Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-30
A DAY AMONG RUINS.
Strange Sights Observed During n Tour of
Long Buried Streets of Pompeii-
Glimpses of Domestic Life 1,S0O Years

Strange Sights Observed During n Tour Of
Long Buried Streets of Pompeii-
Glimpses of Domestic Life 1,SOO Years
Ago-Interesting but Gloomy Relics.
IT was late on Christmas eve when, having
travelled from Naples. we arrived at the little
station of Pompeii- boy with lantern held
above his head triumphantly led Us, through a
black and narrow lane, straight to our hotel
At last we had reached the buried city, con-
cerning which we had thought much and
spoken frequently for weeks past. To stay
within was impossible, though the hour was
advanced, the night dark, and not even the
outlines of the silent city could be seen. Yet
an air OF mystery, sense of strangeness,
fcellng OF awe, drew us out of doors; we were
soon upon the highway deep with dust, into
which the feet sank noiselessly.
There was no moon but the stars shone in q
cloudless sky; the air was sweet and warm and
tne stiffness unbroken. In silence we sauntered,
conscious that somewhere behind the line of
poplar trees, standing in the pervading gloom
ike spectral sentinels guarding the city of the
dead, lay the roofess homes. deserted streets,
crumbling theaters, and god-deserted temples
that, until 70 years after the coming Of Him
whose nativity the Christian world would cele-
brate on the morrow, had been crowded by a
pleasure-loying people. There 1t stood. sepul-
chral, desoate-the dust Of Is centuries lying
thick upon the unexcayated portion. the dark
ness OF night spread. paillike. over its decay;
while beyond and above stretching high into
the sky. rose the volcano whence destruc-
ton had come. Even now. rising as star
among stars, the red reflection of the fierce
seen against the purple darkness of the night:
now dwindling almost to a spark, anon flashing
out in lurid brilliancy
christmas Day was gloriously bright; not a
cloud fecked the sky. not breath stirred the
branches Of the tall poplars, thick with way
SIDE dust. From an early hour in the morning
the air was musical with the ringing of bells in
tne church tower of the little village beyond.
with the sound of crackers and rockets let off
IN celebration of the festival, and with the
strains OF the we1rdly melodious pipes of the
pinerari playing their plaintive Christmas
hymn.
Gloom, Silence and Ruin.
TIE buried city was open free to the public.
and one could stay therein at pleasure
without being pestered by the loquacious
guide, or watched by the numerous custodians;
so that we resolved to loiter about it all day
and obtain general impression, seeking the
services OF cicerone on the morrow. Save
for the officers stationed at the principal en-
trance, and an occasionally encountered guard
ian in blue uniform seated in the sun, the
place was deserted.
Our footsteps echoed noisily as we traversed
the straight streets. generally about twenty
four feet in breadth, paved with big blocks Of
lava, and bordered by high side-paths. from
which passengers could In wet weather cross
from side to side by means of large stepping
stones placed at the corners. Ruts made by
Wagon-wheels yet remain in the stones, the
marks OF horses hoofs were still seen. The
houses, hastily erected after q terrible earth
quake that preceded the destruction of Pom
pen by sixteen years, are built of concrete and
brick, and have but one story left, the upper
portions. supposed to have been constructed of
wood, having been burned by the red-hot lava
which covered the town TO depth of eight
feet.
Here are shops wherein have been discovered
marble tables over which business was con-
Quoted; jars of earthenware that have held oil
and wine; ovens in which bread was found:
watts that contained the fuler's dyes Likewise
we pass dwelling houses with floors of rich
mosaic and frescoed walls scarcely dimmed by
time, and made glorious by the reflection of
Greek genius, their gardens having the sacri-
nelal tripods. their colonnaded courts. round
Wnlcn the private apartments were built, grass
grown. In these courts. removed from the
noises OF the streets, cool from the splashing of
central fountains. families met and worked
between the garden and the sea" may the
younger Pllny have sat on the ominous morn
ing preceding the destruction of the city,
diverting himself by turning
over the pages of Livy, while the earth trem-
bled, the sea rolled back upon itself. and the
dlStraught inhabitants paled from fright
Relics of Another Age.
a N air of wonderment. a sense of mystery, is
in the atmosphere as we wander over the
disinterred city, this link between the present
and the past, the only source of knowledge re-
naming to us of the domestic life of ancient
times. On the. dead walls are painted notices
of political events, the color yet fresh as when
1t left the brush; in the BARRIERS shops are seats
where customers discussed tine gossip and the
scandal of the day. Here is q marble-paved
bath, with frieze supported by figures of Atlas
in terra Gotta, its inches for hanging clothes
and articles of the toilet its marble basins, its
double-walled chambers in which steam diff
fused itself. its rooms where barhers were
with sweet-smelling oils.
There is the prison in which were discovered
CHASTITY skeletons with their shrunken bones
bound in iron stocks, eighteen hundred years
after death had released them; and not far
removed. the great theater, built to accom-
modate 1000 spectators. We examined with
interest its long and narrow stage, the wide
space used by the orchestra. its dressing rooms
and its reservoir, where water was kept for
sprinkling and refreshing the audience. More
attractive yet is the amphitheater, its yellow
open space, that often ran red with blood sur
rounded by tiers of seats. from which specta-
tors looked down, with cruel light in their eyes
and fierce pleasure in their hearts upon deadly
combats fought by men and beasts under the
peaceful blue of this southern sky.
And so we wander without aim along silent
streets, and down narrow ways, pausing now
and then to glance from the scorched walls and
red-brOwn earth to the glittering plane of the
azure sea stretching into infinite space; or see,
framed by a crumbling arch the purple ehued
and once vtne-clad Vesuvius. rising in isolated
majesty from the fair Campanian Valley.
Little wonder that Pompeii was, as Cicero mar
rates, a favorite resort with the wealthy
Romans, for here amid laughter and song,
by luxury and crowned by love-
men drained the cup Of pleasure to the dregs.
and Nature smiled for long upon city which
she eventually destroyed in wrathfulness. and
buried in oblivion.
The Street of Tombs.
q T last we came to the Street Of Tombs with
its rows of graves and its solitary cypress
rising black against the blue. Here my COM