The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-03-26

European Correspondence Of the Bulletin.l
HOTEL D1oMEDE, Pompeii, Feb. 1876.
Dear BuUetin-Pompeii is fifteen miles from
Nipples, and the line OF railway from the latter
city to Castelnoere runs Within q stones throw
Of the once buried town, 50 that one can go
ont there by rail in about forty-fve minutes,
. more satisfactory and economical plan than
that Of hiring carriage in Naples, for the
goads are dntolerably dusty, and aside from
tho view on the seaside there is no scenery
worth mentioning
In going to Pompeii from Naples one passes
in D curve around the base of Vesuvius, the
train stopping at various little stations, of
Rhicb Portoci, celebrated as the scene Of
many exploits of the romantic head fisher
inano Masaniello, is one. At Pompeii there
ia, nothing bue the station building and sew
eeral small hotels, only one of which, the Ho-
Col Diomede, is Of any responsibility. THIS is
JUST opposite the station and close to the gate
Through whict4sthe visitor enters the excava-
9ions Of Pompeii, and is the one at which the
aubscfibeD and his distinguished friends,
BROWN, Smith and R obinson. are a. The pres
ene mdnene guartere&
We cook ars early dinner in Naples, and
Same directly out Aere, 60 as 70 arrive just
ABOUT the proper time to begin the tour of
&he suins-thst is to say, the most pleasant
Gme, when the sun is already considerably
past the meridian, and his beams begin to get
pildefs instead of fercef. as they would do to
visitors who came in the morning Ouf first
care was to engage quarters az the Hotel Do
hede for the night, IS We contemplate making
Che ascent of Vesuvius from here tomorrow,
and having done this we proceeded At once to
the gate leading into Pompeii. The manage
Rent of these excavations, end the plan upon
which the facilities for visiting the same are
arranged are, unlike most other public insti-
autions Of the country, very excellent, but this
not 10 to be attributed to the superintendent
Of Signor Fiorelli the government agent OF
Rome, who has for some yearspresided over
and directed the work.
There is small entrance feescharged-two1
francs, or forty cents of our money-upon all
~eek days, but on Sunday the public are ad-
mitted gratuitously. This fee includes the
services Of an experienced guide, who is
bound to remain with his party as long as
they choose to stay in the ruins, up to the
legitimate hour for closing. What is most
remarkable is that these guides are incor-
ruptibly honest. The regulations forbid their
accepting the least money gratuity from
visitors, and though nearly every party who
70 the rounds try to make them accept some
thing, no one has ever been able to report an
instance in which guide has taken "tip."I
In . land like Italy where nearly.half the
people are beggars by birth, training and in |
gtincts, and among guides notably the most |
nercenary fellows extant, the existence Of
such honesty is truly wonderful. for they have
little to fear Of being reported, as no one
would be mean enough to do such Q thing
after having induced one to take gratuity.
There are about sixty Of these guides, and
more agreeable, intelligent and obliging set
Of fellows one need not wish to find ia that
capacity. This think may fairly be at
|ributed to their being devoid of mercenary
motives in connection with their duties to
visitors, for when man is studying all the
lime how he can manage to make money out
Of you he is certainly less apt to be an agree
able chaperone in place like Pompeii. than
one who has no such motive pressing upon
his mind.
But these guides speak only French and
Italian. This does not matter much, as the
guide-book gives one all the most inter.
ssting items of information, and it is only de-
Iirable to have guide to point out the things
Of which one has already read. No one
should visit Pompeii without having first
read the subject up pretty thoroughly, for
without this it is quite impossible to under
stand or remember one-half Of the wonders
pne has shown him. We went first into the
museum. This contains only very small pro-
portion of the objects found in Pompeii, the
greater majority Of them having been re-
moved to the great museum in Naples.
The most interesting objects We saw were
The figures of seven persons arranged in glass
oases just in the attitude in which they died.
These Signor Fiorelh obtained in the following
Ingenious manner: He knew that the,frst
shower which fell upon Pompeii swas one Of
fine ashes; therefore those iesfound very
close to the level Of the earth must have been
encased in soft covering Of ashes Further,
these ashes are known to have hardened into
} solid mass as time passed away. and Signor
FiorelIi reasoned that as the bodies crumbled
to dust they must have left perfect impress.
sion behind in the hardened ashes SO he
carefully poured thin plaster of Paris into