Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-12-14
A DAY IN ROME.
Story of Curtain Lake-Descrip=
ton of the Pantheon.

| Vesuvius, earthquakes are, naturally
frequent, and Rome has not been I'M
mune. One day after an earthquake a
chasm was found in the forum SO deep
that the college of Angus said it would
not be closed till the most precious pos
session of the Rome people was thown
into it. What is the most precious
possession of the Roman people? What
is the most precious possession of the
American people? College people say it
is chastity. What was the most precious
possession of the Grecians? 1t was the
art of the Acropolis. What then was
the most precious possession OF the
Romans? A young officer, Marcus
Curtius by name. declared that soldier g
valor was the most precious possession of
the Romans and SO saying, he spurred
his horse and 1eaped into the gulf. A
grateful people filed the lake with offer
ings and called this Lacus Sacer, or the
holy lake. The second tragedy said to
have taken place here was the murder OF
Emperor Galba by his soldiers
THE PANTHEON.
Bathing has always been luxury and
necessity. Hence where there we're
more towns than rivers, ample bathing
facilities have usually been provided by
men.
In her day, Rome was western city,
hence she was enterprising-an up-to
date metropolis Chicago Or Portland,
so to speak. Consequently she was
noted for her baths, commonly called
thermas.
The IN ,st noted of these thermas was
the Calidarium, the bath of Agrippa,
adjacent to the emperor's palace in Cam
pus Martius.
Slbs aquently the palatial bath be
came noted in history as pagan temple
dedicated to Jupiter the Avenger. In
this shrine, any aud all gods might be
worshipoed. For this reason it was call
ed the Pautheons, from "pan," all, and
''theos,'' god.
When the cross arose AMI sho1e in
the heavens, and the Roman as we'll as
Constantine saw they could aud would
conquer by this sign, the. Pantheon be-
came a Christian church. When the
barbarians-the destroying angels of the
North passed through the city, they
spared the Calidarium on account of its
peculiar form and beauty. Afterwards
the immortal Raphael, Cardinal Bembo
and many other saints, were laid to rest
here, and the shrine came to be gener-
ally known as the Westminster Abbey
of Rome. Therefore it is eaay to under
stand how a palatial bath came to be the
Pantheon which thousands visit annu-
ally.
To say that the Pantheons is finished
in marble is not implying much in
Rome. where sheep, goats, urchins and
larger cattle commonly walk on fine
marble and beautiful pavement preva
lent 10 that country. The architecture
of the building is different from the 2rch-
itecture OF all other buildings except
the COPY of the Pantheon in Naples.
Ths form of Pantheon is that of the
ordinary glass fruit jar, with with this
exception-the bronze doors of the
Pantheon are approached by quadrang-
vlar portico of sixteen colums coaveni
emily divided into three aisles.
The common impression is that the
top of this mammoth fruit jar was left
open anciently. However, at the
present time, the top is canopied with
glass. as my cam era testities; and
Gamers are always truthful. The height
of the Pantheon from the floor is 142
feet; aud the interior diameter of the
edifce is the same. At the base, the
wall is twenty feet in thickness. The
Pantheon, like the Bank of England,
has no windows. 1t receives its light
from above, In the wall are sewn deep
~-cesses ornameuted with clumns and
Corinthain capitals. The rich marble
moulding upon the wall is surmounted
with decorations that are gr aduaily lost
in their approach to those above. For
they grow dim as they near the opening
dome that let in a subdud and solemn
Ii sht in perfect keeping with the simple
regularity aud complete hornlony of the
building itself.
Conspicuous on the walls of the
Louvre are some empty picture frames.
Tle keeper, ii ask, tells yon that when
the Prnssian soldiers entered Paris dur
ing the Ftauco-Prussian War, they
went to the Louvre and took the paint
ings which they said Napoleon Bone
parte had taken from their ancestors.
bat the soldiers lett the frames because
they did not belong to the Prussians.
Those empty frames which seem worth
less where they are said the keeper,
viii remain on the walls of the Louvre
antil France will retake the paintings
fbof ho1orn IN