc very narrow
= reminding one more Of lanes and alleys
J than Of the broad and beautiful thorough
u fares Of Baltimore and Towsontown and
70 Catonsville. Many are so contracted tha
g a man can easily get across them in one
u or two strides. The few widest streets
there have rarely exceed twelve feet. Al
the streets are we'll paved with irregular
blocks Of hard Laws, but the ruts worn By
!. chariot wheels are easily discernibls.
, Many villas and private houses hav'
been exoavated 10 Pompoii, aud they diifsl
1t very much in elegance and grandeur, hsv
10 ing been fashioned Of course according
). 10 the owners wealth or poverty, bu
there is nevertheless similarity in style
b The dwellings of the poor we're exceed
u iugly dimiuutivs, many Of the rooml
II locking no larger than dry goods box
The beds seem to have been made oi
stons-just the reverse Of down-snd
= could not have been ~ pleasant to th'
!" wesried frame ss tho many elastic aud de
ligh,fully refreshing inventions Of th'
y present age. The rooms are not greatly
dissimilar 70 the state rooms ono secs .
70 the present. on steamers, little dark, mar
row, confined holes, outwiudovs, ans
receiving light and cir only through th'
door. They certainly possessed none o
10 the luxuvies and comforts Of our owl
- IL - A. LII