The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-09-24

In two recently eNcayated houses. the
paintings on the walls are as fresh as if
Just put on, and the halls are rich with
decorations. Some of the marble tables
are still standing; the fountains in the
atrium and peristyle, with their pretty
little statues and mosaics, look as If they
might begin TO play at any moment; the
kitchen hearths, built like ranges. seem
ready for their pots and kettles: few
flower pots are still set IN the gardens; in
the storerooms are some oil jars and wine
jars; 1t Is as If one might begin house
keeping tomorrow. and invite ones friends
to dinner the next day.
One thing is difficult to conceive with
out seeing it, that Is the gorgeousness Of
the interiors of the private houses. The
colors are now faded; the columns are
broken; the mosaics Of the floors are gen
orally nearly destroyed: the fountains do
not play; the flower beds are destitute of
flowers; yet, even as it Is one Is continual
ly amazed by the brilliant effect of the in
terror vistas In one house the view from
a triclnum across two courts, both sur
rounded by gaily decorated Corinthian
columns standing before walls painted
from top to bottom In variety Of colors.
is really dazing to the eyes. The old
Pompeiians lived in a rainbow atmosphere
Another striking thing is the absolute
cleanliness. You may say that the dirt
has all been taken away by the Italian
government That is true but it Is quite
evident that in the old times 1t never was
there. Our modern houses are not made
to be clean, as were the Pompeiian resi-
dences. The walls, the floors. every cor
ner of their homes We're finished with the
most admirable workmanship. In their
rooms no plaster ever fell, for it was such
excellent material and so well put on that
it soon became like marble. They had no
wooden walls, no cracks where dust could
penetrate. Water for cleansing was found
in every part of the house, and ran off
through perfect drains. All the tables
and bedsteads were of marble or bronze;
even the well curbs and the borders of the
flower beds were of hewn stone. Hygiene
must have come naturally to the old Pom
peiian; he evidently had no chance to get
a typhoidal attack; the only class of dis
eases he could not provide against were
the eruptive, and one of these carried him
off at last.
The excavations are going on steadily.
and are admirably managed. 1t Is de
light to see one room after another re
ysSled to the light of day. The author
Sets are beginning to replace the charred
timbers of the roofs with new ones. In
this way some second story balconies are
kept in place. instead of being allowed to
fall in as formerly Over some of the
most richly decorated houses the roofs
are restored exactly as they were. with
tiles made after the ancient patterns. s.
Won ,t-o7rlI ln os+p,,1sbaI OF h., r1-yr :
some of the Pompeiian houses, and of the
rooms and spaces they enclose. They look
small because they are so empty, but when
you come to measure them you find them
very spacious Houses of 30 and 40 rooms
in the first story are not uncommon. The
great space was the atTium, often 30 and
40 feet long, having an opening for light
IN the center of the roof, and Just under
this marble lined basin, raised above the
floor, into which the rain fell, and on the
margin of which were placed bronzes and
vases. Out of this opened bedrooms and
at the end a reception room and dining
room. Beyond these was a peristyle or
court, surrounded with from eight to
twenty columns, thus making a broad
corridor running all around. Some of the
peristyles We're so and 100 feet square,
with a great variety of rooms opening into
them. Beyond the peristyle was the gar
den, sometimes $50 feet square OF more,
with all sorts of arrangements for plants
and fountains A good many of the elab-
crate niche shaped fountains are still per
feet. The street entrances to some of the
houses are 10 to Is feet IN width. and had
quadruple or four -leaved doors. In fact,
so spacious are these dwellings on the
ground floor that it Is generally believed
that the upper story rooms We're rented
out
The floors of the first and second stories
were of cement in which patterns of mo
sale or tresselated work We're laid Many
of these floors are uninjured. s. The
houses We're admirably planned to save
space; and the decorations, mural and
otherwise were far beyond our conceptions
of the art of ornamentation. The work
manship, especially the plaster and stuc-
CO, was much better than can be produced
by our modern craftsmen
In examining Pompeii it Is necessary to
remember that it was a small provincial
city, bearing about the same relation to
Rome that Auburn or Utica does to New
York. This increases our wonder in walk
ing through its well-paved streets, OF its
richly adorned houses, or about its thea
tiers and temples and squares, or in study
ing the thousands and thousands Of art
objects in terra Gotta, bronze, silver, gold,
alabaster, marble and glass, which have
been discovered within Its walls-eyen
with less than half the city excayated.-
american Architect.