St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1907-12-25

The tomb of Caius Cestius, deceased
before Christ, is near the Gate of St
Paolo. 1t is a brick pyramid caseC
with marble and is 116 feet high and 9e
feet on the base line. 1t is in perfect
preservation. There is a Protestant
cemetery at its foot where are the graves
of Keats and the tomb of Shelley.
At the Hotel Boston in Rome where
we stopped we met DR.. w. w. Keen oil
Philadelphia, one of Americas famous
surgeons. He and two daughters are
stopping there for few days. We at
tended some clinics with him at the
Royal Hospital and saw Profs. Allies
sander and Bottini operate there. The
Royal Hospital is a very large structure
built on the pavilion plan with connect
ing corridors, and has about 1900 beds.
Here we found one thing | had never
seen elsewhere, and that was an operat-
ing room in a glass cage, so that all
spectators except the ones who were i'll
sterile clothing were shut off from the
field of operation so that there was no
risk of infection from that source. 1t
is fine idea and not very expensive
one to carry out in a large operating
room. The surgical work and eve work
in Rome was as good as any we have
observed.
We went down to Naples to see
Pompeii and the celebrated museum con-
tanning the Pompeiian relics They are
still at work excavatjng at Pompeii and
we saw several wine Jugs unearthed in a
few minutes as we watched the work
men, At the entrance is small museum
with many of the wonders. Chief among
these are the few bodies covered with the
layer of ashes and pumce stone, the big
dog in the same condition, etc. The dog
gives the most signs of an agonizing
death struggle, but all were open
mouthed, as if struggling for breath.
On some of the bodies one can see the
bones of hand or foot where some
parts have fallen away, all in a perfect
state of preservation. The walls of the
houses are in good preservation and
the trescoed walls on the interior are still
in good shape. We were much interested
in the toilet conveniences and found them
conforming much more to the laws of
nature than the modern ones. The baths
for cold bathing and steam bathing
with the couches are still there One
almost expects the owner of the house
to come from an adjacent room and
order him out, as he goes wandering
about. The roads are paved with large
stone and the tracks of iron tires are
plainly seen, in many places a rut four
inches deep being worn. Here was an
amphitheatre built to seat 10000
people. Taken all in all it made one
feel like going by the Passumpsic Gene
terry at 2 a. IN. on dark night when the
wind was singing through the pine trees
and telephone wires.
On our way back to Naples we took
the electric line and went out to the
village which was partially destroyed in
1906 at the time of the last eruption of
Vesuvius. At this time the railroad up
the mountain was destroyed in part and
has not yet been reconstructed. Vesuvius
has symptoms of volcanic appendicitis
all the time and smokes and steams
away continually. 1t is rather relief
to go away from rather than toward
the mountain.
In the Museum in Naples are to be
iOuuu oOluC VI Liz lHOSI WOUUeTIul
things in the shape ofrelics OFF ompeii and
Herculaneum. Among them are stoves,
kitchen ware, beds, tooth picks, thimbles,
combs, etc, showing there is nothing
new. After seeing these things one
would not be surprised if they vet found
electric motors AMI steam shovels before
they get done. We saw surgical instru-
ments, as good in shape and size as the
ones we use every day at home. In fact
one speculum is almost exactly like one
listed by all big houses today. There
were pocket cases and instruments of all
kinds found there. The statuary is
fine. Among the bronzes is
the figure of Mercury" at rest. This is
said by artists to be the finest thing of
the kind in the world 1t iscopied extern
siyely by students and artists. No part
of the pleasure part of our trip could
equal in interest the things we saw here
in this Museum and at Pompeii itself.
Pompeii must have been swift town,
Judging by what we saw in the Museum
and the Secret Room" to which we had
access, but they went out of business
mighty suddenly in the end.
We left Naples for Pisa on an evening
train on our way to Berne, Switzer-