The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-03-21

tho plain at tho base, save where lava
and scoria have piled up, tho soil Is
very rich and. produces vines and gar
den stuls luyuriantly. They have vine
yards up to the cone almost on Vcsu-
vius. Ono of tho Vosuviua wincsnis
called lRcryma Christi, the tears Of
Christ, but for some reason or another
l have never yet seen any OF II or heard
anybody at the table d'hotc OF the hotels
call for it. Possibly the namo strikes
Thorn rs saCrilcgious.
A very small patch OF ground in the
suburbs seems TO give work to n whole
family, so intensive is tho culture.
Men, women and children work on tho
land. Women work out OF doors in this
country in tho most slavish way. l have
seen them spading in the fields along
with the men. There 10 very little
ploughing OF tho fields; they uso tho
spade. / have also seen women, where
building was going on, mixing tho NOR
tar and carrying the stones on their
head. They seem TO 30 the moro in
dustrious part OF the population. There
arc too many masculine Romans
standing around like tho conventional
villain i'll tho play with old musty
cloaks, n Ia toga, thrown across their
breasts and over their lott Shout
dcrs. Still a.agreat deal of
hard work in tho city and coun-
try Is visibly going on by both
sexes. There arc lazzaroni in
Italy, but they are not strikingly nu-
mcrous. There arc however innumora-
bic beggars in the cities, especially
around the church doors, where they
particularly congrcgato for aims; for
the drippings Of tho sanctuary as it
were. Their tone, and whine and looks,
as they cay, 9ullchc coSa, SgHor, por
ramorc di Dfo, is something you never
heard or saw IN America, save perhaps
from an Italian beGgar. | don't think
they could manage TO put it on outside
OF this country. saw an American
stand and face one Of these girls and 60
through her Same lugubrious whine. and
make the same scare.crow face, and she
was so impressed with the ridiculous
ness OF the performance that she burst
out in ame:ry laugh. She had for once
seen herself taken Off to the life, and l
suppose she never realized before what
tarcical sham it was.
THE DOOM OF PoMPErI.
Tho area OF Pompeii and its general
topography arc not exactly what you
expected to find. Most tourists expect
to go down under ground and grope by
artificial light among tho tombs Of tho
dead men, as they do hero when they
explore the Catacombs. Instead OF that,
however, you actually ascend q little
from the station at Pompeii and walk
through the turnstilo up gentle accli-
witty. Tho city OF Porlpeii in its day
was on the slope OF Vcsuvius to tho
shore OF the bay and was close by tho
waters edge. This is not the cnse now:
it is two miles from the bay. 1t was
city OF about 10000 pcoplc-a sort OF q
Newport summer resort and bathing
place for wealthy people IRON Rome
and other parts Of tho interior. They
had all tho metropolitan outfits OF a we'll
TODD and wealthy people, such as
temples, public baths, forum, an ex-
change, barilica Tor city hall), an am
phitheatro. and any number OF palatial
private residences-(palatial for that
day, OF course The streets were mar
row as q rule, but werc all paved and
nothing on tho outside OF the houses
impressed ME so much as the ruts OF the
carriage whcols in these streets; SO
natural, SO recent looking were they;
and also tho blocks set at stepping in
tcrvals in certain places las you see them
in Baltimore today in order to cross
when the streets were flooded. 1t looks
MS ii there had been great fro
in Pompeii, the roofs burned
off and the walls left standing.
But there was no such destruction as
that. The city was simply buried fifteen
TO twenty feet deep in great snow
storm, so to speak; in storm OF little
globulars las small as mustard seed) OF
pumice stone and great showers OF fine
dust. There was no lava, no scoria, no
red hot stuff OF any kind; just this
hguratiye snow storm, lasting two days
and increasing in density. Tradition
says that 1000 people persisted, but no.
body knows. One thing is reasonably
certain, that there was no need for any
such loss OF life. There was plenty OF
time 10 escape, and most people did
escape even hours after tho storm set in.
There were those, it seems, like those
who scoiIed at Noah, who did not be-
lieyo in much OF flood there wcro
others who, like Lots wife, looked back,
and not only looked back but went back
to rescue their valuables, and there they
were found 1900 years thereafter, valua-
bles in hand, pGtrified into mummics, rs