Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1871-10-19
The Ruins OF POmpeii.

There is a difficulty in embodying
Pompeii to the minds eye of n reader,
says writer. You walk its streets,
notice the houses on either hand, see tho
open doors, mark byways and alleys,
enter the Exchange, look down long ave-
nues to the arched gateways, thread
winding lanes tramp over tagged side
walks, scrutinize the curbs frstted by
carriage wheels, read the signs beside
and above the entrances to shops and
stores, rest in the rooms and mount the
stairs and penetrate the chambers of the
dwellings, and yet fail to carry away the
right words to convey your impressions,
There is nothing grand. The place is
anything but beautiful. A ruined castle
possesses hundredfold greater attrac-
tons. Tear the covers from a book, lift
the crust from pie, or bereave bureau
of its drawers, and you have homely
but exact idea Of the impression Sour
visit has left upon your mind as you
drive back to Naples. And yet you have
been in actual contact with the life of the
Pompeiians, and know what they were
doing eighteen hundred and one years
ago, when the fatal hour struck.
We took random walk through the
streets recently uncarthed. The south
ern sun was shining in at open doors and
through broken roofs. In the dwellings
everything was pitilessly bright. The
secrets of every chamber were revealed.
The carriage-road between the two foot.
paths is Of smooth flags, irregular in
shape, deity fitted, like stones in q
church tower. Modern Florence is SC
paved. We turn corner and are startled
by the figure of dead man lying inside
doorway. He lies as he fell. His atti
tude is preserved by process recently
adopted. In the hurry of the storm he
had sought refuge in porch. But he
never crossed its threshold again, ant
you can see how death grappled will
him there and threw him struggling an(
fighting for life. In the bakers shop il
the arched oven, with fireplace and flues
all perfect for baking bread to-day
Mills for grinding cones of grit stone
convex and cOncave, Turned capstain
fashion by 2ross-bar-- stand in the shop
In his neighbours, the fuller's shop, ar
the charges for work done chalked upol
the walls. "There they are" said on
guide. "Your excellencies can doubt
less read Latin. But the poor man wa
never paid" A more pretentious trades
man was the leather-cutter, NOT far of
Within was the table gashed with knife
marks, upon which the man had cut hi
last strands. He had once been a soldie
of the Ninth Cohort, and so announce,
under his name.
There was in Pompeii glut ofspublic
houses, sometimes four or five in sin
gle street. We stopped at an inn, o.
the wall of which was painted an ele
phant, and beneath it the latin words
words, which, translated were "Sit
tins has established the Elephant Oste
ria Trichnium, with three beds. Ever
comfort" Inside are the Trichnium o
dining-room, the dinner-table, and tire
divans for convives. 1t must have bee
a common place in it's best days, and a
for its comfort, Pompeiians, in commo
with modern Neapolitains, were appal
emily not exacting. The house OF Sir,
Gus, lower down the street is curious
His name is written up in two places
in a chamber and over the front door
On his threshold is cut "Salve Lucrum.
The interior is well appointed, with
nice garden in the rear, and trelliseS
rockelies and decorations suggestive c
woman's handiwork. Skeletons of
little dog, tortoises and two goats, ind
cate that pet animals were about. Th
windows and doors are bordered witt
graceful designs the walls of the sleel
ing apartments are covered with trace
ries of flowers, festoons, birds dolphin
and bachantes, and the choice domicil
is decorated with zones of rich color
now called Raphaelesque. Who Siricr
I was not even NJ. Fiorreli can make al
-, parent. Turning into another stree
l the visitor comes upon the bagnio
D They are of three distinct classes, two I
e which, are happily unknown to IL
S modern world. Each class is design
ted by an emblem carved in ston
1 placed beside the door, In retinemel
5 of immortality, Pompeii was a miniatu
: Corinth. From the common halls, whe
o courtesans danced with gladiators, to ii
o sumptuous boudoirs that invited artist
. cratic matrons, or the luxurious cabine
c frequented only by the patrician orde
: prohigate life is pictured in colonn'
y and standings upon every floor and wa
{ Indicate verses are scrubbed on Il
5 doors. Vile epigrams stared the II
. blushing habitueS from every corne
Il And dOubie enteNdreS, the wit of which
: smothered in nastiness, hide asham,
l, behind cornices and fretwork. EN
1t IDENTIFY of the dwellers in the doom
c city, it was equally true as in Rome, tn
"God gave them up unto vile affections
u A dyer's shop, in the same infamo
l. street is remarkable only for its windo
/ shutters They were closed, being
=, wood, which has mouldered away, the
I, exact impress remains in the harden
u ashes. They were nine in number. L
81 edge of each overlapped its fellow a
!, slid into a groove. In the central shl
u ter small door was made, closed
81 lock and key. This was for the dyer
e let himself in and out after he h
J. closed the doors. He had done the Ii
u ter on the fatal day, too late, alas,
+ escape, and so ended his life among
dyc-woods and blacking-powders.
l. An AnecdOte OF Everett.