Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-04-23
A LONG-BURIED CITY
Captain Rogers Talks About Ancient
Pompeii and Its Restoration.
VERY FEW BODIES FOUND.
Ps,nts OF Historic Interest Hard TO Lo-
cate Habits and PecuIisritiss OF 'ne
Romans--rsogers. thc sculptor


rona,ns sbonld be buried at Naples, and
whom the spirit of tho bard had fed bis
request was not forgotten. To-day DIS
ashes sleep in little tomb on the Posliipo
Hill. which overlooks the placid bay that
has ever been celebrated for It's beauty.
The place is fitting sepulchre for
poet. Above there is boundless heaven
Of unclouded blue. while far below an
szure sea, calm as the Neapolitan skies.
forever ripples against the beach, ano
merging with the horizon loses itself
in the hazy perspective. The scene is
svmphony in blue-a study in lights and
shadows painted by the hand of God and
more lasting and exquisite than the grand
est works Of man. A short distance from
the city and facing the Bay of Naples the
volcano Vesuvius rises grim and stately
from the shore. The sinister mountain
looks down from its ever-smoking crater
upon the panorama. and to an artistic eye
il almost mars the grandeur of the scene
below. It's barren slopes of grayish brown
form a harsh contrast with the ail-per-
yadine veil of blue that oyerspresds the
picture. and the beholder almost wishes TO
see the obstacles removed. The volcano
has ever been a menace 10 the inhabitants
of this lovely land. but the Vesuyius OF
modern days is lamb compared to the
lion OF ancient times.
short distance down the Bay OF Naples
and not far from the Italian town 80 famed
IN poetrv and song the cities OF Pompell
and Herculaneum, hushed IN an eternal
sleep tell the story OF the volcanoes de-
structive work in ol6en times and OF
peopie cut off III the midst of their glory
and pleasure.
REALITY TO CAPTAIN ROGERS.
To the average reader. and even to the
tourist, Pompeil and Herculaneum seem
almost like a dream, but there is one man
at least in Richmond 10 whom these cities
will always appear as realities. ms man
Is Captain Edgerton s. Rogers. the popu-
lar Young architect. who as every one
knows. is a son of Randolph Rogers, the
celebrated sculptor. The elder Rogers
was native of New York, his wife was
Virginian, and many years before
the war they moved to Italy and took
up their residence in Rome. His son
first saw the light of day III the
Eternal City. and here he spent his child
hood and youth. After Captain Rogers
decided 10 become an architect he TOOK @
course at the Royal Institute OF Fine Arts
in Rome. and il was while student at
aud Herculaneum. The pupils Of the ill.,
stitute, when they become advanced In
their studies, are taken IN parties
TO the cities of Greece and Italy,
where they make careful obserYa-
tons Of the ancient buildings. The
Captain visited Pompen along with
the architects corps In 1881, and spent
several months engineering and studying
there. His researches were very careful.
and though MANY years have elapsed since
his visits TO the buried cities he has not
forgotten the wonderful relics OF bygone
days which met his gaze during that 80.
journ. tie gave a clear demonstration of
this fact Yesterday afternoon when DIS
PATCH reporter called at his airy offices on
the top floor of the Hanewinckel building
and besought him to tell oil he knew "
about Italy. ,
TIE BOOB WOULD NOT DO.
The Captain had too much good Italian
courtesy to attempt 10 flee the scribe, and
go, with commendable ingenuity, he
reached down and resurrected a musty
volume on ancient Italy and handed this
as a compromise to the newspaper repre-
tentative.
This won't do" said his prosecutor !;
al want 70 hear YOU talk about these
things; you are TO DO the encyclopedia. I"
- am rather rusty now" said the young
architect, but 1 will do the best / can
for you. | was several months IN the city
you mention, and shall never forget the
about the place is that not bird Is to be
seen anywhere about II. You find many
Lizards and centipedes among the ruins,
but nothing else that IL alive
"Haye the excavations been completed
vet ?" asked the newspaper-man.
no" replied Captain Rogers, they
have been going on for years, but hardly
81 oil hos haa hrnt1 n N Z
olight. The Italian Government, who en-
ploy their convicts there, are engaged In
so many works of similar character In
other parts of the country that they pro-
gress very slowly. No one knows how
much of the city still lies hidden III the
lava. The Latin writer Pliny who told
about the eruption OF Vesuvlus IS the
leading authority used in locating the
principal streets; but the engineers, even
when they follow his instructions. have
great difficulty in locating the different
places. In many cases they find no traces
of the things he wrote about, though In
some instances he has thrown consider
able light upon their researches.
CONVENIENT CHANGES MADE.
"Bulwer IN his famous novel The Last
DAYS of Pompeii' IS comparatively accu
rate, but at times he changes things &c
suit his narrative. For instance, ne de-
scribes the amphitheatre as being near the
sea in order to afford the blind girl, kydla
and the other characters in the book the
proper facilities for making their way &c
the Bay of Naples when the eruption tool
place. As q matter of fact the amphithea
tire is at the farthest end of the town
quite from the water, and IL Is supposed
that many persons persisted while endea-
voring to make their way from this place
of amusement to the water"
How about the old centurion who died
at his post rather than forsake his duty!
aueried the reporter, who had been much
impressed with this pretty little story oil
Roman fidelity.
The Captain simply waved his hand, and
the peculiar smile on his face seemed &c
indicate that he thought the old centurion
was purely myth, manufactured ex
pressly for the purpose of stirring NJ
sentiment.
is the lava which buried the city hard
to remover" asked the newspaper man.
The operatives experience the grertesi
difficulty IN working in it," replied the
Captain. They cannot blast il at all. and
IN some places il is even harder than the
very stones which it covered. Ali of the ex
cavations are made by drilling and the work
is slow and tedious in the extreme. The
lava adheres very closely to everything
aud has TO be scraped away from the OBJ
jects to which it clings."
I" Have the psychologists discovered
manv valubes in the ruins? ?"
mo, they have found very few. l heve
pair Of cuff-buttons and several shirt
studs made from a piece OF gold which my
father picked up there, but as general
thing such discoveries are rare"
FEW BODIES BROUGHT TO LIGHT.
TELL me something about the bodie.
found IN the lava" was the next request
of the interviewer.
Strange 10 say. very few have beer
brought TO light, and these. when exposed
70 the air, crumble away Immediately
The figures seen in the museums are plas
ter casts made from the originals. None
OF the features can be recognized. and as q
general thing II is almost impossible to tel
their sex. No signs OF their clothing can bt
seen. though some corpses with rings or
their fingers have been unearthed. As q
general thing the armor they wore-if they
had any-is also gone. Some man has
suggested that the metal from which the
mail was made may possibly be found u
the excayators dig deep enough. This
person thinks that the heat from the lava
NAV have melted it and that it flowed
downwards into the soil below He NAV
be right The greatest number of bodies
were found on the route leading from the
smphitheatre to the sea-"
Wasn't there kind Of circus going OF