New-York tribune., 1905-01-08
IN HERCULANEUM.
Hopes Of Finding Treasures in Cit,
Which Met Same Fate as POn1pea

The recent acceptance by President Roosev..
of the honorary presidency Of an American cor-
rnittee to work in harmony with committees a.
POINTED in European countries 10 take I'd ~.
work Of the excavation Of the town OF Herr,
IaneuIn serves 70 draw attention to the fact tba,
Little has been done 20 learn what revelations a,
the life Of the past TO be found scores a,
feet beneath the town Of Resina. at the foot a,
the western slope Of Mount VesUviUs. When an.
recalls the historic eruption seventy nine ysa,,
after the birth Of Christ, the destruction a,
Pompeii on the south side Of the chOlerc o,a
mountain. is apt 70 come first 70 mind Accora.
ing to Dr. Charles WaIdstein. Slade professor q.
fine arts at Cambridge University Eogand an
American, who has taken the initiative In TIA
plan for excavatIng HsrculaneUm, this com.
munity probably has much more In It's ruins n
interest 70 the student than the others. Pro
fessor Waldstetn has succeeded in erIisting the
sympathy in his plans of King Edward Of Great
Britain. Emperor William Of Germany Presiden,
Ioubet Of France. King Emmanuel and the chief
officials Of italy, besides President Roosevelt
Professor WaIdstein's belief that the excava-
tior Of Herculaneurn viii reveal many art ana
literary treasures is based on the fact that when
ashes were raining down from the black cloud
wreathing the summit Of Mount Vesuvius into
the narrow streets Of Pompeh gOrged with fee
ing inhabitants. a stream Of mud was rolling
down upon Hercu!aneum- This mud says Pro
fessor WaIdstcin. EerEetically sealed up the con-
tents OF the latter community without destroy
ing them and acted as preservative agent In
Herculaneum, also he thinks will be found more
valuable remains than have been Unearthed In
Pompei. because in the former were The viIas
OF many wealthy and prominent Romans IN
Guiding Agrfppa. ServiIla, Balbus, the Fabrt etc
This city. he declares. was a centre Of wealth
and culture. in some ways comparable 70 New
mort while Pompeii was an ultera,e uncult-
ured. provincial town In Ponpeii," he said the
other night in a lecture at the home OF j. Pier
pont Morgan, mot a single manuscript has been
found with the possible exception OF the account
of an auction sale In HerculaneUn !. 80 papyr
have already been found. There We may expect
to find many lost treasures-perhaps the lost
books Of Livy and the whole Of Aristotle"
The excavation Of Herculaneum has not mads
the progress that has been attained in PompeR
for the former was much more deeply covered
than the latter. While HercuIaneum was buried
in debris from 40 to 100 feet deep % feet Is the
depth of the material which was ultimately de-
posted upon Pompeii- It is commonly believed
that most of the inhabitants Of the two cities
were able to escape. for the material was not
deposited at one time, but in successive erup-
tions. Not only were the homeless Ponpeiians
able to return to their partially submerged
houses and carry away their valuables, but Ow-
ing to the shaIowness of the deposits over the
city subsequent generations were able to gather
from the ruins everything OF value which the
owners left behind them. The thick mantle over
Herculaneum probably prevented this leaving
much for present day excavators.
The length OF time and the amount Of money
which will be needed to fully excavate Herru-
laneum may be imagined from the fact that reg