The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-02-06
BEAUTY OF
revelations of Magnifoence IN the Long
Buried City.

New objects of interest are continual
ly revealed in this exhumed city of the
ancient Romans. In two recently ex-
cavated houses the paintings on the
wall 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 II they
might begin to play at any moment; the
kitchen hearths built like ranges, seem
ready for their pots and kettles; q few
flower pots are still set in the gardens:
in the store rooms are some oil jars and
wno jars; it is as if n might begin
Housekeeping tomorrow and invite ones
friends 70 dinner the day after.
One thing is difficult to conceive with
out seeing it, and that is the gorgeous
ness of the interiors of the private
houses. The colors are now faded; the
columns are broken; the mosiacs of the
floor are generally nearly destroyed;
the fountains 10 not play; the flower
beds are destitute of flowers; yet, even
as it is, one is continually amazed by
the brilliant effect of the interior vista.
In n house the view from a triclinum
across two courts, both surrounded by
gaily decorated Corinthian columns
standing before walls painted from toy
to bottom in a variety of %colors, is daz'
zling to the eyes The old Pompeiians
lived in a rainbow atmosphere.
Another striking firing is the absolute
cleanliness. You say that the dirt has
all been taken away by the Italian Gov
eminent. That is true, but it is quite
evident that III the old times it never
was there. Our modern houses were
never made to be clean as were the
Pompeiian residences. The walls, the
floors, every corner OF thell
homes, were finished with most
admirable workmanship. In their
rooms no plaster ever fell, for
it was of such excellent material and so
we'll 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 OF through
perfect drains. All the tables and bed
steads were on marble or bronze; even
the we'll curbs aid the borders of the
flower beds were of hewn stone.
Hygiene must have come naturally to
the old Pompeiian; he evidently had no
chance to get a typhoidal attack the
only case of diseases he could not pro-
vide 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 q
delight to see one DON after another
revealed to the light of day. The au-
thorties are now 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 down as formerly.
Over some of the most richly decorated
houses the roofs are restored exactly as
they were, with tiles made after the an.
cient patterns.
You would be astonished at the size
Of some of the Pompeiian houses, and
of the roomsa and spaces they inclose.
They look small becaase they are empty,
but when you measure them you find
them very spacious. Houses of thirty
and forty rooms in the first story are
not uncommon. The great space was
the atrium, often thirty-fve to forty
feet long, having an opening for light
in the center of the roof, and just under
this a marble-l 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
by from eight to twenty columns, thus
making q broad corridor running all
around. Some of the peristyles were
eighty on one Hundred feet square, with
a great variety of rooms opening into
them. Beyond the peristyle was the
garden, sometimes 100 feet square, OF
more, with all sorts of arrangements
for plants and fountains. Al good many
of the elaborate ace shaped fountains
are still perfect. The street entrances
TO some of the houses are ten to fifteen
feet in width, and had q~uadruple OF
fonr-leavod doors. In fact, 50 spacious
are these dwellings, on the ground floor
that it is generally believed that the
upper story rooms were rented out.
The floors Of the first and second
stories were Of cement, in which pat
terms OF mosaic or tesselated work were
laid. Many Of these floors were unin-
jured. The houses
were admirably planned to save space