The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1882-12-03
There is always rumor at the beginning
Tho Victims of PoIhneIi.

The work of exploration which has been
steadily going on In Pompei for q century, from
the day when excavations first began the site of
what then vaguely called 80 la Ciyita, ~ In
l74s, has led to other than purely archaeological re-
suits. 1thas enabled fairly accurate notion to be
formed of the nature and extent of the catastrophe
We know for instance, that the lava stream did not
reach pompeii, and that the city not destroyed
by fire. We know also that the eruption was accom-
panied by more shocks OF earthquake, which
threw down houses here and there and buried men
and women under their ruins From the fact that
skeletons have been found at the entrance to the pub
lie bath, which quilted hastily by the few grand
ladies who were not present at the gadIatoria per
Torrance In the amphitheatre, the time of the catas
rophe can be fixed with approximate accuracy at or
about Above ALL the discoveries of skeletons.
every one of which has been carefully recorded for
| at least a century, enable some conclusion TO ne
drawn to the total number of victims OF the catas
trophe. III would De mistake TO suppose tnat the
majority, or even very large portion of the inhab
tants OF Pompe persisted. The effects of the ashen
shower were not instantaneous, and every one who
could get away from the city on the first alarm prob
ably saved his life The bulk OF the people were in
the amphitheatre, which situated near of the
! city gates on the side from Vesuvius, and
there nothing to hinder one in the great
| dence from getting away In time. Those who per-
ished those who deliberately put of their flight
to wife and child, or, st more often vauables
OF such victims $50 have been already found. From
the year when the excavations began, In l7Is to the
year 1926, the total number of human remains dis
covered was 1907 from 1927 to 1916 1t was 90; from
1916 1850 1t co. from 1861 to 1872 1t 81 and
from 1873 to 1881 about iOo But 1t Is to be remem-
bered that only two hs of the buried surface has
| been brought to light. On the whole there appears
good reason for putting the total number of human
beings who persisted IN the eruption at least high
100. To these should be added the skeletons OF three
dogs, horses eleven hens, two tOrtoises fifteen
pgs ten oxen and the bones of fteen other animals
The remains of of these dogs were found in the
porch OF the" House Of orpheus, and the cast which
Sgnor Fiorelli has taken brings before with pain
tu vvdness of the minor tragedies of that awful
day. The poor beast was chained at his post, and in
the general panic and fusion
| let him loose. The chain lay by the remains when
they found, and 1t was evident that the
had strained his tether to the utmost In the effort to
keep himself above the masses of ash and pumice-
stone that rapidly accumulated around and over him
The cast is to be in tho little museum at Pompe.
The dog lies MALT on his side half on his back, his
slender head and open muzze gasping for a little air
buried between the hind legs which have been con-
vulsiNely brought forward In the last agony of DEATH
But the process which has been successful In repro
ducng the very form and likeness of this creature
lie lived and died has produced results less eXraor
binary ia the case of the human victims of the
catastrophe. The idea of pouring plaster of Paris In
liquid state into the moulds left by the bodies in the
soft ash did not to any till suddenly flashed
across Fioreili about twenty years ago OF the re-
mains of the $50 human beings discovered In Pompeii
in the first hundred years of the excavations there is
consequently only written record.
1t is only from the Journal If ErcdUItiOas for the
year 1891 that know of the touching and famous
sight which greeted the eyes of the first discoverers
of the % House of the Faun.'' On the floor of the
banqueing hall lay the body of woman, probably
the mistress of the house, with her jewels scattered
where she had thrown them In despair of rescue or
escape. The roof had been crushed IN by the weight
of falling ash and pumice- stone, and the hands of
the dying woman were upstretcied In vain effort to
Keep OF the Impending weight. PartS OF the body
aud clothing could sl be made out and a drawing
could he made of one charming foot. But such
records feess and tame indeed beside the extra
ordinary portrait statues which are to be in
the little museum at Pompeii. There nine OF
these, very short time SINCE and to see
them Is like seeing the men and woman themselves Of
eighteen centuries ago. Fiorei's method is as sim
pie possible small opening Is made, the plaster
is decatey poured in, and when 1t has had time to
harden the surface of ash is peeled off,
man woman comes back to life again. Tho details
Of clothing and feature have all left their the
soft ash, and all faithfully preserved In
the plaster cast. The results achieved by Flo.
relli are striking and complete. Take the cast OF
the elderly slave, for instance, probably man OF
some sixty years old, who appears TO have been TAX
Ing his siesta when the eruption began, and TO have
been painleSsly aSphyXiated In his sleep. He lies
his right side the knees little bent, the left leg
drawn up, and the cheek resting the right hand
The coarse. strongly features and peaceful
expression OF the sleeper have all been perfectly pre-.
served. hardly less easy death must have been the
lot Of the four persons found lying their backs In
the street. Three of these were men, one of them
negro of the most pronounced type. The fourth wa,
woman OF unusual stature whose time for becoming
mother evidently not far off. The three persons
fonnd lying on their faces do not appear TO have
found quite so quick DEATH Two of them
women. one of these, elderly woman with n
thin figure, lies by herself, her face buried in hei
arms, IL to protect herself from the fatal rain.
The other lies side by side with man in whose
company she appears TO have taken flight. She has
covered her face with fold of her dress, and the
hands are tight cenChed in the last death agony. -
PAU MAI Gdzetts.