The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-05-30

Letter from DR.. Currjer.

essarily DE approached by a descent
10 my SURPRISE. 1 found il 90 resur
rected from Its deathlike sleep Of pearl,
eighteen hundred years, that II boast,
OF trim i.ttle railway station, wher,
the tram leaves you after an hour's ride
from Naples, and instead of going down
INTO the bowels of the earth, you wall
e up gradual ascent past modest little
II Inn, called Hotel Diomeo, until Won
s come to one of the fourgates ofthe city
;, called the Marine gate, because it front
n eu on the Mediterranean. ia Passing
through, you walk up a long street,
; which like all the streets of Pompeii, is
paved with large flags of lava into
wmch are worn deep ruts made by
cnariot wheels, and in the narrow side
: walks are depressfons in the hard stone
'naoe py the passing feet Of maiiv gen
erations OF by-gone inhabitants. All of
, winch proves that the city must have
existed for centuries, before il was bur-
leo under the ashes and cinders of We
: suvius, in A. ID. 79. flln El'S
fully one-half of Pompeii has been
u,sih'crred, and now open to the full
oiaze o. the dazzling Italian sun-are
ii., lni!es OF well-paved streets, thickly built
wiah nearly unbroken lines of unroofed
~" soiu walls, ana 0OOr8 OF
unlnpefIshable mosaics in marbles of
beautiful color and designs. In manv
OF inc open courts which formed the
vestibules of the houses. yon see on tbs
threshold the works, nIIavev or
"Lalve," which meant welcone IN the
visitors who made and returned snpaI
calls in the bygone days, and in A few
the inhospitbale motto, Gave Caneni .
"beware of the dog"
The houses are much alike in form
ana construction, varying only in size
ana decoration, according to the xvealtb
and position of the owner. Those of
tne higher classes were often two sto-
rles IN height, while the ordinary honses
| were not more than one story hiob bnt
tney all had the open court or yestibnle
caiied the atrium, where visitors first
entered. Opening out of tbis was ON
inner court called perystiiun. which
was covered by glass, and in the
weaitnier houses, was adorned by foup-
tains In which were kept fish. and
by beautiful mural paintings in oor.
geous colors, and statues I'm marble or
bronze. ''0 Vi
around this court opened the differ
eht family apartments, the diniup-rooms
lor summer and winter, the library
where were kept family archives and
portraits oi ancestors, and the various
o.her room which helped to make a
Pompeiian household.
mere there were two stories 10 a
house, the bedrooms of the family were
on the upper floor, but in any case tbey
were mere cells, just large enough TO
noid small single bed, with no ye6tila-
bon except from small window. hjob
up III the wall. But there are no more
luxurious homes in the world TODAY
than those that existed in Pompeii two
thousand years ago.
AS you walk through the deserted
streets, you have perfect, picture of
Roman city as it was at the Commence
ment of the Christian era, and Won can
easily imagine the manners and cnstoms
OF the people who once lived there. nv
the many tokens they left behind in
their hurried flight in those three dread
ful ds9s in August, A. D., 79.
There stands the Forum, with its
council halls, its temples and its sacrifi-
cial altars. A little further on are the
public baths, with great yaulted rooms.
beautiful frescoed walls, lovely mosaic
floors-hot, cold and vapor baths, and
all in good preserya-
ton.
In many of tho public squares are
fountains, where, while waiting for
their vessels to be filled with water. or
IN STOPPING over to drink from the
spout, the people rested their left hands
on the edge of the fountain, and 80
wore deep depression into
the hard marble.
Shops of all kinds are open to the
passer-by, but never a customer now
GENES to buy from their empty count
with the mills for grind
ing the grain, and the ovens for baking.
are still standing where they have stood
these eighteen hundred years. 7a
There are the remains of theatres for
tragedy and comedy, with well-worn
steps leading to their entrances. Man
schools, and all the various
elements which helped to make busy,
prosperous city, are there, except the
active hands and brains which once
kept them all in motion. 10
In the museum of Naples, which, by
the way, is one of the most interesting
museums in Europe, are the lovely OBJ
Jects OF art and all the articles of every-
day life, found in Pompeii since It has
been unearthed from its long burial.
Ihere l saw loaves of bread with the
bakers name imprinted on them, eggs,
spices, dried fruits, and many other
articles OF food such as are used TODAY.
could not take time to enumerate the
hundreds of familiar objects that met
my eyes; there were the kitchen uten-
sils identical with those in use now ~ ''
Among the objects of art are the most
exquisite conceptions the world has ever
seen, proving that never was art more
thoroughly appreciated, or at a higher
standard than in those days of the pasf,
when under the reign of Titus, Rome B
was at its prondest eminence of clviliza-
tion and luxury. The beautiful statues
which have been ding from her ashes
and ruins are still the pride of the
world, defying the efforts ofthe present
age and rivaling their perfection. .a.f..
For three days, IL Is said, Vesuyius
rained down showers of ashes, cinders
and hot water upon Pompeii, which
with the commissions of the earthquake
added to the horrors, and lightning and
heavy thunder and clouds of darkness
made many of the inhabitants resigned
to their convictions that the lastltiread
full day had come. Others fed from
the city and were saved, while other
again, sought shelter from the desola
ton abroad, in their cellars at home,
where, having provided themselves
provisions and lights, they thought TO
wait until the violence of the storm had
abated, and there, eighteen hundred
years after, their skeletons are found.
In the vault of one of the houses
where they had fed for safety, the
bones of seventeen people were discov-
cred, covered by fine ashes which had
sifled through the crevices, and consol-
idating, had taken the forms OF the dead
as il in a plaster, cast. They were all
found near the door of the vault, which
had been blocked up by the falling ash
es and stones, and there they fell, suf-
located by the fumes of sulphur. faI
Still, the conclusion is that many es