The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1878-11-16
Correspondence baltimore County
LETTER FROM NAPLES.
From Geneva by Rail to Naples-Th&
Gent City and it's Curiosities-TH
City Of Pompeii, &c., &c.

Gent City and it's Curiosities-TH 4
City Of Pompeii, &C., &c.
Leaving Geneva by the morning train VIZ Wv
way OF Mt Gents tunnel, Turin, Genoa, Pin nd
Ciyita, to Rome without stopping. Rem ag
here long enough to make railroad connee =
were are on board the train for Naples, viii A
reach early in the morning. just forty seven
after leaving Geneva. Our first view of the r
iterranean is by moonlight at Genoa, and fo'
eral hours in constant sight of it.
early morning finds us on the lookout for the
ing tower at Pisa, which we do not see from
train, but have seen before. Until noon, whe
reach Rome, we are much of the time on the
of the We pass in plain sight of the il
of Elba, and perhaps see the dim outlines of
sica in the far distance. Beyond Rome we
away from the sea- and passing through pli
familiar to every classical student. Of the N
we can only mention Capua, which was the wi
quarters of Hannibal, and where the insurrecl
of the gladiators under Spartcus commence
The speech of Sparticus to the gladiators, SC
to every school boys heart, came back to mt
/ looked about for some gladiator with
sword, helmet and shield, but saw only flu
ged Italian officer strutting about the dep
little later while the freshness and beauty
morning yet hung upon the vineyards an, 60
roves of this almost tropical climate we Oh
Naples the light of Italy, its largest city me
paradise of travellers Naples has populal tof
100000 and is most delightfully."- situated .
| bay Of the same name whose wonderful :,
| has been recognized for nearly 5000 years
On our long ride along the quay to our We
realize that we are indeed in a strange & 4
| in the midst of people and productions :
| from any we have before known. In tbeI
which seem to be all only pieces of canv
off the sun, were peaches, grapea,orans
| aoes and nectariDes from g.. % j
| bay pomegranates olives.
| fruits c..yheh eIss-2
| kds. Bare footed men and wolu.., ana an d, .
ed or entirely nude children to be seen eve y
where. In the two milesSaIong the quay an r
| fist could pick out Dozen "Neapolitan Els er
Boys" while men clothed only in two garmt is
stretch out at full length upon the stone pa G.
| ments and sleep.
All kinds of work are carried on in the ST. ct
in front of the houses. BARRIERS, shoemakers,h r
ness makers and clothes dealers often have every
| thing out on the sidewalk. Women cook, wash
and iron, care for their babies, sew, knit, smoke
| and do all kinds Of household work on the streets.
| Two or three times we even saw them going
| through their children's heads and hunting game
with fine toothed comb In places there were
| large yards in which strips of macarOni ten feet
long, hanging over poles, were drying in the open
| air, exposed to whatever of dirt the breezes of
| heaven might bring them from the street.
| Every thing about us shows that we are among
| a strange kind of people, and in a southern eli
| mate The narrow streets, and high houses with
! balcony in front of each window, the braying of
the omnipresent donkey, the ceaseess CHATTER of
| wheels and swapping of whips, the harsh scream
| ing of the peddlers, the undaunted impudence of
beggars, guides and carriage drivers, all combine
| to give the traveller something at every turn.
The national characteristic of the inhabitants of
| Naples, as far as they have any, has always been
| and is now, love of the enjoyment of the pres
/ ent and entire disregard of the wants of the
1 f,k, Mast aIn,,h 4nl1 oil fhn Vka1ao
the Neopolitans are the happiest and the po6fesr;
| the LATEST and dirtiest and the least given to
mourning the msfortunes of the past, or the wants
| of the future. The bare legged lazzaroni with an
| empty stomach and not single soldO in his pock-
ct any prospect of his getting one, will curl up
| in some warm corner and go to sleep contented-
| ~ though he q millionaire.
