The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-07-02
EXCAVATIONS AT POMPEH.
lnxious Digging for Unknown Treasures
The Museum With its Rare Sights.

HOTEL GRANDE BRETAGNE, NAPLES.
day Is, 1886.-It seems odd to speak
II a dead city as a growing one. But
hat is exactly the case with Pompeii.
There are many cities in Italy who
10 not grow half as fast as the one
>uried by the ashes OF Vesuvius eight
zen hundred years ago. A person Wis
ting it at intervals OF year notices a
marked enlargement ofits boundal les.
rhe Italians,you know, are the cham.
oion diggers. The make the shovel fly
when they attack the grave of Pom
1eii. We saw gang of them at work
here. A Government overseer watch
I'd them like hawk. He wanted to
De sure they pocketed no jewelry, coins
or objects of art or utility yielded by
yhe excavations.
The only produce of their toll in
that line, as we stood by, was a bit OF
ron, which the guide called hinge,
and the fragment of small marble
column. The spades, busiiy piled,
were gradually bringing to light
beautiful house. The floors were
mosaic, with simple but graceful de-
signs in scroll pattern-nearly as
fresh of color as if laid yester-
day. The walls bore frescoes of fainter
tints-grinning masks, fawns, cup1ds,
birds, fish and fruit 1t had evidently
been the home of well-to-do citizen
OF Pompeii. The nervous movements
of the workmen betrayed their ankle
ty. They were hoping at every move
ment to make valuable "fnd." Per-
haps they might hit upon a great
iron chest-studded with round knobs
like boiler-and full of gold, money
or ornaments, or they might strike
another wonder in marble or bronze,
or they might be startled by coming
suddenly upon skull or other human
remains. In the latter event the work
was suspended till careful inspection
is made. The responsible and intelIi-
gent person in charge proceeds to as
certain ii the dead Pompeiian has left
mould of himself or herself in the
plastic ashes. Ii so, he prepares a
mixture of plaster of Paris, breaks a
hole in the crust and slowly pours in
the liquid till the mold is full When
it has hardened the castingis te1G4rly
removed. Lol there is rough aaae
showing some poor creature In the
agonies OF death, prone on the floor,
face downward
Thus, most usually, were the inhab-
itants of the doomed city caught by
the destroying angel. The skull, or
leg, or arm or whatever other part of
the skeleton had not relapsed into its
original dust, may attach itself to the
plaster cast in the proper place or
may require to be joined ON by par
1onable restoration" In either
case the effect is thrilling in it's horri-
BILE reality. Nothing in painting or
sculpture can shock the beholder more
than these self-produced and truthful
statues exhibited in the museum,
which is the first and most interesting
thing shown to visitors. But, though
neither gold nor silver, nor the minut
est scrap of q skeleton, nor anything
Else of Importance was unearthed for
my benefit, quilted the new excava-
lions with reluctance to examine those
parts of Pompeii with which the
world is already familiar through the
medium of books and pictures.
found myself quite at home in
the bakery, the wine shop, at the
oil merchants, at the houses of
Pansa, ofSallust, ,ofthe Tragic Poet,
md the rest The high stepping
across the streets looked familiar, as
if | had trodden them before. The
deep ruts cut by the carts as they
groaned up the hill, coming from the
ancient Stabia, we're likefriendly land
marks. So fully have literature and
art made us acquainted with this dis
inferred city.
The guide tells me that only about
one third of Pompeii has yet been un-
covered. I take his word for it. He
is also of the opinion that the best
parts of the city have already been
dug out. He evidently wishes that
the work would stop. He is very
human in this, for he finds it tiresome
to show people about the present
Pompeii. Treble it's size, and his labor
would be threefold And he is forbid
den to accept money. But 1 imagine
that this very stern prohibition does
not prevent persons from offering him
lsay) q couple OF francs on "the sly,
or him from accepting them.
1t may betrue, as Our guide insists,
that the temples, forums, baths,
theaters. and fine houses now above
ground surpass anything of the kind
that may hereafter be discovered at
Pompeii. But the Italian Govern
ment is not disposed to take that for
granted. Liberal sums are yearly ap-
propriated to push the work. Itbears
fruits. A new temple or amphitheater