Centre Hall reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1868-1871, 1871-10-20

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Pompeii tD the minds eye Of reader,
says o writer. fon walk its streets.
notice the houses ON either hand, see the
open doors, mark hyways aud alleys,
enter the Erchange, look down long ave.
nues 10 the arched gateways, thread
winding lanes. tramp over tagged side
walks, scrutiniEe the curtis fretted by
carriage wheels, read the signs beside
and above the entrances to shops aud
stores, rest in the ro0ms and mount the
stairs and penetrate the chambers of the
dwellings, and yet fail 10 carry sway the
right words 10 convey your impressions.
There is nothing grand. The place IN
anything bat beautiful. A ruined castle
possesses hnadredfold greater attrAc-
tionA Tear the covers from book. lift
the crust from pie, oF teEeave aburnan
uf ita drawers and y0u have hnniely
hut exact ilnm Uf the impression your
visit has Left upon y0uF mind an yon
drive back 90 Naples And vet you have
been In actual contact with the life of the
Pompeiinnn, and know what they we're
ego, when the fatal honr struck.
We took q random walk through the
streets recently unearthed. The south
ern sun was shining In at open doors and
through broken roofs. In the dwellings
everything was pitiiessly bright. The
secrets Of every chamber we're revealed.
The oarfiage.road botEeen the two foot
paths is OF smooth flags, irregular Ia
shape, deity fitted, like stoiIeG In q
church tower. Modern Florence Ia no
paved. We turn q corner and are startled
by the figure pf dead man lying inside
N doorway. He lies as he fell His atti.
tude Nv preserved by process recently
adopted. In tha hurry Of the storm he
bad sought refuge i'm q porch. Bat he
never crossed itM threshold again, and
You cln see how death grappled with
him there and threw him struggling and
fighting for life. In the bakers shop il
the arched oven, with fireplace and fiues,
all perfect for baking bread to-day.
Mills for gFinding-- cones of grit stone,
convex and coneave, turned capsiain-
fashion by a sross-bar--stand in the shop.
Ia his n@ghbor's, the fnlleF's shop, are
the charges for work done chalked upon
the walls. There they are, I" said our
guide. "a Your excellencies can doubt
lesa read Latin. But the poor man was
never paid" A more pretentions trades
man was the leather-cutter. not far off,
Within was the table gMshed with knife
MARKS, upon Which the man had cut hia
last strands. He had once been n soldier
OF the Ninth cohoFt, and 20 announced
under his name.
There whs In Pompeii glnt Of public
housrs, sometimes four or five in sin
gle street. We stopped at an inn, on
the wall OF which Was painted an ele-
phAnt. and beneath il the latin words,
Nouis. which. translated. were: Sit
tins has established the Elephant Osle-
ria Trichnium, with three beds. Every
comfort. -. Inside are the Trichnsum or
dining groom, TIE dinnertahle. and three
divans for o0nvivea- II must have been
a common place in its best days. and as
for lis comfort, Pompeiians. in common
with modern Nempolitains, were appMr-
entity not exhcting. The house OF SirI-
Gus, lower down the street In curious
His name I'm written up In two places
In n chamber and over the front door.
On his threshold il cut 'rSalve Lncrum. "
The interior IN well appointed, with O
nice garden i'm the rear, and tFelhs@s,
rockerios and decorations suggestive OF
woman's handiwcrk. Skeletons Of q
little dog, tortoises and two goats, indi-
cate that pet animals were about The
windows and doors are bordered with
graceful designs the walls OF the sleep.
ing apartments are covered With trace
ries Of flowers, festoons, birds dolpliins
aud bachantes, and the choice domicile
is decorated with zones Of rich eolors,
nov called Raphaelesque. Who Siricus
was not even M. FioFreii can make APP
parent. Turning into another street,
the visitor comes Rpun the bagnios.
They are AZ three distinct classes, two of
which. are happily unknown tC the
raodern world. Each class il designa-
ted by mn emblem carved In stone,
placed beside the door. In refinement
OF immortality, Pompeii was q miniature
Corinth. From the common halls, where
eourtesans danced with gladiasors, 10 the
sumptuous boudoirs that invited aristo-
cratic matrons, or the luxurious cabinets
frequented only by the patrician order,
prohigate life is pictured in solorings
and shadings upon every floor and wall.
Iudelicaie verses are scf1hbled on the
doors. Vile epigrams stared the un-
blushiug Aabifses from every corner.
And dosbte entendrss, the wit Of which il
smothered in nastiness, hide ashamed
behind cornices and fretwork. Evil
IDENTIFY OF the dwellers In the doomed
city, u was equally true as in Rome. that
'tGod gave them up unto vile affections.
A dyer's shop. in the same infamous
street, in remarkable only for its window.
shutters. They were closed, being oi
wood, which has moaldered away. their
exact impress remains in the hardened
ashes. They we're nine in number. The
edge OF each overlapped its fellow and
slid into a groove. In the central shut
ter a small door was made, closed by
lock and key. This was for the dyer to
let himself in and out after he had
closed the doors. He had done the lat
ter on the fatal day. too late, alas, to
escape, and so ended his life among his
dye-woods and blacking-powders