The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1885-01-22

From the Mechanical News
New objects of interest are continual
~ revealed in this exhumed city Of th'
ancient Romans. In two recently ex
cavated houses the paintings on tn,
wall are as fresh n Il just nnl On, AND
the halls are rich with decorations
Some oi the marble tabIss are still
standing ths fountains in the atrium
and peristyle. with their pretty little
statues and mosaics, look a. if they
might begin to play at any moment; the
kitchen hearths built like ranges, seem
ready for their pots and kettles; a few
flower pots are still set in the c:- -s:.:s
IN INC .c etore rooms are some oil jars and
VINO jars; it is as If one might begin
Housekeeping tomorrow and invite ones
friends to dinner the day after.
One thing Is difieult to conceive with
out seeing it. and that is the sorsscis:
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 do not playj 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 one house the view from tfielinum
Across two courts. BOTH slrfeunded ny
gailS decorated Corinthian columns
standing before walls painted from top
to bottom in a variety of colors, is daz-
zling to the eyes The old Pompeiians
lived in a rainbow atmosphere.
Another striking thing is the absolute
cleanliness. You say that the dirt has
oil 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. Our modern houses were
never made to be clean as were the
Pompeiian residences. The walls, the
floors, every corner OF their
homes, were finished with most
admirable workmanship. In their
rooms no plaster ever fell, for
it was of such excellent material and SC
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 off through
perfect drains. All the tables and bed
steads were on marble or bronze; even
The well-curbs and the borders of the
flower beds were of hewn stone.
Hygiene must have come naturally 70
the old Pompeiian; he evidently had no
chance to get 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. It is
delight to see one room after another
revealed to the light of day. The au-
thorties are now beginning to replace the
charred timbers of the roofs with new
pnes. In this WY Seine second story
balconies balconies are kept in place, instead =.
being allcwwcc.H. w la,l uown as formerly.
Over some of the most richly decorated
houses the roofs are restored exactly as
they were, with tiles made after the an
Gent patterns.
You would be astonished at the size
of some Of the Pon1peiian houses, and
of the rooms and spaces they irlclose:
They look small because they afe EMPTY,
bit wheel yba, measure them ,yon 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-five to forty
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
and at the end reception
room and dining-room. Beyond these
was peristyle. or court, surrounded
by from eight to twenty columns, thus
making 4 broad corridor running all
around. Some Of the peristyles were
eighty or one hundred feet square; with
q great variety of rooms opening into
them. Beyond the peristyle was the
garden, sometimes $50 feet square, or
more, with all sorts of arrangements
for plants and fountains. A good many
of the elaborate nice 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-leavcd doors. In fact, SO 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 we're of cement, in which pat
terms OF mosaic or tesselated work were
laid. Many Of these floors were unin-
iured. The houses
were admirably planned to save space
and the decorations, mural and other
wise, were far beyond our conceptions
Of the art of ornamentation. The work
especially the plaster and
stucco, was much better than can be
produced by our modern craftsmen.
In examining Pompeii it is necessary
10 remember that it was small pro-
vincial city, bearing about the same re-
lations to Rome that Auburn or Utica
does to New York. This increases our
wonder in walking through it's we'll
paved streets or Its richly adorned
houses, or in studying the thousand and
thousands Of art objects, in terra-cotta,
bronze, silver, gold. alabaster, marble
and glass which have been discovered
within its walls-with even less than
half the city excavated.