Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-19
A Bewildering Aggregation OF the
Brilliant and Beautiful.
An E.xhibition That in Magnitude and
Eject was Never Before
EquaIIed in Texas.
a lsrotoehnie display Regardless Of Cost.
The Eruption Of VesuVius-A
Doomed City.

The Last Days of Pompeii.
Last night Pain marvellous exhibition
was presented at Fort Worth with all its
accessories and coucomitants.
II was attended by between six and
seven thousand people; and between six
and seven thousand people poured out of
the grounds two hours after they went
in with the conviction that they had wit
Aessed Il display the equal of which has
never before been seen III the South.
The boxes nre arranged 10 sent $500
people, but even that immense capacity
was not far beyond the necessities of'the
crowd last night. AS far rs the
eye could see looking upward
and around, only Il seI of
faces encountered the vision, aud these
during the exhibition were alternately
neld spellbouud by the awful drama be-
ing enacted on the stage before them or
were frightened up with interest i'll the
passing features.
The grounds required for the exhibit
tion cover five acres. ami OF this not al
inch of space Is lost, for here is enacted
n drama which embraces vast and varied
incidents, winding up with the awful de-
VISITATION aud unnihilution of u great
city.
The scene which PAINS great exkibi-
ton is intended TO portray is taken from
Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer's famous
novel, The Last Days of Pompeii.
The plot of the story Is briefly told.
Arbaces, n rich Egyptian, has chosen the
feast of the great Egyptian goddess to
dazzle ihe eyes of the Neapolitan lone,
with whom he Is infatuated. He there
fore RrrauyeS Il grand festival. aud lone
arrives with her af1ianred bridegroom,
the Greek Glaucus. After the games
the temple of Isis, the Egyptian goddess,
are thrown open and the temples illu-
minated interior is displayed 10 view.
The priest and priestesses Issue solemnly,
bearing aloft the golden image of the
goddess, which they place in the center
OF the stage. Suddenly Arbaces, who
wishes TO dispose of Glaucus, demands
that all worship at the shrine of the god
dPss Dr suffer death. Glaucus, who is q
Christian, advances TO strike the idol
with 5is sword. Suddenly the earth
ireInbles by some hidden force, while
the fearful rumbling from the very
bowels of the city causes conservation
and dread, while from the mountains q
liquid fire shoots up 10 the heavens.
boat from the doomed city. Arbaces Is
killed by falling column, and the peo-
pie. screaming and shouting for aid,
scatter in every direction.
The history OF Pompeii Is simple
enough. Its building is ascribed TO the
Oscaus. II Is known TO have been city
of some Importance 500 years before
Christ but under the empire it seems TO
hor md nf Of ha
epoch, q fashionable summer resort and
watering place. Cicero had n villa in its
suburbs, in which he wrote his famous
''Omces'' and entertained rs guests
Augustus Cesar, Balbus, Hirtius aud
Pansa. Claudius took refuge here from
the tyranny OF Tiberius, and his son
Drusus died within tine walls of Pompeii,
oddly enough, from the effects of swal-
lowing the wrong way peur pip, which
choked him.
The first eruption of Vesuvius of which
We hnve authentic record occurred in the
yenr A. D. ~. on the "a h day Of Au-
gust. late in the afternoon. Ii is MEM
orahle not only as being the one which de-
stroyed PompeIi aud Herculaneum, and
caused the death OF Pliny the naturalist,
but also Us having had pliny the younger,
BIS nephew, US its historian.
Here was the lake Averno and the
mouth of hell.
In his awful region was, according TO
the ogical history, fought the great bat
tie between the gods aud the giants.
From those dark ages TO the present
Time imagination has found IN that por-
ton OF the Campania on which Pompeii
stood material for lis most vivid pictures.
On this memorable night Herculaueum,
much larger city than Pompeii, was
de&royed by kind OF flow of liquid
lava, which pouring itself into every
erevice. has rendered attempts to recover
the remains almost fruitless. Pompeii,
however. was buried under q thick coat
Ing OF ashes, which have rather pre-