The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-12-10
THE DEAD Grey.
Charles warren stoddard In the ESuins Of
PoInpeIi.

OF visit to H0mpeli:
Is Through the sea gate, at whose
threshold the blue Ne&politan waves
once broke, we climbed a steep bit of
pavement, whose surface was worn.
smooth by feet that have been dust
these eighteen centuries. The past,
the long, long past comes upon you
suddenly as you enter the portals OF
this strange city. For a moment it
was hard to believe that the whole
thing was not q show. It seems more
like a toy city than anything else, the
streets are SO absurdly narrow-the
widest IS but twenty four feet, and
the narrower only fourtee2-and the
houses are like pIay-hOuses, so small
and inconEenienf. 1t seems incredible
that they can have ever been inhabited
by human beings. Close by the sea
gate is the museum, n kind of index
TO the city, for here yon find skeletons
of men and beasts thai have been
found in the ruins. There are also
hundreds of earthen jars and lamps;
there are many bronzes, lamps, mir
rOrs, or rather the backs aud frames
Of mirrors, small household goods and
ornaments of various sorts, though
the choicest specimens haYs been re-
moved to the splendid museum at Ma
pies. II the museum at PempeiI are
preserved the most horrible and pa
thetic witnesses Of the last days of the
fated city. When the workmen were
digging in 1863 they struck into a
small cavity, the nature of which was,
of course, a mystery to them With
out breaking further into il they pour
ed plaster of Paris down the creyiees
that were salready opened, and, as
A. h. MI Cd han -
crust or lava was carefully removed.
aud Iol the form of = human being in
kis death struggle carefully preserved.
Buried in. the lava that hardened about
him, his body had crumbIed TO dust
and left this wonderful mold. Several
bodies have been thus Reproduced
oneof thenf with the features perfect
ly preserved, so that there is stfIl
some expreasion i'm the facesrfIn one
some parts OF the skeleton are imbed-
ded in the plaster, and two female
bodies found lying near each other are
called mother and daughter. There is
nothing at Pompeii more touching
than the despair depicted in the atti-
tudeof this group, MH
ssslt was pleasant TO get ont into the
narrow streets, where the sun was
glaring, and there we sought to forget
the horrorAof the museum. Up and
down these streets we marched in sim
afe file The siflewalks were ab6tlt
two feel wide, and ai least & foot or a
foot and half above the street pave
ments. At the street corners blocks
of stone were placed in the center of
the street blocks that were level with
the sidewalks; these were the cross
ings for pedestrians, and the wonder
is how the chariot horses managed to
stumble over them without various
accidents. OF course the wheels OF
chariots passed on each side of the
blocks for there the Futs in the pave
ment are sometimes an inch deep, and
as plain az dayss The guide seems to
think that in many cases the chariots
were drawn by slaves, but marks of
the hoofs of horses are traceabfe on
the stepping stones, and as many
skeletons of horses have been found
in the ruins, horses must have been
much in use. Probably tlere5Eas lit.
tie fast driving in Pompeif; it would
not have paid to drive fast III q city
whDse WallsTare lenlys 1926 yards in
circunf ference. AS oAly a third of the
town has thus far been laid open to
the sun, it is all seen in a few hours.
Tho narrow streets, most of them
little crooked, are crossed at frequent
intervals by other streets, and every
where there is the monOtonous repe-
tition of low concrete walls, the tops
Of which seem to have heen gnawed
off at the first doer, though very many
of the deserted houses must have
been two or three stories in height
Numerous stairways remain, and IN
one or two ihstallces the fret floor
walls have been preserved. ii A small
balcony in one or the streets looked
quaint enough, for from 1t one might
almost have leaped into the windows
of the house opposite. In one of the
broader streets lmost of them have
been given nam es, but il is al q faliey
Of Ic0ufsel we came t0 4 fsshtain thll
of dnst-a quaiut stone face that once
spouted water from its mouth for,the
refreshment of The Thirsty, and has
been worn by the Pompeians till the
mouth yaWns on one side, and there
isl place worn deep in the stone basin
under it, where the drinkers used 10
rest their hands when they stopped to
drink. The fountain looks like the
face of one who Is yawning.szas if
bored to death with the life of POM
peii,, and at that moment il was trans
fixed forever. The features are per-
fectly absurd, and yet there is solner
thing melancholy in the thought of
the thousands who must have sought
refreshment there, even on the last
day of their lives, while the heavens
were black with ashes, and the sea
was retreating from the shore as gif in
hOffor ssFS g#sffskSf
II cannot understand how people
who are supposed to have been sluxa-
rious in their tastes ever lived. in such
ridlcalousiy small houses asiarei those
of Pompeii.. The bed -reoas are like
sta1e-rooms, and the stone beds, ike
berths, fill the longest side of the
apartment. There are no alden spots
even the baths, theAeFsFH FHsIiiaS dnxury
of the time, arc small. The forum
and some few of the temples, are of
more respectfully a aiahe1siotissi But tthe'
resorts of thirty thousand people,
could hardly be less. The private life
of tie kOtapeians - us talflgs been
narrow, incdgre, ana Unhealthy. The
gardens without the city probably af-
forded their only recreation, and L.
wonder how any one WHO has oiiice
breathed tlle7pure1 air can lave return
ed 10 sleep in such miserable quarters
as are the Pompeian bedrooms. Sin
ole partitions between alHfe h6u Uses.
no gardens, no open coHrtsy sAEcsaiIh
the mansions of the wealthy, and the
glare Of IIle southern sun streaming
on val glewing With red and yellow
paimt-sueh was Pompeii i'll its best
days. No doubt il was brilliant and
lively spectacle, aud Buiwef,has made
the most of it. It seemed 10 me The
correct thing to Loaf about the place
alone, with a copy of Bulwer's Last
Days in my pocket. This did at a
later date. l frightened the lizards in
the forum, aud chased butterflies in
the temple Of Isis, and 1aHguished in
house OF the wounded Adonis, for It
was aWfulIY hot. l sat the sole spec