Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-02-22
A POMPEIIAN BIRD SHOP.

A correspondent of the London Times,
in describing the contents of chamber
just opened in excavatlng the ruins of
ancient Pompeii, writes:
| No sooner was the excavation of this
chamber commenced, than number of
bronze and tara Gotta vessels, bronze
fi5ula, bracelets and rings, iron keys,
kitchen utensils, and other articles of
household use, were found almost in q
heap together near the door, and among
| them q considerable number of small
earthenware pots, which I somewhat in
creduously heard described as drinking
cups for birds; but there soon followed
abundant proof that this had been the
shop of a seed merchant and seller Of
singing birds, and very little imagination
was required to see the place as 1t was
the dapbefore the fatal eruption of 10.
At first the room seemed to have been
mere receptacle for miscellane-
Gus collection of bronze and earthen-
ware object. There was no special char
acter about It, The walls bore no traces
of painting, but, as the clearing was con-
tlnued, to the left of the door on entering
a heap OF millet seed was found, so car
BOMBED that on taking up handful it
flowed between ones fingers, for every
grain was separate and distinct. It was
taken away III basketfuls. Close to this
quantity of hemp-seed, and of what ap-
peared to be small beans in the same
we'll preserved condition. were found,
and among them considerable fragments
of the sacks in which they had been
kept, the fibre and texture clearly dis
tinguishable. Behind these heaps and
against the wall more seed was dug out,
mixed up with pieces of carbonized
wood, iron hinges and nails, and some
iron hoops, evidently the remains of
small barrels and bins which had been
ranged on this side, while along the OPP
posite wall double row of terra-cotta
ollie for holding grain was gradually re-
vealed. Suddenly there arose cry,
Gun ossa," "un scheletro," and the
excitement became intense but the bones
were small-at first they seemed mere
fragments, and then the Director exclaim-
ed, amid quickly following laughter, ga
chicken" Here the filling in had be-
come somewhat soliditied, and as it broke
apart complete skeleton was revealed.
It was that of little siuglng bird, en-
tirely imbedded in the mass, and near it
were fragments of other tiny bones.
There could be no longer any doubt that
the use of the little terra-cotta pots had
been correctly described. 1t became
clear why so many of them were found
there; and that the number of plain
bronze rings of about an inch and half
In diameter, and pieces of fine chain
work discovered, had been used for hang
ing bird-cages. But what connection had
ali those bronze vessels and ornaments
near the door with seed and bird-sell-
er's shop? This also soon became evil
dent
AS the excavators continued further
into the room, great masses Of carbon
lied beams of wood were found, each
somewhat inclined downward and among
them quantity of fragments Of lntonac
and stucco wall-facing, colored porphry,
with border of green and white. These
| were at once seen to be the remains OF
the floor of the room above with some of
the plastering of Its walls, and from the
direction in which the beams were lying,
it was evident that the floor had given
way IN the middle and toward the door
of the shop below, precipitating the
greater part of the contents of the upper
room in that direction, the remainder
falling towards the middle, and it was
here the elegant long stemmed Candida
tbrum was found among the masses and
fragments of carboniZed wood. Did the
worthy blrd-seller live above his shop?
Did this candelabrum and the bronze va
ses and other utensils form part ofh1s. do
mestic fortune? Who can tell? They were
elegant in form, but for the most part
unornamented, and not out of character
with the requirements of person OF that
condition. There ere some tinger-rings
of bronze, but none of richer material
there was stTigil with plain handle
there were women's bracelets and fibula
of delicate workmanship, but only OF
bronze, some glass beads and a delicate
blue cup broken in pieces. The smaller
terra-cotta vessels were all ofthe plainest
workmanship. Among them were three
small amphor with fiat bottoms, fer stand
ing on the table, and the bronzes were
of the variety of size and form adapted
to household purposes. Some we're like
jugs with one handle, others were In the
form of fiat oval tazze with two handles
and one of these had two others Of
smaller size lying within it. There
was one of the exact counterpart
of pint pot, several of fiat shape
like casseroles, with straight handle or
one side, and some without handles, like
deep bronze soup plates.
Among other things 1 have not men
toned, found in this room, were nun
Der OF small bronze bells slightly de
pressed into rectangular shape, like the
tiny geld bell found on the Esquiline
some years back, and which Is SO wei
known as the Marguerite bell from the
number of copies made 1or ear-dr. ps
two double bronze ink stands, the chair
and other fragments of a balance, bone
paper-cutter-a knife Of large size, with
bent blade like those used by garden
ers-a small square Corinthian pilastel
cap of marble, and in one corner of thu
shop against the wall the remains of {,
mensola. 1t may interest archeologist
if I mention that the excavation wa:
made in the insula parallel to that mum