Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-22
A WALK THROUGH POMPEII.
DR.. Weiiing's Interesting Description of
Visit to the Buried City.

The announcement of Dir. Jas C. yelling,
| address or lecture on the subject of "a wall
| through Pompeii," the third in the course Of
| Friday afternoon lectures at the Columbian
university. drew unusually large crowd into
the hall of tina. institution yesterday afternoon
! Every seat on the lower floor was taken and
most Of the space in the gallery was occupied
On the platform with the speaker were the
members of the university faculty and a num-
| Der OF other gentlemen prominent in educa-
tional circles, including Prof. Galiaudet OF the
! deaf mute college, Mr. J. Ormond Wilson and
Col. /. Edwards Clark Of the bureau
of education. DR.. yelling was prompt
in his appearance on the platform
He began his lecture by describing the
location of the city of Pompeii. which, he said
lies in the midst of country full of reminders
| of both the best and the worst of the world
| replete with poetical and historical associa-
| tons where one can scarcely scratch the SOL
| without unearthing some fragment that tells OF
| a half-forgotten age, the remnant of some
villa or aqueduct-a land than which there il
none more remarkable or mournful. The city
| Of Pompei, he continued, in Its very act OF
| porishing won for itself an imperishable name,
| daguerreotypiDg itself and its civilization and
organism upon history indelibly. An Italian
soldier stands at the gate of Pompeii, which is
about fourteen miles from Naples, and other
soldiers stand on guard in the ancient ruin to
| keep visitors from the vandalism to which they
are prone.
THE ANCIENT PoMPEu.
Pompeii. said the lecturer, was built in an
oval shape surrounded by walls two miles in
circumference. It was inhabited by about
%, 600 people, exclusive of the suburbs. at the
| time Of the eruption. which occurred in 70 A.
| ID. Titus was then seated upon the imperial
turOna rst Of no nj w
| that came to the doomed city was given by the
| presence OF a huge cloud over Vesuvius al
| about o'clock in the day-a gala day, when
| ali the fashionable people Of the town we're al
| were not fashionable probably 10000 in all.
The smoke spread and increased in intensity
| until there came the dreadful showers of ashes
and pumice stone, accompanied by the fall OF
heavy gases that suffocated. Fierce earth
| quakes ensued, offering double danger to the
demoralized pOpulace. When the sun shoue
feebly through the sulphurous clouds the mex,
morning he looked upon chaos como again,
scene Of the most utter desoiation. 1t is now
evident that there was sufficient time after the
first warnings for the great masses Of the peo-
pie to escape but there I've been already over
400 skeletons discovered and the town il YET
| two-thirds under ground.
THIRTEEN HUNDRED PEnrsHED.
The most careful estimate places the number
who persisted at 1900 The lecturer then pro-
ceeded to give sketch of the manner of the
discovery of the site of the town. and the
nature of the present plans of excavation.
Shafts, he said, that have been sunk into the
mass of material which covers the dead city
| show the succession of layers of volcanic matter
to be about as follows: First. layer of ashes,
very fine and black, 10 inches; small pumice
stone fine, feet; gray ashes 2 inches; pumice
stone, 2 inches; ashes. 2 feet; stones, 2 inches;
volcanic ashes, feet; the whole covered by q
vegetable mold or 5 feet deep.
UNEARrHING ROUSE.
DR.. yelling said that he reached the city
just in time to see the unearthing of a house,
which is always very important operation,
since it is possible that some fine paintings may
be discovered. Crowned heads have been some
times notified that they might be on hand to
witness the process. There was such a paint
ing on the wall of this house. a beautiful fresco
showing the goddess Flora scattering her
flowers. The hues were very bright and a
French artist stood near at hand with his
palette ready to transfer the colors in their
soon fading brilliance.
The streets of Pompeii are narrow, rather
regularly paved with uneven but closely fitting
blocks ofvolcanic stone. The sidewalks are about
SIX feet wide, elevated about foot above the
street. The sewers are large and well con-
structed, and the water pipes are of lead and
differ but little from those of the present tay.
rubDle work covered with stuccO. The large
Iajority are but two stories in height, the
upper one being of wood. They were evidently
designed for protection from the sun and not
from the cold. The bed rooms are small and
have no provisions for ventilation; there have
been discovered some undoubted specimens of
window-sash, which might 60 to settle the
question Of whether the Pompeiians had glass;
They lived very much away from their houses,
having the forum, the exchange, the theater
Nl,ttl xI,A L. ~
nevertheless paid great attention to the matter
of the decoration of their homes. Paintings,
frescOes and mOsaics abound, nearly all in O
good state of preservation, showing a high
standard OF art In many cases the painting is
let into the wall with no frame around other
than thin line, which serves to increase the
natural effect for which Ruskin argued. The
favorite topics of the Pompeiian painters were
drawn from the mythology SOf the day, but
there are some good landscapes to be found
Among those which attracted DR.. Welling's at
tention was a scene in China which astonished
him until he reread Pliny and found out that
that author referred to China in his works.
HORRORS OF PoaPEn.
But among all the beauties there are MANY
horrors in Pompeii that leave lasting impress
sions. There are casts taken from the mods
of ashes that encased the victims of the great
catastrophe, showing their writings and
agonies as plainly as though they had Just died.
There are signs of the daily life that was being
lived when the ashes began to fall; occupations
half done and suspended in the awful mo-
ments when the danger became only too ap-
parent. In the drinking saloons are the
stained counters where, i'll one place. a soldier
had drawn the plan of battle with the dregs
of his wine. In bakers shop are the over
done ioaves of bread bearing his stamp; his
name was .Brinius."
THE WRITING ON THE WALL.
A valuable lesson in the ways and means of
that civilization which succumbed to the might
OF Vesuvius is to be drawn, said DIR. yelling.
from the writings on the city walls, which
formed the only means of communication
between the citizens except by word of mouth
Some OF these inscriptions ere very funny and
some OF them bear the touches of pathos that
IL strong even at this distance Of eighteen
centuries. Among the most frequent notices
were those of the gIadiatOrial fights a form OF
popular amusement That filled the amphitneater
ut almost any time or season. Political placards
abound, appeals to the people to yOte for GER
tam men, among them a candidate who was a
champion tennis bali player. and his card was a
strong call to all young men who played tennis
ball to vote for the fayorite. Love letters are
also to be found. one OF which Dr. yelling
read. 1t was as follows. being from a young
man to his fair one: Love dictates to me az i
write and Cupid guides my pen. All, plague
take me, if l should DC without thee should
want to be god" There are evidences of a
| tendency on the part of that people to be hu-
morous and facetious. There are MANY exam
Init Of