The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1897-12-18
POMPEII AS IT WAS
BYITS RUINS THE ANCIENT CITY
is RECONSTRUCTED.
Embalmedby Vesuvius, its'Walls Temples
Courts, Theatre and Folum.-Process of
Evacuation Slow but Results are the Open
Book Of Ancient Pompeian Life.

1t was possible to compress so many people
into the small area covered by the ancient
cities. Still there were advantages. A
woman who wanted to do little shopping
was not obliged to order an early breakfast.
and party of men could slip on their best
togas and be off to see ball game without
wasting two hours on the cable car Dion
des,Who lived In the suburbs, had only to wa!
oOO yards to find himself at the forum, and less
than mile to reach the amphitheater. Pom
Pell as outlined by the ruined wall, was egg
SNAPPED; It's circuit about two miles, it's great
est length only three-quartess of q mile
from west to east, and its breadth less than
half a mile 1t stands high on plateau
that on the western side falls off abruptly
to the sea Its population has been estimated
at about 10000. ..,-.
The Ancient Walls.
There has been no difficulty in tracing the
walls. Here and there are found restora-
lions. The breaches were made, probably, In
the time of Sulla, when Rome conquered this
little independent state. These repairs are
OF tufa, broken into small pieces. cemented
with mortar, and then plastered over with
stucco to resemble the adjacent wall. Ths
original wall was composed OF large we'll
hewn stones, fitted together without mortar.
and Joined In somewhat oblique direction:
then, again, some Of the upper portions are
laid Greek fashion. Don't imagine this wall
to be perfect; 1t Is far from that, but the
portions we see have these characteristics.
and. Judging the whole from a part. we can
form an idea of the construction of the outer
wall. Occasionally on the large stones are
seen certain inscribed characters. There
are antiquarians who believe them to be a
part OF the Greek alphabet; others who claim
them to be arbitrary signs Iut there by the
masons who built the wall. The second the
ory is the more plausible. This do know
on few stones in the old castle at Heidelberg
are similar characters, and also on the
churches at Freiburg and Nuremburg The
Masons, as an order, claim to have originated
at the time of the building of Solomon's
temple; that temple was erected thousand
years before Christ. If these characters are
Masonic signs, then they become one of the
first links In the chain of evidence to sup
port the assumption. The walls of POM
curvillnear, as were all the old-fashioned
Notifications, according to the principles laid
down by the military engineers that a wall
with angles benfited the besiegers rather than
the besieged.
We entered Pompeii through the Porta della
Marina. Some one asked why the gate bore
that name Our guide insisted that that gate
had opened directly upon the sea, hence the
name, but that the great eruption had caused
the waters to recede fully two miles. He was
mistaken. 1t is very certain that there has
been no change in the coast line; Hercula-
Noun on the north and Stabiae on the south
have precisely the same site now that they
had then. 1t is called Porta della Marina
because it leads to the sea, as the northwest
gate Is called Herculaneum, because it opens
out upon the road leading to that city. There
were eight gates to Pompeil. only examined
two, Porta della Marina and Herculaneum.- If
could have stayed six months, there would
have been ample time to identify every gate;
as it was chose the principal ones and then
passed on to something else.
Porta della Marina Is the main entrance.
It is on the west side and consists of long
steep ascent leads up into the city; on ono
side there Is an elevated footway.
The Museum by the Gate.
Just inside the entrance, there are build
ings rooted over and used as museum; while
all the works Of art found in the excavations
nave been removed to Naples, still there are
many curiosities and duplicates stored here.
In passing, let us stop and enter, for any
thing found in Pompeii is interesting. Nor
tars and mills, kitchen utensils, and charcoal
furnaces; number of loaves Of bread, per-
feet in form but carbonized. The bread seems
to have been baked in pans, fiat, round, about
eight inches in diameter. Some loaves We're
stamped. to show the proportion Of pure wheat
and it's adulteration. They may have had a
pure food society in those days. Most in
teresting are the four casts of human bodies.
After the shower of pumice stone came the
torrents Of water that, with the ashes, made
q thick, tenacious mud, which enveloped every
object After the natural decay, this har-
dened mud was like a mold prepared for
bronze casting. The idea occurred to Signor
Fiorelli to fill these cavities with liquid
plaster. He succeeded Is obtaining an exact
reproduction. We stand before these figures
and see here death itself nodded and cast
the very agony and the final struggle. \
mother and daughter, the former lying in
l~x,1 1PA h0riI r
her, and, ON the finger, still the iron ring; the
daughter drawn up in the extreme OF terror.
On, this plaster you can trace even the tex
ture of the garments and on her feet see the
remnants of her sandals. The third woman
belonged to another social class. Near Ter
were found, scattered, her coins and Jewels
The fourth figure was that Of soldier, strong
and large. He looked as II he had fallen back
ward while attempting to force his way. At
terward I passed along the narrow street
where, at the corner, these bodies were found.
The gate of Herculaneum Is interesting
chiefly because 1t reminds one Of the Porte
Capena at Rome, where the Appian way be-
gins. Along this great highway at Rome. on
either side are t0mbs. The Romans OF high
degree we're honored after death with sepul-
ture In the most PUBLIC place; this custom
was also followed by the Pompeians. Teen.
too, inside the gate are the only taverns and
csravansaries of the town. At this point there
are three entrances; the middle one Is open
to the sky; the side entrances are vaulted.
In the middle, way there were, apparently,
two barriers, an outer and an inner one; the
inside gate folded back, as may be seen by the
pivot holes in the pavement; the outer was
probably some kind of a p0rtcullis. Although
this was the main street, still the width OF the
middle entrance is not quite fifteen feet and
that of the side entrances about four feet-
divisions Of the Ruined City.
Pompeii has been laid off into nine divisions
called regions (See sketch.) The excaVa
lions have been made in the western part
The report up to last fall shows tnat 1hreS y
rions have been entirely uncovered thres
1,artly so. and the remaining three, with tn.
exception of the amphitheater, wholly une&'
pIored: so that we may say that about one
half the buried city has been again opened VI
to the light of day. 1t has taken l49 years Z
do what has been done. At this rate there WI
be surprises in store for our great grandcnll
dren Each group of buildings is called al
island. sometimes consisting Of several mousse
with no space between; tnen again, single
building occupies the block. The streers are
narrow, all the way from four feet to twenty
two They are we'll paved with large, irregu.
lar pieces of lava, carefully laid. The points
are protected by bits of iron driven In. II
some respects we may have improved on thu
& methods Of the ancients. but not in the matter
of planning durable pavements. Special as
easements make the property holder sigh FOL
the times when pavement once put down wa
expected to last several centuries. In some o.
I these pavements the passing OF the chariot
wheels in the same track has worn ruts to thu
depth Of an inch or more. At intervals thest