The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-03-22
A Visit to PompeiI.

1t was on bright, sunny day that
drove from Vesuvius to Pompeii. The
city, it will be remembered, was buried
beneath twenty feet of volcanic ashes
and pumice stone just eighteen hundred
years ago. About the middle of the last
century it was rediscovered, and ever,
since its excavation has been prosecuted
with varying energy. A larger part hss
now been disinterred, and the result is 8
revelation of the conditions Of old
Roman life, such as is exhibited nowhere
else. ss:3f
The houses, of course, are rooaess, g
having been ignited by the red hot ashes
and scoria But their internal arrange.
merts, their painting and their contents
are preserved. It induces a strange sen.
sation to walk the narrow streets of this
long. buried city-they vary from fourteen
to twenty. four feet wide-to observe the !
ruts made by the cart wheels eighteen
centuries ago, and to see the stepping
stones across the strees, with the marka
of horses hoofs. On either side are
small shops, just like those of Naples tos
day, for the sale of bread, meat, oil, wine,
drugs and other articles. The signs of 1
the storekeepers can, in places, be seen;
and even the stains of the wine cups on
the marble counters. A barber shop, 9 !
soap factory, tannery, fuller's sLop, g
bakery, with eighty loves of bread in the
oven, and several mills, have also been
found. at street corners are stone foun.
tains, worn smooth by heightened use.
The dwelling houses have yestibule
opening on the street, sometimes with
the word Salue-W Welcome-or the figure
of dog in mosaic on the floor, with thsS
words Cave Canem-Bewsre rf the Dog.
Within was an open court, surrounded E
by bed rooms, kitchen, triclinium, or
dining room, etc. The walls and COLI;
umns are beautifully painted in bright
colors, chiefly red and yellow, and Z
adorned with beautiful frescoes ofiscenes
in the mythic history of the pagan gods
and goddesses, landscapes, etc 81
In public places will be read election
placards and wall scribblings Of idle
school boys. Opposite one shop is the
warning, in Latin: "This is no place
for lounging; idler, depart" Thepublic.
forum, the basilica, or court Of Justice.
with its cells for prisoners; the temples
of the gods, with their shrines and
images, their altars stained with incense
smoke, and the chambers of the priests;
the theatres, with stage, corridors, rows
of marble seats-one will hold ,000,
another 10000 persons; the public baths,
with inches for holding the clothes and !
toilet articles, marble basins, for hot and
cold water, etc.; the street of tombs,
lined with the monuments of the dead ,s
and-the ancient city walls and gates, may
all be seen almost as they were when the
wrath of heaven descended on the guilty
city.
About two thousand persons are sup-
posed to have perished in its ruins. In
tho house of Diomedes the bodies of
seventeen women and children were found
crowded together. At the arden gate
was discovered the skeleton of the pro- ;
prietor, with the key in his hand, and
near him slave with money aud jewels.
In the gladiators' barracks were found
sixty.three akeletons, three of them IN
prison, with iron stocks on their feet.
In the museum are preserved several casts
of the ill.fated inhabitants in the attitude
of flight, and in the very death struggle.
Among these are young girl with
ring on her finger, q man lying on his
side, with remarkable we'll preserved
features, and others. The very texture
of the dress may be seen. The sight of
this dead city, called forth from its grave
of centuries, made the old Roman life
more vivid and real to me than all the
classic reading I had ever done.-Plsdsi
ant Hours. s5