Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1908-09-02

= sight seeing ana Win Ve6uYlus over
: shadowing all the landscape.
I cannot do better than begin my let
ter with brief description of the buried
: city of Pompeii. What an indescriba-
: BILE feeling, strange, awe .and wonder
, comes over one as he enters Pompeii, q
city that was In the fall tide Of its
pride and Joy when the Son of God was
on earth, which passed out OF existence
, almost In the twinkle OF an eye and
8 afCer eighteen hundred years has been
, disintombed and resurrected from a
long buried past. How impressive to
wander up and down through temples,
baths and theatres and tread the mr.
row, roughly-paved streets in which l
see the ruts worn by the chariots of
gay young men and fair women and to
feel the corpse-like stiffness Of the no.
bles' houses, still richly decorated. My
mind almost loses itself in the midst
of such an immense accumulation OF
ruins. According to the best authori-
ties the city of Pompeii was founded
by the Oscans about 600 B. c..
According to some on the 23rd Of
August and to Others on the 23rd of No.
vember, A. D. 70, Vesuvlus was seen to
send up a column Of black smoke
spreading itself like a gisrt umbrella
pine with which every one who has
visited Naples is so familiar.) This
column was dense with volcanic matter
thrown up from the crater beneath and
spread itself gradually far and wide
like a vast black cloud until it descend.
ed upon the doomed city with gloom
as impenetrable as the darkness of a
stormy night. The volcano meanwhile
emitted without cessation and with a
loud roaring noise cloud of ashes,
pumice and red hot stones. The dense
cloud of ashes fell thick and fast driven
on by strong wind which bore 1t to
the shores of Egypt and Syria and
even darkened the daylight in Rome.
To write you what Pompeii was and is
now to my mind, is beyond the power
of man; certainly, l unhesitatingly say,
cannot.
Having written you two years ago of
Naples | will this time pass on to other
parts unknown to many of your read
ers. / leave Naples by steamer and
proceed down the lovely land locked |
Mediterranean to Messina,a quaint old
city Of about one hundred and fifty
thousand inhabitants, located on the
water edge of the islsnd of Sicily, where
my ship comes to standstil and all
passengers are allowed 70 go ashore for
six hours. After walking the Corso Vito
rio Emanuele and several other princi-
pal streets l visited the Duomo, monte di
Pieta. the fountain in Piazza Caval-
lotti the Fontuno del Nettuno, the
Piazza viale st. MARITIME, then climb
to an elevation where l had a pano.
rama. Q bird's-eye view of the entire
ethyl cannot give particulars in regard
to Messina, my time was too limited,
only say could have remained there
day or so and then given a brief des-
cription of several OF the particular
places Of interest to the visitor.
So return to nv ship and continue
south passing volcano Stromboli
which Is smoking like one of the fun
nels OF my ship, then that noted old
Mt. Etna, which is as cold as a wedge,
sight the African coast. On approch-
ing Alexandria from the sea the first
object seen is the lighthouse, then In
turn come into view Pompey's Pillar
the Khedive's summer Palace and forts l
of Rasel Teen. No sooner the steamer
had been moored at the quay than a
crowd comes abroad, representing
specimens OF almost every nation and {
tongue to take possession OF the visi- {
tors and their luggage. I
1t is estimated that the population
Of Alexandria is about 500,O OF whom
Dne-half are natives Of every kind and
the remainder a mixture of Moors, I
Arabs, Syrians, Greeks, Matte and a
mixture Of other nations. AS compar- q
I'd with Cairo there is very little to in q
:erest the traveller In Alexandria. e
Among the principal objects are the j
3azaars. Mohammed Ally square, the s
Equestrian Statue of Mohammed Ally, {
irst Kredive Of Egypt, the law Courts,
oompey's Pillar, the site where once e
'tood the mosque Of ], O0l columns, the L
)atacombs and the ancient Peninsula OF v
oharos whore the first light house ever y
rected formerly stood q
There are many different Egypts 4
which have little or nothing to do with n
ach other. There is the Egypt of the G
Egyptian who seldom or never sees a IL
oreigner, who cultivates his acre or two
nd hates all officials. There is the Q
Egypt Of the tourist, There Is the
Egypt OF the industrious and the i'm
Orted official. only there to make a
wing and leave. There is the Egypt :,
u the fnancier to whom 1t is fat land =.
With large margins OF profits on we'll +
tanned undertakings; but besides all L
hese there is the Egypt of the past. G
or ten thousand years we can trace r
hat man has been doing and how he
as lived In that land and it has proved
be the great measuring time for IL
arly civilization. In the last few years q q
be long ages OF prehistoric life and the T
$50 of the historic period have been -
rought to light and we now know q q