Evening journal., 1904-04-18

parish OF ST Constantine and at san
creed. near Penzance.
1t IS well known also that subter
ranean galleries of precisely the same
character have been found beneath the
old forts or "raths" OF Ireland, and
from this circumstance some authori-
ties are inclined to believe that they
were intended as storehouses for re-
serve warlike stores, arms and provi-
sions.
These Irish galleries, however, must
in nowise be confounded with the Curl
Gus beehive shaped underground cham
bers which are 80 abundant in County
Cork and elsewhere and which are call
ed by the peasants Dane holes" be
cause. they say, the Danes were wont
TO hide in them in olden times.
This may have been so, by the way,
for many Of these subterranean apart
ments would form excellent hiding
places but they were certainly con-
structed originally by the Irish them
selves at a period long anterior to the
advent Of the Danish invaders.
Probably they are allied to the
'Picts' houses" of the Orkney islands,
which are either chambered tumuli or
underground dwellings, or both.
The rock "tombs" of the ancient
Etruscans are also Of this category
Men lived within them, and they also
buried their defunct relatives within
them, underneath the floor, just as the
Inuits do now. A few inches of earth
suficed TO separate the living from
the dead. In Peru, again, are similar
subterranean tumui houses covering
thousands Of acres Of ground.
When the British conquered India
they thought the vast cave temples OF
Ellora and elsewhere were the work
OF giants, and in that belief they
were almost justified. for 1t even now
we'll nigh passes comprehension how
or by what means they were original
iy constructed.
From one series Of these alone It II
estimated that there were excavated
! 1,OOO, 100000 tons of solid rock. Near
Aurangabad is a collection of splendid
subterranean temples, with single
chambers, and halls measuring go feet
deep by $50 feet wide, and these ex-
tend for miles.
The roof is Of living rock, supported
by hundreds Of rock hewn pillars and
all around are chapels, chambers and
cells. II, in fact. constitutes in Its
entirety n sort of gigantic subterra
mean "holy city" just as would be
built nowadays above ground.
But of all artificial caves the cata
combs at Rome have been the cause OF
most wonderment and speculation. Il
is estimated that there are altogether
about COO miles Of galleries. the great
er portion Of which is still unexplored
Constructed for the most part be
tween the beginning Of the second ant
the end of the fourth century as ,
species Of subterranean cemetery, they
began to be disused as such so early
as $50 A. D.. and burial within then
entirely ceased with the sack Of th'
city by Alaric in 410 A. d.
Afterward they came TO constitute I
place of pilgrimage, but by degrees
people lost interest in them, and thei
very existence was at last utterly for
gotten.
Then on May 81, 1878, some laborer
digging in the Campagna discovered
sepulchral chamber This resulted il
further excavations. and these in turl
revealed to the amazed inhabitants o
Rome "the existence" to quote a con
temporary account. "of other cite
concealed beneath their own"
OF course the Roman catacombs, al
though the finest and most extensive
are not the only ones of their kind Il
the world. Near Naples, for instance
some very elaborate ones are to b
seen, with a subterranean church al
tached.
There are also others at Syracuse
which are unique in that they are sur
. posed to have been Of pagan origin; q
Malta, beneath the foundations Of th
ancient capital of the island; at Taol
> nina, in Sicily; at Alexandria, and els'
where.
. The so called "catacombs Of Paris,
It may be mentioned, are also regarC
ed by the best authorities as bein
merely disused quarrles. But at Pos
gio Gajella, near Chiusi. the ancier
Clusium. are some remarkable unde
ground works of vast extent to whic
! neither this latter explanation nor tn,
given for the catacombs proper wi
apply.
b They consist, for The most part. {
low, winding, labyrinthine passage
leading in and out Of one another an
. round and round in the most perple,
ing manner, but constantly conductin
the explorer back to n large circulc
central hall, the roof of which is SUI
ported by a massive cylindrical pilli
y hewn from the living rock.
! No plausible explanation has eve
been offered regarding the origini
purpose Of this mysterious subterr
mean maze. although some archeol
gists believe it to have been intendC
u as a place Of execution for criminal
the condemned person being simp
: turned loose therein and left to wa
I der about in the cold and darkness L
I'll death overlook him.-London E
I I press.