The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-07-10


Ih0 ruined temples moss-clad coo made,
" violets on the hearth's cold marble wave,
And muse in silence on peoples gr ave.
And thou, sad city, raise thy dropping. head,
And share the honors OF the glorious dead,
Bad fate retrieved thee til the frozen nerth
No lasting wreath had graced thy III neral pail
No fame redeemed the horrors Of thy fall.
Now shall thy deathless memory live entwined
With all that conquars, rules or charms the mind
Each lofty thought ct poet or Of sage,
Each gracs OF Virgil's Tyre OF 1Iully's page
Like there whose genius &C nse c rates thy tomb.
Thy fame shall snatch flom lime greanel
boom,
And live renowned in accents yet unknown.
Earthss utmost bounds shall Join the glad &C
claim,
And distant countries bless Pompeii's name.
The injunction in the above panegyric of
Macaulay can now be obeyed in way little
foreseen when the lines were written III
1919. says the New York Herald. This dis
tant country now possesses structure
where the poet and scholar can enjoy re-
productions of the most beautiful examples
of the art and archaeology found in the
buried city. Visitors to Saratoga this year
will find something of more interest than
springs and colossal hotels. 'The Pom
peia," recently completed, is the most Ella
borate reproduction of sumptuous Pom
peian house ever attempted, fully illustrat-
ing the domestic life. worship, manners
and mythology of the Romans. An attempt
to build Pompeian house was made by
the King of Bavaria at Auschaffenburg and
by Prin ce Napoleon at Paris. The firs'
was left unfinished by the Kings death, the
other degenerated to mere classic hall
decorated in French style. The so-called
Pompeian house in the Crystal Palace con
sists only of the bare walls
The difficulties of faithfully reproducing
such structure in this country have been
successfully overcome by Mr.. franklin w
Smith, Bostonian, whose ample wealth
scholarly instincts and rare taste have
given him the meBns for much travel and
research. The winter home he built at St.Au-
justine, the Moorish villa "Zorayda" has
awakened the enthusiasm of all who have
seen it, and was selected by Messrs. Apple
ton as one of their Zone Hundred Artistic
Homes of America He was also the ar
chitect-owner of the majestic Hotel Cordova
there.
Distance from the models jealousy
guarded by the Italian government and the
impossibility of finding artists familiar
with the style of coloring we're very discour-
aging. Several visits were made to Pompeii,
and artists whose works have been
known in the Paris salon for ten years were
taken there to catch the spirit of the decor
alton and transfer it to the New World. AS
Mr.. Smiths ideas developed the plan for a
villa yielded to his ambition to build mu-
scum where the public could enjoy an expo
sition of the art and customs of a city whose
misfortunes have interested the world even
as much az imperial Rome itself.
Invaluable assistance was afforded by the
J~sAS rh~ in
museum at Naples and other European
countries, whose most beautiful models
were put at MIR. Smiths service. The ground
plan of the House eff Pansa was selected,
because the most symmetrical and best
known example of the houses of the wealth.
iects of art and architecture found in the
buried city have been worked into har-
monious whole, and last week the complet-
ed structure was opened, as replica of a
patrician Romans home, in size and ele-
gance as complete as any in Pompeii when
On entering the vestibule the visitor is
greeted by fierce dog in reproduction mo-
eaic, Beneath is the warning "Cave Ca
nem.'' On the walls are brackets holding
busts of 1.-THE Great and the Good" in
Guiding Cicero, Socrates, Plato and Homer.
mosaic welcomes the visitor into the atrium,
or main hall. A bewildering vista stretches
before him. Across the marble pavement
to the fountain, through the tahllnum
to the group of pillars of the peristyle,
across the vecus or banquet hall to the req
walls of the hortus, or garden, nearly two
hundred feet, the eye vainly struggles to
absorb the details of ornament. The beau
ty is enhanced by rich vases, frescoes, bron-
yea. statuary and foliage scattered in har-
monious profusion in the main courts and
in the wide halls opening on either hand.
Immediately in front four Ionic columns
support the roof of the atrlum. The lotus
plant floats in the marble pool.
The ceiling ia richly decorated with copies
of the famous mosaics from the villa of
Diomed. Classic lamps, couches, tripods
and vases are reproduced from the richest
models exhumed at Pompeil. Three cubi-
cul@, or bedrooms, open on each side, the
delicateltracery and floating female figures
found in the buried city. The tablinum
ia the central apartment where the STRONG
box family archives and bustsof ancesto S
were kept. Before the entrance are life
size statues of Clio, Euterpe, Terpsichore
the large conversation room. furnished lux
uriously and richly frescoed by the salon
artists Pascal and Zurcher. Delicate hang
inQs divide these rooms from the second
large court or veinstyle, with twelve mas
sive pillars surrounding space called the
V1raOA0um, ull6u Will Ill Iuo luluSL
of which stand on pedestals Pan, with his
flute, and a satyr. This ceiling is copied
from the baths of Titus. Garlands of
flowers are depicted on the walls.
At the right opens tie bibliotheca. or
library. Busts of the poets, rolls of paroh-
ment, manuscripts and rare engrayings are
scattered on richly carved marble tables.
Across the court is the pinacotheca, or pic
ture gallery. in which are effective pic
lures by the salon artist Pascal, represent
ing Vesuyius in peace, again in eruption,
and gorgeous sacrifice in the Forum re-
stored Another door leads to the triclini-
UNI. or dining room. with semi-circular
couch of rich stuffs with pillows upon which
the guests reclined at meals. The walls are
frescoed with scenes illustrating hanging
cupboards filled with fruit, race of cupids
driving dolphins over the ocean and Pom
peian ladies bartering for Gagged cupids, all
copied from Pompeian walls.
The marble bathroom is decorated by the
unique deep sea scene found in Diomed' 8
villa. Adjoining is the culina, or kitchen,
the stove being an exact copy of that found
in the house of Pansa. Around are repro
ductions of the bread, utensils, roasting
and splits. found as left by the cooks al
their fight two thosand years ago, when
the ashes from the volcano buried and pre-
served their relics. Beyond is the summe,
triclinium. hung with awnings and trellised
with vines, the walls painted in oil from
fantastic designs found in Herculaneum
Amphore and vessels of curious shape, TO,
wine and oil, stand around. At the side
opens the deeuG or large banquet hall. Thu
ffiexe 10 decorated by spirited scene req
~. Ii Ax.~r~ n. nt, L.