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

in tho streets as the procession passed
andsome OF the men would take oirtheir
hats. have since seen other professions
mot OF tho IIost) whore fifteen or twon.
ty priests, walking two by two, would
DO chanting prayers. One soon gets nc.
customod to the great variety OF these
pro ccssions in Naples and Rome. Ono
,oi tho most novel OF them all is where
perhaps twenty-five or thirty or more
persons arc covered from head to foot
with black muslin gowns withoyc-holes
in the cowls and girdlo about tho
waist, marching in procession, going TO
some funeral, with priest or two in
tho rear. They arc members OF some
society, SO lam told, with which tho de-
ceased was connected, or else some sort
OF professional mourncrs.
have spoken OF tho white color oil
all tho houses in Naples. This "a Ia
Paris) results from the material OF their
construction. They arc built OF loose
small stones-cobble> stoncs-laid in
mortar; n mortar that takes hold and
becomes Il part OF the wall and no mis-
take. Tho walls arc thick and run up
very high, and all tho divisions OF tho
building arc Of like character, and thus
seemingly mado fro proof. Tho walls
thus built arc succeed or faced with q
whitish plaster that becomes very hard
and stone like, and there Is no telling
how old some OF these houses really are.
They last for generations. Nearly every
| window, up to tho top has an iron
balustradc in front OF It, and you will SEQ
t1,r IN NJ p,,I a1N In nj
carpets over ono OF these balustrados,
or anything else that needs shaking,
without any special regard to what be-
comes Of tho dust or dirt or whatever it
is that they wish to get rid OF.
MOUNT vEsuvrus.
But enough about Naples and its peo-
plo and their pcculiarities. It is high
time that should close up this letter
with something about Vesuvius and
Pompeii. Almost every morning at
this season OF the year, unless it is rain.
ing, ono or two carriage loads OF passcn-
gers leave Cook d Sons ticket agency
Tor tho ascent OF the Mount. Cook l.
Son are the ubiquitous and enterpris-
ing people whorun the tourist business
OF Europe. l suppose they can ticket o
tourist TO almost any accessible spot OF
the habitable globe. / am inclined to
believe they could coupon you through
by any OF the Stanley routes to the Al
bert or Victoria Nyanza in Africa. They
havo boats OF their own to the second
cataract OF the Nile. l know gentle
man who took his family around the
world on their tickets and paid s., 500
down before starting for a-supply Of
their coupons. Their Offices arc sup
piled with every imaginable sort OF
maps and literature Tor Europe, Asia
or Africa. So much by way OF q starter
from their Office in Naples for the top
OF Vesuvius.
This firm practically controls tho as
cent OF the mount. They have Con
ccssion" from. the Italian government
and havo built,a carriage road OF fairly
easy grades three quarters OF tho way
up, and in doing so have had to cut
pretty deep in places into old time lava
beds and scoria. Formerly the ascent
was made on horses, mules and donkeys
and on foot, and is thus made still on
tho Pompeii side OF tho mountain.
| Vesuvius is 25 miles In circumference
at the base and 1000 feet high. The
distance to the top from Cooks Office is
ten miles, tho time five hours, and the
price five dollars. You 90 three quar-
tiers OF thc'way by carriage, then stop
for lunch at their "osteria," then take q
wire rope pully arrangement up TO the
cone, and then either help yourself the
balance OF the way to the crater or take
hold OF ropo to the extent Of two
francs and have guide to pull yo,,
along. This is tho way that q party OF
seven ofus went up on the morning OF
the 9Th Of January.
Tho special compensation for this
fatigueing trip is.not so much the graft
lication OF your morbid curiosity to look
into the mouth OF the crater and decide
for yourself whether or not, Gs tho an
clients believed, its steps really do take
hold on Sheol, but rather the far and
wide view you are supposed 20 get over
water and land Unfortunately for us
q rain set in when VIC were half way up
and our view was practically dishcd
1t became q matter OF more concern to
keepdry than to see the crater. How
ever, wo got there, in a somewhat be-
draggled shape, and got one look into
the yawning abyss out OF which SO much
obstructive stuff OF one kind and an
other has,issucd. AS leaned over the
rim, formed OF deposit, that cncircles it.
and saw nothing but smoke "a whitish
vapor that day. frequent remark OF
the late William Shriver, OF Wheeling,
inshis day, "There's nothing in it, us
the man said when he looked in the
crater" came to my mind. Sure
enough, there didn't appear very much
in it, and but for history We might have
had our doubts on tho subject. There
have been days, however, and not few,
when there did appear to be good
deal lit, notably that 24th Of August
(the INTELLIGENcER' anniversary day
in tho year 10.
The particular feature OF our knowl-
edge obtained was tho acrid and pun
gent smell oil sulphur that came up, as
il in very truth from that lake OF brim-
stone far down where tho worm dieth
not and tho firo-is not quenched" This
c!lluvia soon filled our eyes and lungs
to such an extent as to make us willing
to fall back, and as VIC were enycloped
in fog and couldn't see anything we were
all satisfied to beat 4 hasty retreat down
to the "furnicular," rs tho wire rope
railway is called, md thence back to the
'osteria" where the carriages awaited
us. And SO ended our ascent OF tho
historic mount.
TIE RUINS OF poMpEII.
One moro matter and will have dont
with this letter, and I suspect you,
readers will not BIO sorry "when schoo
let's out" I refer to Pompeii, which