The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-05-07

,tare vae zurr,and4i by columns.
and X ssial shows many evidences th@t
In VAS was q beautiful place Whsn the
reople FROM all tie country about
@am4 here 10 buy s.nd cell The stalls
~ fus meat market xsre on a plst~
f1rru running in d haIf-moon facing
the market piace. the marble r~un-
ters behind which the butchers S'eoo
are sflIl Intaet. and they bear the
mark OF fhe ~c1eayers used ia chop
ping of the steaks OF the past IH*@*
counters are marble slabs each about
4 foot thick. and about FIVE feet ~
length. craWIed under one. ana
stood in place Of the butcher >iryiHg u
imagine the customers VINO wafte1
outside for spring chickens. r"asis %
lamb and rump steaks nitesh huhafsd
or more years ago. and in my MIND :
4yp / could a.e Mrs. Caesar testing the
hreas.bone Of "A fowl and Madam
cicero telling the boy u cut her "A
teak off the ioin and watching hlms
10 see that he did not cheat in th'
weight Later on ! saw IN me
museum the weights which were used
to measure the meat They are balls
ef stone ranging in size from that y
my head 10 a marble.
\ Cts Of Luxury.
Some Of the houses Of Tlmgad were
magnificent. They had marble
benches. beautiful f~rescoes and floors
81 MOSAIC. ne museum has itidf4
mosaics equal. 10 almost anything dis
covered at Pompeii They are made
Of bits of stone. some Of which are
no bigger than a baby's finger nail so
fitted together that they seem one
solid block. They are Of many col
ors and represent the famous charac-
tiers Of mythology. one about fifteen
feet square shows Venus riding
through the sea on a centauT, while
the ~dolphinS swim about below.
Another represents the triumph OF
Neptune, and others show various
scenes connected with the gods and
gOddesses of old Rome.
Right near the Forum | explored a
palace which contained about sixty
odd rooms. some Of which are still
decorated with marble columns. When
| came in the floors seemed 10 be
nothing but plaster. but as ] scraped
my feet on them | saw the mosaic be
meath. This house had a wide en-
trance porch, the floor Of which was
Il little above the level OF the street.
and tbs stones at the front showed
plainly the marks made by the car
riages as they drove out and in. It
had bath rooms with hot and cold
chambers. the floors Of which were
Of mosaic. such as are now in the
museum.
The Baths of TiTn9ad.
II it he true hat cleanliness is
next to goodness, these old Romans
We're not ungodly. There are ruins
OF baths here, which show that this
old town Of Timgad, ranging in size
from fifty to one hundred thousand
people, had better accommodations Of
that KIND than any Of our largest cities
Of today. Just outside the chief en-.
trance gate tands the ruins OF an
enormous building, covering almost
two acres, which was devoted to bath
ing and gymnastics. 1t was built of
brick, and some of the mosaic floors
are still to be seen.
I spent some time in these baths. A
large part Of the outer walls are still
intact, and the rooms, although they
are broken in places can be easily
traced. There are thirty-five OF them
running about a grand hall forty feet
wide and seVenty-five feet long, where
the men went through their gymnas-
tics or rested and loafed after bath
ing. There were many hot chambers
for. steam and apo baths, and sew
eral cold plunges with large swimming
pools. The hot rooms had mosai"
floors, with underground flueS. and
fires. The ruins of the heating ar
engagements are such that even now
they could be repaired and the baths
part of the city are other baths, and
in nan of the houses SO far excavated
there are remains Of private bath
rooms.
\ Theater Seating -Four Thousand.
Timgad had a theater which seated
more han -four thousand people. 1
wonder how many towns of fifty thou
sand in our country have amusement
halls that size. This theatre was in
the upper part Of the city at the edge
of the hills. | went through it this
morning and sat for a time in one of
Tie boxes which faced the marble rOs-
trum forming the stage. The audience
came in through a covered p~assageWay
made of stone, and there is a covered
passageway for exit The actors nae
their own entrance, which led directly
to the stage. There was no roof owe
this theater; the audience sat out in
the open, with a magnificent view of
the valley and mountains ever before
them. The seats are of stone, and
they run around the arena in the
shape of a half moon, rising tier above
tier. The orchestra played in the cres-
cent below.
/ was also much interested in the
library, or public lecture room, of this
ancient town. I do not ppo that
ancient Thaumgadi a an AndreW
Carnegie, but its ruins show that this
building would have been a worthy
monument to any corn king of old
~ II a I1N oil Vi q q 4
Gle. with steps running round it, and
shelves in the walls. where the scrools
OF manuscript We're stored. Another
curious structure was a building de-
voted to the selling of flowers with
fountains to keep the flowers fresh.
The Forum.
The Forum of Timgad has been en-
tirely unearthed, and it bears evidence
of having been far larger and more
beautiful than that of POmpeii. It's
stone courts are almost intact. and
many of the tall marble columns
Wich surrounded it are still here. 1t
bears every evidence of having been
2 magnificent place. 1t is cache by
stone steps. About it on every side
We're covered passageways upheld by
pillars of marble. At one end. behind
marble columns, vas a great stone
rostrunl, I suppose for the speakers.
and there was an extensive lobby and
retiring rooms somewhat as in our
capitol at Washington.
Adjoining the Forum was a chamber
Of built of marble and lime
stone. This building is supposed to
nave served as a sort of stock pX-