The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-06-09
THE EXCAVATIONS AT POM.
r PEI.

AIM GAIAF AIlONO AL GUMs
ff
1t is now 1913 years since the discovery
OF some bronze utensils and a few stat
Des. beneath the soil Of the plain which
stretches from the foot of Mount Vesu-
vius TO the sea attracted the attention of
the art and antiquity loving monarch,
Charles III. of Naples, and led to the
unearthing Of the buried city Of Pompeii.
Within, that time nearly one-half the
ruins have been freed from the superin-
cumbent mass, in some places more than
twenty feet thick, which covered them.
Two hundred and sixty-four thousand
Six hundred square meters have been
excavated, and 398,084 still remain to
excavate. " "a s5a
The works are at present, and have
been for period of nearly twenty years,
under the able direction Of Signor
Michele Ruggiero, to whom the writer is
indebted for the principal facts contained
In this article. The title which Signor
Ruggiero bears is that Of Directing
Engineer Of the Excavations of the
Antiquities of the Kingdom of Italy"
The greater part If his life has
been devoted to unearthing the
relics Of the ancient Greek and Ro-
man civilizations, the latter of which
aourished SO abundantly at the begin
ming of our era, in the vicinity of the
present city of Naples. In 1848 he was
Aade director Of the excavations at
Pozzuoh, in 1852 he assumed the direc-
ton of the works at Pompeii, and in
1877 he received his present title. Signor
Ruggiero is the contemporary of M.
Fiorelli, whose name is perhaps better
known than any other in connection
with Pompeii M. Fiorelli, now in his
9th year, resides at Rome, where he
administers the affairs of the various
museums devoted to antiquity through
out Italy, the works at Pompeii and
elsewhere being carried on by his sue
cessor according to the plans devised by
him.
The history of the excavations Ut
Pompeii may easily be sl5etched. The
town was twice destroyed. In A. D. 63,
when Vesuvius had been quiet for cent.
uries, terrific earthquake shock oc-
CURED, evidencing the reawakeninY OF
the volcanic forces. A great part of
Pompeii-its colonnades, theaters and
private dwellings, - was destroyed.
Scarcely had the inhabitants begun to
rebuild their town, when it was over
taken by the final catastrophe of the
Oath of August, A. ID. 70. The first at
tempts at uncovering the ruins were
made by the ancient inhabitants.
Though deferred from any second at
tempt at rebuilding their city by this
last and most awful visitation, occurring
while they were in the act of restoring
the ruin wrought by the earthquake.
they nevertheless returned in parties,
seeking under the mass OF earth and
lava such of their valuable treasures as
were within easy reach. Subsequent
eruptioDs covered the traces of their
work. Finally, those who had lived in
the city died and we're forgotten, the
story of Pompeii became q historical
legend, and all traces of its existence
passed from off the face Of the earth.
During the Middle Ages Pompeii was
entirely unknown. In 1892, the archi-
tect Fontana, while constructing a sub
terranean water conduit to supply the
town Of Tore deli Annunziata, cut a
passageway through a portion of the
ruins, but made no further investiga-
tlens. No attempts were really made at
excavating the ruins until the work was
set IN motion by Charles LII. in l748.
Then the amphitheater, ltheater and
other parts we're disinterred, aud the
world began to. discover that here,
guarded by the earth for seventeen cent.
uries, were the remains of a Roman
city IN such state OF preservation, and
containing such relics. that the whole
public and domestic life of the inhab-
nants, their manners, customs and hab-
Its, might be understood, from the hold
Ing OF tribunal in the Forum to the
baking of loaf of bread in bakers
oven.
The wonder and enthusiasm that fol-
lowed are INDISPENSABLE.
The number of werkmen now en-
ployed In the excavations, under the di-
rection of Signor Ruggiero, may be esti-
mated at about 100. At times there
may be twice as many engaged, but this
Is about the general average. A force
OF about eighty is employed in digging
the earth, which is removed by a railway
beyond the limits of the city. This rail-
way, which was built in 1861, is an inno-
Walton upon the manner in which the
business of transporting earth is usually
accomplished In Southern Italy. 1t is
the habit of the workmen-or the wom-
en-, by whom such labor is frequently
pertormed--to carry the loose earth for
any distance in baskets mounted upon
their heads. At Pompeii it is only car
RED In this way from the spot where it is
dug to the railway which carries it off
The digging is done by rude spade:
but great care is taken when once aires
coed wall has been approached, or the
interior OF a house discovered, that no
mischief shall be done by carelessness.
The work is constantly superintendent
by an able overseer, who directs the OPP
erations of the persons under him.
As soon as any valuable object is dis
inferred from the ruins, whether it be a
statue, vase, domestic utensil, or
tresco of more thu ordinary beauty, it
IS taken at once to the small museum or
depository near the entrance, estab-
hshed about 1860 Here it is cleaned
and repaired, after which operations it
Is transferred to the National Museum
at Naples. In the center of this de-
posltory there are arranged in glass
cases some OF the most curious and ter
rlole Objects connected with the buried
city. They are plaster casts nodded
by the cavities once filed by the re-
mains OF inhabitants of Pompeii. With
In two years there were found AMONG
the ruins eighty seven human skeletons
and three dogs and seven horses. When
the volcano first burst forth, there came
IN the beginning rain of ashes. which