The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-12-24
Permission Has Been Granted
to Dredge the Tiber.
RELICS OF ANCIENT ROME
Which Will Throw Light on
Ancient Customs.


The 1iber y as raced stream e LATIN
tribes. no doubt. pefjre the Romans COR
tr.Ted 10 gain assembly, over tEe-ty ri
lows. ard each of these wouE. fhfuw IN
o' erinss yearly WIN the festival caEse
round But /; Is the tr~as'I CO 70 bc en-
ectcd at Rome itself wnich coacern tIi,
puzzle Imagination vs. free to fccxcn
their up as il wil' The single historic
facts bearing on tn. matt.r With which we
are acquainted sre In. btnltng 'i.~n III
the statues that .ss -. Il the Maus.,iessiii
II Hadrain up,n The heads Il the tc-
siegins Goths, and ne 'c.mvc:ss:ic kea, If
the early Chs SLAMS. who threy into the
liver many objects >. .r.aiis .:,:sd by tie
keathen. But 1t is only by a rare chance
that incidents of that sort would be men,
toned in history.
II our Thames yields crop Of antiqui-
ties whenever 1t Is searched. the Tiber
must contain a harvest indeed. From
time to time for at least q century, foreign
enthusiasts, have asked permission to
dieose. onering a price more or less lib
eral; but they always claimed to keep
the finds" and there the negotiations
were broken. There is q legend Of some
members of the Society Of ANTICIPATES en-
gaging to deepen the bed Of the T1ber to
the sea so that vessels OF a specified ton
mage could pass UP, on the usual terms.
keeping what they found. These gentle
men. as the story goes. were specially
tempted by tradition. still popular In
Rome. which asserts that the seven
branched candle stick and other relics Of
the Jewish Temple looted by Genseric
were wrecked in the Tiber. This would
suggest that the legend is old for the fate
OF the candle stick has been known to
antiquaries for generations; and It is well
worth while to tell 1t briefly. for We
shall hear of the tradition again. doubt
less, when the new enterprise IL dis
cussed.
Genseric safely conveyed the Jewish
II easures to Carthage. where Belisarius
them eighty years later and
sent them to Constantinople. There Is
no question about this, for the historian
Procopius accompanied the army. After
a while, Justinian. fearing to keep such
sacred objects. restored them to Jerusa-
lem. where they remained, probably. I'M
til the sack by Omar and his wild Arabs.
But the popular belief that they were
wrecked IN the Tiber is easily explained.
Genseric loaded UP the most precious OBJ
jects of his plumber on q single ship
which never reached Carthage. Where
t. was wrecked II Is unknown. The Ro-
man populace might think, naturally. that
be included these things among his most
precious acquisitions
1t is Prof Giro Nispi Landi who has at
length obtained permission to explore the
river bed. He will have no difficulty In
estimating the chances Of his success,
nc viewer. it must not be forgotten that
Dir edging the Tiber had been regular
industry in Rome for centuries until the
Italian occupation. and va cannot hope
that it ceased then. Old travellers de-
scribe the scores of glimmcring lanterns
IL the bed of the river on a moonless
night. Watching sometimes from
fridge they observed in a sudden scurry
and instantaneous "dowsing Of the
police boat was making foray.
Put the men captured had nothing to fear
4 they belonged to the regular set; the
Papal police shared their gains. which
we're very considerable indeed. occasional
Y, as report alleged. There IL one de-
,osit in Rome, however. which has never
been touched, though the value of IL is
rcaiculable. and the spot perfectly well |
xnown. After the fifth burning OF the |
capital vespasian laid the foundation |
stone of the New Temple in n A. d.
Tacitus describes the grand ceremony. |
after sacrifices and religious rites all the |
population of Rome fed past. headed by |
he Senators, the Magistrates the knights |
md soldiers. And they threw offerings |
nto the pit in which the stone WIS TO be |
aid Mostly" says Tacitrs. the objects |
ere gold and silver. In Jumps, as they |
anne from the mine. not worked by /
human hand" 4 not inconsiderabie pro-
,crtion OF the wealth Of Rome at the
must have been buried under that huge
eek, and though the fruits of nature. so
o say. would be held more acceptable
Q the god. we may be sure that good
cal Of 1eweirv and plate would be Of
cred. The walls Of the building have been
raced. and the site Of the foundation
tone indicated-nct quite accurately. per
sps. but with confidence. II stands IN !
he grounds Of the German Embassy.
Lanciani. greatest OF authori-
les on ancient Rome. had never ceased 70
blink Of this wondrous treasure-pi; since
eading the account OF Tacitus when q
cy He has sscertainei that several at
smpts were made to find It at different
ras. but In each instance a full report
Z the proceedings was kept The hoard
, stni lying where I; was placed. be
y
sufficient guarantee. Is there not one
siIlsonaire extant Sufficiently cultured. or
ven sufficiently adventurous 70 spend a
ew hundred pounds n the search for this
riGue treasure
We must fear that there IN not though
be fact seems fnexp,icable. for other
Enterprises OF the sane core nigh; be
AIMED which must surely have come u
- the notice o.. some Of them without
subtitle explora tons 90 the tomb OF
laric. for instance Retired tradesmen %
7npsra;iveiy small means. like schiie-
iann. may assume such tasks. or enxi--
.rs may occupy their leisure tine. IKE
erghi- who Ia. been tofisng for seven
ears 10 raise tire ronderfri ealieys that
re sunk in Lake Sers- But no millionaire
,suss capable o. feeling fn,e-es; 81 s1cA
'esrehes. occsslc-aliy one hears a
.ferenee 20 tbs des,ss Of q couoaay
hich Is making eHo-ts 20 drain LAks
III New Grsnata without eny .
'asorahie hope % success Il to rreA !
be feared But that 10 Q fascsna.sns t.
-o;~ct- II. eraaisfds maze several At :
np.s vhen shey hesd he ,anA-scr,s /: