The Philipsburg mail., 1899-05-12
SIGHTS IN POMPEII,
The Things That Interest an American

Tourist the Most.
The city consists of a vast collection
of roofess houses, with tall columns
scattered here and there alAong them,
says the Detroit Free Press. The in
terror of the houses are filled with
bricks and mortar, the debris of broken
walls and columns, among which hun
dreds of little chameleons are seen
running around, summing themselves.
The buildings of Pompei were not con-
structed Of anything like the same cost
ly material as those in Rome. They
We're constructed OF bricks and mortar
and volcanic rock. The columns now
standing are fiuted in their upper parts,
but the fluting is filled in near the base
with plaster stuccO painted red. Inc
Pompeiians seem to have been very
fond Of red, as it is the prevailing color
used in their decorations. The houses
are small-not more than three stories
in height and are set close together.
The widest streets are not more than
thirty feet in width, and the smallest
are only fifteen. There is one curious
thing connected with them--in spite or
their narrowness they have placed, at
short intervals, to enable people to
cross with ease, large stepping stones
They are certainly too high and broad
for horses to have stepped over them;
there is very little room between them.
Nevertheless, these same streets that
have the stones are deeply marked
with wheel ruts. Verify, driving IN
Pompeli must have been an amusement
filed with danger for all concerned.
The people of Rome of wealth and
refinement used to pass their summers
IN Pompeii; consequently, there was
some villas of great elegance. Some
of the houses that have been eXcavat-
ed are still adorned with paintings OF
great beauty. 1t is really astonishing
to see how fresh the colors are. In
some cases the pictures are not even
scratched. The subjects of these pic
lures are usually taken from Greek or
Roman mythology, aud commonly rep
resent some scene in the life of the
"gOdlike" Menelaus, or the wise"
Ulysses. The Pompeiians carried their
passion for mural decoration even in
to the gardens, and adorned the walls
with all manner of birds and beasts.
But these have not the same artistic
merit as those found in the houses
The paintings in restaurants are ma
turally crude. and are intended to ap-
peal more strongly to the palate than
to the eye. They depict Holsters, crabs,
fat young pullets and other things that
would delight an epicure. But con-
sidering their common surroundings,
they are really very we'll done, and
show that the art Of painting was we'll
understood in Pompeii
The eXcavating of the city is proceed
ing very slowly and will probably con-
tinue to proceed so, since it is being
conducted by the Italian government.
The work is done by crowd of men,
boys and girls with wicker baskets.
They fill their baskets. and then walk
eisurely away to empty them. Up to
date I have not heard OF any one get
ting sunstruck in working on the ruins
There are some things we cannot do in
this country; but if we had that city
over here. and there was any money to
be made by uncovering it, we would
have it all dug out within six months.
Vesuyius is less than a mile from the
city of Pompeii. It stands out clearly
in the blue air, and certainly seemed
very harmless when l saw it. But its
wreath Of smoke is always there, pro-
viding that the Forge of Vulcan" has
merely shut down for time and not
gone out of business. 1t has done its
worst for Pompeii and the day Of judg-
ment for thai little city is past.