The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1893-10-12
FALL or old POMPEIl.
,ur REV. DIR. TALMAoE GIVES A
o,spbic Description oftheAncient City's
nu,rs Lessons 10 BeLearned FromIt.

Trxr, "Thou hast maze or a de5ensef siy
sruin. Isaiah XIV. 2.
fash on the night sky greeted us "A We
| Jeff the rail train Mt Naples, Italy. What was
| the strange illuminationp II was that wrath
AZ many centuries -vesuvius. Giant son of
an earthquake. Intoxicated mountain oi
Italy. Father OF many consternations. A
Volcano, burning so long. and yet TO keep on
burning until, perhaps. Il may be the very
torch that will kindle the last confiagration
and set all the world on flre. II eclipses In
violence Of behavior Cotopaxi and Rtna and
stromboli and krakatoa, Awful mystery.
Funeral pyre OF dead cities Everlasting
oaroxysm of mountains. II seems like q
chimney OF hell. II roars with fiery remln-
lscence OF what II has done and with threats
ofworse things that II may yet do. I would
not live In one OF the villages at its base for
present OF all Italy.
on a day in December, 1881, Il threw IN
ashes that ioated away hundreds and hum
ireds OF miles and dropped in Constantino.
pc. and in the Adrlatic sea. and on the
Apennines, as well rs trampling out at its
own foot the lives OF $4,000 people. Geo
logists have tried to fathom its mysteries. hut
the heat consumed the iron instruments and
drove back the scorched and blistefed ex-
porcrs from the cindery and crumblng
brink IL seems like the asylum OF maniac
clements.
AZ one time far back its top had been n
fortress, where Spartacus fought and was
surrounded and would have been DESTROYED
bad IL not been for the grapevines which
clothed the mountainslde from top to base,
AMI laying hold OF them he climbed hand
under hand TO safety in the valley. But for
centuries II has kept its furnace burning as
We saw II that night on our arrival in Novem-
Der of 1889.
OF course the next day we started 10 sec
some OF the work wrought by that frenzicd
mountain. "All out Tor Pompeil :" was the
cry OF the conductor And now we stand by
the corpse Of that dead city. As we entered
the gate and passed between the walls | took
Of my hat as one naturally does In the pres
encc Of some imposing obsequies That city
had bcen at one time capital OF beauty and
pomp Tho home OF grand architecture. ex-
GlIJite painting, enchanting sculpture. unre-
strained carousal and rapt sssemblage. A
high wall twenty feet thick. three-fourihs OF
Il still visible. encirclcd the city. or those
walls, ut distance Of only 100 yards from
each other. towers rose for armed men who
watched the city. The streets ran at right
angles and from wall TO wall, only one street
excepted.
In the days Of the city's prosperity its
towers glitterad In the sun; eight strong
gates for ingress and egress Gate OF the
Seashore. Gate OF Hercuaneum. Gate of
NfN'aNlh' b'lnE ItEHuilS lnt most important.
londer stood the Temple OF Jupiter. hoisted
at an imposing elevation. and with its six
cornthinn columns OF immense girth, which
stood like carved icebergs shimmering In the
light. There stands the Temple of the
Twelve Gods. Yonder see the Temple of
Hercules and the Temple OF Mercury, with
Gltars of marble and bas-relief, wonderful
enough TO astound all succeeding ages ofart.
and the Temple of Ksculapius, brilliant with
sculpture and gorgeous with painting.
londer are the theatres, partly cut into
surrounding hills, and glorined with pic
tured walls, and entered under arches of inn
posing masonry. and with rooms. for capti-
yated and applaudatory audiences seated or
standing In vast semi-circe. Yondcr are the
costly and immense public baths OF the CITY.
with more than the modern ingenuities OF
Carlsbad. Notice the warmth OF those an
eient tepidarlums, with lowering radiance
OF roof, and the vapor OF thoss caldarlums.
with decorated alcoves, and the cold dash OF
their irigidariums. with floors OF mosaic and
ceilings OF all skilfully intermingled hues.
and walls upholstered with all the colors OF
the setting sun. and sofas on which TO reclipe
for slumber after the plunge
londer are the barracks OF the celebrated
gladiators. Yon1er is the summer home of
Sallust, the Roman historian and Senator.
the architecture rs elaborate as his charac-
ter was corrupt. There is the residence of
the poet Pansa, with compressed Louvre
and Luxembourg within his walls. There is
the home OF Lucretius, with vases and antiqui-
ties enough to turn the head of viriuoso
londer see the Forum, at the highest place
in the city. II is entered by two triumphul
arches. II Is bounded on three sides by
doric columns.
Yonder. in the suburbs OF the city, is tho
home OF Arrius Diomed the mayor of the
suburbs, terrdced residence OF billionairc-
4 I'D
naded, the cellar OF that villa filed with bot
Ties of rarest wine, n few drops Of which
were found 1900 years afterward. Along the
streets OF the city are men of might and
women of beauty formed into bronze that
many centuries had no power to bedim. Bat
Tie scenes on walls In colors which all time
cannot efface. Great city OF pompeli SO
Seneca and Tacitus and Cicero pronounced
Il.
Stand with me on its walls this evening OF
August 23, A. ID. 10. See the throngs pass
Ing up and down in Tyrian purple and gir-
dies OF arabesque, and necks enchained with
precious stones, proud official In imposing
toga meeting the slave carrying trays a-clink
with gobets and a-smoke with delicaciea
from paddock and sea, and moralist musing
over the degradation OF the times passes the
profigate doing his best 10 make them worse.
Hark 10 the clatter and rataplan of the hoofs
on the streets paved with blocks OF basHt.
See the verdured and lowered grounds slop-
ing into the most beautiful bay of all the
earth-the bay OF Naples.
Listen TO the rumbling chariots, carrying
convivial occupants TO halls of mirth and
masquerade and carousal. Hear the loud
dash of fountains amid the sculptured water
nymphs. Notice the weird, solemn farrench-
ing hum and din and roar OF city Mt the
close OF Il summer day. Let Pompeii sleep
well tonight, for IL Is the last night of peace
iul slumber before she falls into the deep
slumber of many long centuries. The morn
ing OF the Gath OF August, A. ID. 10, has ar
rived, and the days roll on, and IL is O'Clock
In the afternoon. "Look I" | say To you,
standing on this wall as the sister OF pliny
said to him, the Roman essnyist and naval
commander, on the day OF which speak. ms
She pointed him In the direction in which
point you.
There is peculiar cloud on the sky u
spotted cloud, now white. now black. IL is
Nesuylus in awful and unparalleled eruption.
Now the smoke and fire and steam of that
black monster throat rise and spread, as, by
my gesture, / now describe II. II rises, u
great column OF fiery, darkness. higher and
higher, and then spreads out like the
branches OF n tree, with midnights enter