Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1882-12-05
Victims Of Pompeii,

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The work of exploration which has
been steadily going on In Pompeii for /,
over century, from the day when ex
cavations first began on the site of what |
WAS then vaguely called LA Civita," |
In 1748. has led to other than arcbmolog
tcal results. 1t has enabled fairly &C |
curate notion to he formed Of the natu re
and extent Of the catastrophe. We
know. for instance. that the lava stream
did not reach Pompeii, and that the city
was not destroyed by fire. We know
also that the eruption was accompanied
by one or more shocks of earthquake,
which threw down houses here and
there, and buried men and women I'M
der their ruins. From the fact that
skeletons have been found at the en-
trance to the public bath, which was
quilted hastily by the few grand ladies
who were not present at the gladiatOrial
performance in the amphitheatre, the
time of the catastrophe can be fixed
with approximate accuracy at or about
noon. 1t would he mistake to suppose
that the majority, or even q very large
portion of the Inhabitants Of POmpeii.
persisted. The effects of the ashen show
er were not instantaneous, and every
one who could get away from the city
on the first alarm probably saved his
life. The bulk Of the people were in the
amphitheatre, which was situated near
one of the city gates on the side remote
from Vesuvius, and there was nothing
to hinder every one in the great audi
ence from getting away In time. Those
who persisted were those who deliberate
ly put off their flight to save wife and
child, or. still more often, valuables.
OF such victims, $50 have been already
found. From the year when the exca-
vations began, in 1748, to the year 1926,
the total number of human remains dis
covered was 100; from 1927 to 1845 it
was IS !; from 1916 to 1860 It was 60; from
1861 to 1872 it was 81, and from 1873 to.
1881 about 100. Bat it Is to be remem-
bered that only two fifths of the buried
surface has been brought to light. On
the whole, there appears good reason for
putting the total number Of human be-
ings who persisted in the eruption at
least as high as 100. To these should
be added the skeletons of 3 dogs, z!
horses, II hens, 2 tortoises, Is pigs, 1Ol
oxen, and the bones Of Is other animals
The remains Of one Of these dogs were
were found in the porch Of the "House
of Orpheus." and the cast which Signor
Florelli has taken brings before US with
q painful vividness one of the minor
tragedies of that awful day. The poor
beast was chained at bis post. and in
the general panic and confusion no one
remembered to let him loose. The
chain lay by the remains when they
were found, and 1t was evident that the
creature 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 seen in
the little museum at Pompeii. The
dog lies half on his side. half on hi-
back, his slender head and open muzzie.
gasping for little air, buried between
the hind legs which have been convul
sively brought forward in the last agony
of death. But the process which has
been so successful In reproducing the
very form and likeness of this creature
az he lived and died has produced re-
suits no less extraordinary In the case of
the human victims of the catastrophe
The idea of pouring plaster of Paris In q
liquid state into the mOlds left by the
bodies in the soft ash did not occur to
any one till it suddenly flashed across
FlOrelli about 20 years ago OF the re-
mains of the $50 human beings discov.
cred in Pompeii In the first 100 years of
the excavations there is consequently
only written record. II is only from
the journal of Excavations" for the
year 1881 that we know of the touching
and famous sight which greeted the eyes
of the first discoveries Of the House OF
the Faun." On the floor of the ban
quoting hall lay the body of q woman,
probably the mistress of he house, with
her jewels scattered where she had
thrown them in despair of rescue or es
cape. The roof had been crushed in by
the weight of falling ash and pumice
stone, and the hands of the dying wO.
man were upstretched in vain effort to
keep off the impending weight. Parts
OF the body and clothing could still be
made out, and drawing could be made
of one charming foot.
But such records are lifeless and tame
indeed beside the extraordinary portrait
statues which are now to be seen in the
little museum at Pompeii. There are nine
of these. or were very short time since, |
and to see them is like seeing the men
and women themselves of 10 centuries
ago. The results achieved by Florelli
are striking and complete. Take the
cast of the elderly slave, for instance,
probably q man Of some go years old,
who appears to have been taking his 81
esta when the eruption began, and to
have been painlessly asphyxiated in his
sleep. He lies on his right side, the
knees Ii tie bent, the left leg drawn
up, and the cheek resting on the right
hand. The course, strongly marked
features, and peaceful expression of the
sleeper, have all been perfectly pre-
served. A hardly less easy death must
have been the lot of the four persons
found lying on their backs In the street.
Three of these were men, one of them q |
negro of the most pronounced type
The fourth was q woman of unusual |
stature, whose time for becoming q
mother was evidently not far of. The |
three persons found lying on their faces |
do not appear to have found quite 30 |
quick death. Two of them are women. |
One of these, an elderly woman with q |
thin figure, lies by herself, her face bur-
led in her arms, as If to protect it from |
the fatal rain. The other lies side by |
side with q man, in whose company she
appears to have taken fight. She had
covered her face with fold of her dress,
and the hands are tightly clenched In
the last death agony.-PaN Mall Ga
zette.
Humbugged Again.
I saw 80 much said about the merits
OF Hop Bitters, and my wife who was
always doctoring, and never well, teased