Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-03-19
THE BEAUTY OF poMPEu.
Revelations of Architectural Masnifieence
in the Long- Buried City.


~ revealed in this exhumed city of the
ancient Romans. In two recently ex-
ceyated houses the paintings on the
wall arc as fresh as if just put on, and
+be halls are rich with decorations.
some of the marble tables are still
standing; the fountains in the atrium
and perisylc, with their pretty little
statues and mosaies, look as if they
might begin TO play at any moment;
fine kitchen hearths, built like ranges,
seem ready for their pots and kettles:
few hower-pots are still set in tho
gardens; in the store-rooms are sorle
oil lars aad wine jars: it is as if one
might begin housekeeping tomorrow
and invite ones friends to dinner the
day after.
One thing is difficult to conceive
without seeing it, and that is the gorg-
eousness of the interiors Of the private
houses The colors are now faded; the
columns are broken; the mosaics of
the floor are generally nearly destroy
ed; the fountains do not play; the
fower-beds are destitute of flowers;
vet. even as it is, one is continually
amazed by the brilliant effect OF the in
terror yistas. In one house the view
from a triclinum across two courts,
both surrounded by gayly decorated
Corinthau columns standing before
walls painted from top to bottom in a
variety of colors, is dazzling to the eyes.
The old Pompeiians lived in rainbow
atmosphere.
Another striking thing 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 in the old times it never
was there. Oar modern houses were
never made TO be clean, as We're the
Pompeiian residences. The walls, the
floors. every corner of their homes were
finished with the most admirable work
manship. In their rooms no plaster
ever fell, for it was OF such excellent
material and so well put on that it
soon became likcmarble. 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 mar
Bile or bronze; even the well-curbs and
the borders OF the floWer-beds were of
hewn stone. Hygiene must have came
naturally TO the old Pompeiian; he evil
IDENTIFY had no chance toget typhodial
attack; the only case Of diseases he
could not provide against were the
eruptiye, and one of these carried him
of at last.
The excavations are going on steadi-
", and are admirably managed. 1t is
a delight to see one room after another
revealed to the light of day The au-
thorities 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 in
stead of being allowed to fall down as
formerly. Over some of the most rich
ly decorated houses the roofs are re-
stored exactly rs they were, with tiles
made after the ancient patterns.
You would be astOnished at the size
of some Of the Pompeiian houses, and
of the rooms and spaces they inclose.
They look small because they are emp
ty, 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-tye to for
ty feet long, having an opening for
light in the cen re of the roof, and just
under this a 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 reception
room and dining-rooms. Beyond these
was perstyle, or court, surrounded by
from eight to twenty columns, thus
making a broad corridor running all
around. Some Of the peristvles were
eighty or one hundred feet square, with
a great variety Of rooms opening into
them. Beyond the perstyle was the
garden, sometimes 100 feet square, or
more, with all sorts of arrangements
foS plants and fountains. A good many
ofthe elaborate niche-shaped fountains
are still perfect. The street entrances
to some of the houses are ten to fifteen
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
qpper-story rooms were rented out i.
The floors of the first and second
stories were of cement, in which pat-
terms of mosaic or tcsselated work were
laid. Many of these floors are uninjur-
ed. The houses were admir-
ably planned to save space, and the
decorations, mural and otherwise, were
far beyond our conceptions of the art
of ornamentation. The workmanship,
especially the plaster and stucco, was
much better than can be produced by
our modern craftsmen.
In examining Pompeii it is necessary
to remember that it was small pro-
yincial city, bearing about the same re-
lation to Rome that Auburn or Utica
does to New York. This increases our
wonder in walking through its we'll
paved streets, or its richly adorned
houses, or in studying the thousand
and thousands OF art objects in terra
Gotta, bronze, silver. gold, alabaster,
marble, and glass which have been dis
covered with even its walls within less
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