Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1893-02-14

rain awnings ~ elk were suspended, tho
Coliseum having no roof Tho outside
wall was incfusted with marble an1 had
four ranges, and the three lower ranges
Ind so columns each and arches after
arches and ON each arch IN exquisite
statue Of rod or hero.
Into is0 feet Of altitude SCARED the
Coliseum II glittered and flashed and
shone with whole sunrises and sunsets Of
da5llement. After the audience had as
fembled aromatic liquids oozed from
tubes distilled from pipes and rained
gently on the multitudes and filled the
cir with odors Of hyacihth and helio-
trope and frankincense and balsan and
myrrh and saffron. so that Lucan. the
poet. says Of It:
At once ten thousand saffron currents flow
And rain their odors on the crowd below.
ORGANIZED MURDER AND TORTURE.
But where was the sport to come from7
Well. I went into the cellars opening off
from the arena, and / saw the places
where they kept the hyenas and lions and
panthers and wild boars and beastly vio-
lences of all sorts without food or water
until made fierce enough for the arena,
and | saw the underground rooms where
the gladiators were accustomed to wait
until the clapping of the people outside
demanded that they come forth armed
to murder or be murdered. All the ar
rangements were complete, as enough of
the cellars and galleries still remain to
indicate. What fun they must have had
turning lions without food or drink upon
an unarmed disciple of Jesus Christ!
At the dedication of this Coliseum
1900 wild beasts and 10000 immortal
men were slain, SO that the blood of men
and beast was not brook, but river:
not pool, but lake. Having been in
that way dedicated, be not surprised
when tell you that Emperor Probus on
one occasion threw into that arena Of
the Coliseum 1 200 stays, 1000 Jlrs and
1000 ostriches. What fun it must have
been-the sound of trumpets, the roar of
wild beasts and the groans of dying men
while in the gallery the wives and chill
dren of those down under the lions paw
wrung their hands and shrieked out in
widowhood and orphanage, while 100, 900
people clapped their hands, and there
was "Ea! har' wide as Rome and deep
as perdition!
The corpses of that arena were put on
cart or dragged by hook out through
what was called the Gate of Death. What
an excitement it must have been when
two combatants entered the arena, the
one with sword and shield and the other
with net and spear. The swordsman
strikes at the man with the net and
spear. Ho lodges the sword and then
filings the net over the head of the swords
man and jerks him to the floor of the
arena, and the man who flung the net
puts his foot on the neck of the fallen
swordsman, and spear in hand looks up
to the galleries, as much as to say, "Shall
let him up, or shall plunge this spear
into his body until he is dead?'
The audience had two signs, either of
which they might give. If they waved
their flags, itmeant spare the fallen con-
testant. If they turned their thumbs
down, it meant slay him. Occasionally
the audience would wave their flags.
and the fallen would be let up, but that
was too tame sport for most occasions,
and generally the thumbs from the gal
leries were turned down, and with that
sign would be heard the accompanying
shout Of kill! Kill! Kill! KILL"
CRUELTY ADDED TO CRUELTY.
Yet it was far from being monotone
of sport. for there was change of pro-
gramme in that wondrous Coliseum.
Under strange and powerful machin-
cry, beyond anything of modern inven-
ton, the floor of the arena would begin
to rock and roll and then give away, and
there would appear lake Of bright
spring up rustling with foliage, and ti-
gers appeared among the jungles, and
armed men would come forth, and there
would be tiger hunt. Then ON the lake
in the Coliseum armed ships would float,
and there would be sea fight. What
fun! What lots of fun When pestilence
came, in order to appease the gods, ia
this Coliseum sacrifice would be made,
and the people would throng that great
amphitheater, shouting, "The Christians
to the wild beasts~ and there would be
cracking of human bones in the jaws
of leonine ferocity.
But all this was to be stopped. By the
outraged sense of public decency? No.
There is only one thing that has ever
stopped cruelty and sin, and that is
Christianity, and it was Christianity.
whether you like its form or not, that
stopped this massacre Of centuries. One
day while in the Coliseum a Roman
victory was being celebrated, and 100,-
900 enraptured spectators were looking
down upon two gladiators in the arena
stabbing and slicing each other to death,
an Asiatic monk of the name of Tele-
machus was so overcome by the cruelty
that he leaped from the gallery into the
arena and ran in between the two
swordsmen and pushed first one back
and then the other back and broke up the
contest.
OF course the audience was affronted
at having their sport stopped, and they
hurled stones at the head of Telemachus
until he fell dead in the arena. But
when the day was passed, and the pas
sions of the people had cooled off, they
Jap1oral the narfvrdOm of the brave