| Probably no finer or more varied view is to be
| had in all Italy than from the Carmado, form
| er monastery, on a lofty hill at the back of the
city. 1t includes all of the matchless bay of Ma
| Piles with its numerous islands, much of the city
below, on the left Mt Vesuvius with its vine COW
| cred base, and miles of fertile plain dotted with
numerous villages, while in the opposite direction
stretches the open sea. The wonderful beauty of
the situation and its surroundings has given rise
to the Italian saying, "Vedi NapoG poi mort p
"See Naples and die"
| Our first visit is to the Museum, which is par
| tcularly rich in mementoes from the buried city
| of Pompei, and there is no other place where so
| good an idea can be obtained of the home life of
the Romans, as from careful study Of the many
| articles which here preserved. Among these
are various household and domestic articles, many
of which are of similar shape to those in use with
us. There was plane which modern carpenter
would handle with ease. / do not know how
many articles there are in all but | saw one num-
| bered l0,S79. There are great many statutes,
bronzes and vases, in more or less perfect s+A@e5
which have been exhumcd. One room contains
| grain of various kinds, bread meat and some eggs
| which came from the buried city. These are all
| charred and would not be recognized except by
their form. There is also glass bottle filled with
| OIL which is in good condition and not dried up.
| One of the most interesting rooms to me contains
the Library of the Papyri, which was discovered
| in villa near Hercuaneum. These rolls were
completely encrusted with ashes, and they were
| supposed fer long time to be valueless. 0rigi-
nay there were 5000 of them, but only 800 are
now preserved. They are charred and are as
black as coal. The inner bark of the papyrus
plant was pasted together forming long roll, and
| on this the writing was done with the stylus. II
was for long time thought impossible to unro
them but at length an ingenius machine was made
by which they are carefully unrolled after being
moistened. Two or three of these were at work
at the time of our visit Several hundred papyr
have been unroed and read, but they are mostly
of little value. There are also human figures en-.
crusted in ashes which found in various places
in the buried city
In the afternoon we go by train a ride of forty
minutes to Pompeii, where we at once engage
guide for the visit to the buried city. Pompei
was destroyed during the great eruption of 20, By
a cloud of hot ashes, and by subsequent falls o.
volcanic matter, until at present it is covered with
a deposit twenty feet in thickness. For three
hundred years after its destruction the ruins were
dug into and ransacked for marble and Other
treasures until it was supposed that everything
of value had been removed. For the next ,40(
years, the buried city was neglected and almost
forgotten. A little more than hundred years
ago excavations were again commenced, but it il
only within the last twenty years, since they have
been taken in hand by the government that they
have been conducted in a systematic manner, and
any thing like satisfactory results obtained
Every thing which can be readily moved, and
even the more important frescoes soon as found
are taken to the Museum at Naples. An area o.
about 6S acres has already been excavated, which
is supposed to include the most important third Of
the city. If the work is continued at the same
rate now it will take about seventy years tC
complete it and viii cost 81, 100000. The streets
are regularly laid out, the main "a feet wide
the narrower ones IA feet only They origi-
nally well paved with large square blocks of lava
which have been worn into deep ruts by wagon
wheels. At the corners of the streets STEP
pavement for the convenience of pedestrians in
muddy weather, and at the same PAGES there arc
often remains of fountains or notices painted in
real letters, generally relating to municipal affairs
The houses are mostly built of concrete, and GOV.
cred with a coating of marble or plaster which
was ornamented with paintings in bright colors
red being particularly noticeable. Most of the
houses have stairways showing that tkay r~o-"' 90
than one story high, one of them has
ond story remaining which was buik
projected over the street. The shops
small open on the street the VIII
the front and closed at night with wood,
The private houses, particularly tho
wealthy, were built around an open cour
only solid wall on the out side, with sin
trance from the street. AS these walls were blu
up TO the line of the street, and had almost
windows, walk through street occupied entire
ly with residences must have been a dismal affair.
Within the rooms of the houses generally opened
into some court which was an uncovered square,
containing fountain or flower garden. All the
walls were brilliantly painted and the floors FREE
quently inaid with mosaics. With the bronze or
manents and statuary, and the nlaid furniture
these houses must have been cheerful and very
pleasant 1t was with mingled awe and pleasure
that we wandered amid these remains Of the q =
day life of the Romans, and nothing we have ever
seen except the ruins at Rome has ever impressed
us wildly with the reality of those ancient
II Al