Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1873-08-29
A RooFLEss CITY.

w nOeVer boSo W ouiPoii th'hAi"S w
find perfect city will be very much dis
appointed.
The ruins Of Pompeii. as the old lady
said about the ruins of the Coliseum,
are very much out of repair. The walls
of the buildings are mostly standing,
but the roofs and doors, which were con-
structed of wood, are gone, having rotted
away in their long exposure to the moist
ure. Everything whatever, of wood,
planks, or beams, was turned to ashes ;
all is uncovered, and there are no roofs
to be seen.
Almost everywhere you walk under
the open sky; everything is open, and if
Il shower were to come on, you WOULD
hardly find shelter. Imagine yourself
in city in process of building with only
the first stories completed, and with no
foorings for the second.
Many of the statues and works of art
have been carried to the Museum at Ma
piles, so that in the old city itself, there
are comparatively, few curiosities of a
portable character. The sky, the land
scape, the sea.shore, the walls and the
pavements are antique, and it is only the
visitors and their guides that are modern.
The streets are not repaired, the side
walks are not changed, and we walked
upon the same stones that were formerly
trodden by the feet of the Pompeian
merchant and his slave.
BACK IN THE TIME OF CHRIST.
Aswe enter those narrow streets we
can almost think we are quitting the
century we live in, and going back to
the century that witnessed the birth of
Christ.
When first uncovered, the paintings
of the walls were as fresh as though they
were made but week ago, the ashes
having preserved them perfectly. In a
few weeks or months their coloring
fades, and they become dingy and hard
ly visible.
The Pompeians were great lovers OF
art; every wall is frescoed, and the mo.
saics on the floors are an interesting
study. Statues adorn the interior of the
dwellings, and abound in the public
places; even the ordinary utensils of
the kitchen are fashioned in remarka-
BILE manner and far more artistic thar
those of the present day. The most or
dinary utensils of the household are
specimens of art that evoke the admira
ton of every beholder.
/ HOW THE DOOM CAME.
Pompeii was not large city it con
tanned only about thirty thousand in
habitants, and was rather suburb thar
great national dwelling place.
A volume might be filled with descrip
tions of Pompeii and its contents tn,
forum, the theatre, the dwellings, th'
tombs, the baths, the shops, the stables
the gardens are all interesting. Accord
ing to the histories, it was during festi
val that the eruption took place. w
may imagine the picture. that while tn
amphitheatre was crowded and gladiato
rial combats were in progress. the eartl
shook, and the sky was dark with tn
clouds of smoke and ashes rising from
the great volcano. The Pompeian
rushed from the amphitheatre, and wer
overtaken by the shower of stone, an
the deluge of ashes falling like burr
ing snow upon the streets; the dust fill
the streets. Heaps Of the burning ashe
J break through the houses, crushing tn
tiles and burning the ratters; the fiji
falls from story to story, and accuml
lates like earth thrown in to ell trench
The amphitheatre is speedily ingulfeG
and no one remains in it but the dea
gladiators, and the prisoners enclosed
, their cages, from which there is no e
cape. Those who sheltered themselvt
J under the shops, and in the arcad,
were buried beneath the ashes and stone
Skeletons are found everywhere, ind
, eating how people were overtaken
3 their flight. Here is a fallen womal
t grasping bag of jewels; near by is II
, skeleton of man with bunch of key
: in one hand, and the remains of ba
f Of coins in the other. A woman hol,
: ing child in her arms, took shelter
an oven, and was enclosed there. A SC
dier, faithful to his duty, remains at h
3 post before the gate of the city, OIL
hand upon his mouth, and the other {
his spear, and in this brave attitude
. died. The family of Diomed assembl,
in his celler, where seventeen victim
:. women and children, were buried aliy
;. clingiug closely to each other. The Ia
=. agony of these poor wretches is terrih
to imagine.
A priest of Isis, enveloped in fam
and unable to escape into the street, c
through two walls with an axe, and f
at the foot of the third, still clutchi
al HE vaa7an A eroat was faund crou,