Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-08-29
NUMBER 10.

Hill. from the galleries IN route anu
the top are magnificent views of the
city. The Forum and the arches of
Titus and Constantine were at our feet.
The Tiber with its bridges wound
about in its way to the sea. The great
dome of St. Peters and the huge pro-
portions of the Vatican, the white line
of the Appian way up the Albian Hills.
the Sabian Hills, the lines of aqueducts.
the sites of various walls, temples,
churches, palaces, baths, Prof. Powers
pointed out to US. Tt was fine l tell
you. The foundation walls of this
building are old, 78 B. C. The place
was once storing place for salt which
corroded the stone which is volcanic.
In the museum here we saw the Dying
Gladiator, the Cap1toline Venus which
was found walled up in niche be-
tween the Viminal and Inirinal, Marble
Faun, etc.
Saturday morning we went to a
church built on the site of the ancient
temple of Minerva where were some
interesting frescoes by Filipino Lippi
and beautiful Christ head by Perugi-
no. From the steps Prof. Powers
showed US the plan of the Pantheon
roof which is hard by. By the way
tomorrow is to be celebrated the ami
versary OF King Humbert's death by q
great procession to his tomb which is
in the Pantheon and one hundred men
have been working for two months
decorating it. One-fourth rates are
given on the railroads. The occasion
is great one and more people are ex-
pected in Rome than for many a day.
The city seems very full now. After
leaving the church Santa Maria Sopra
Minerva we drove over the bridge
built by Trajan to the Vatican, the
palace of the Popes, and spent. several
hours looking at antique statues under
Prof. Powers instructions. l thor
oughly enjoyed the noble Halls and
rotundas which furnish such fine set
ting for the art treasurers. 1t is sure
ly better to see them under such over
sight than to go cropping about for
treasurers without guidance. In the
afternoon we drove from half past
three till nearly eight, stopping first at
the church of st. Pietro in Vincoli
where is the tomb of Pope Julius III in
which or a part of which is Michael
Angeles wonderful statue of Moses.
had no proper conception of tombs
and chapels in churches. In this
church there were a number of men
and women making and putting up
decorations of red and gold, for what
purpose / do not know. We next
stopped at the ruins of the baths of
Caracallo, begun 212 A. D. These
would accommodate 1900 bathers at
once. Many fine statues, mosaics. etc.,
have been taken from here and pre-
served in museums. There are some
bits of mosaic floor and marble frieze
still in place, limiting at the magnifi-
cence of decoration. The roofs are all
fallen. Most of the debris has been
removed and excavations are now in
progress, which show floors beneath
the one we tread on. Heating appara-
tus and hot air pipes have been dis
covered. There are marks of great
arches ON the thick high walls yet
standing, there are great swimming
basins, too. After staying at the baths
awhile always seeking the shade of the
walls, we drove to the catacombs.
We descenned into those of st. Sabas-
tian from a church of the same name.
Our guide was a little old Capuchin
monk with twinkling eyes. His robe
was brown. There is much less in the
passages than I had expected to see.
Baedecker says, s.they have been al
most entirely deprived of their enrich
ments." There were few bones be-
hind CRATES, cup or two for martyrs
blood, few inscriptions, a chapel or
two with crucifix. grated passage
to lower levels. About % went down
in our company each with lighted
candle little larger than lead pen
Gil and ten or twelve inches long. It
was a dismal place. Long narrow
ever descending or ascending lanes
with inches in the soft stone where
had been bodies, in some cases where
bones still remained sealed behind
stone slabs 180 miles of them / believe
there are. 1t was pleasant to get out
and drive further on the via Appia and
see the tombs along the way on either
side. Many of these are great masses
of fallen rubble or masonry in ruins;
are still in shape telling of the birth
and death of people long since gone.
Best of all in this direction was view
of the long lines of acqueducts across
the Campagna. mostly in ruins. but
one OF which repaired. still brings the
good water to Rome. We enjoy the
water so much. 10 Florence we drank
-gA-.