The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1911-06-23
How | Became an
Archaeologist
BY ARNOLD L. TINKAM
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.


gave me an unconquerable desire to
see the Eternal City. l wished to visit
the chasm, or at least the place where
it was, into which Quintus Curt;us
leaped on horseback, the remaining pill
lars of the temple erected to the two
beautiful strangers, Castor and Pol
lux, who watered their horses in the
forum after the battle of Lake Regillus,
and the bridge that Horatius defended
so valiantly. There was no prospect
of my ever visiting Italy, for l had
not the means even to take me to col
lege.
But / was q good deal of dreamer,
and, my fancy getting fixed on my OBJ.
ject, l couldn't turn 1t upon anything
else. The only practical result was
resolve to save up" as children put
it, with a view to getting enough mon
ey to take me to Rome, keep me there
long enough to get hurried view Of
what l wished to see and bring me
back to America.
By the time l was eighteen years
old had acquired this amount. I sup
pose l should have spent it in starting
me upon a college education, but l did
not bought q second class ticket on
ship crossing the Atlantic and pro-
ceeding through the Mediterranean to
Naples. 1 remained at Naples long
| enough to visit Pompeii. then went by
rail to Rome.
At first was disappointed in getting
into a modern commercial city, but
when / struck some of the landmarks
| of ancient Rome-the Pantheon, the
arches of Constantine and Titus, the
Coliseum was not long in forgetting
the modern in my rapture over the an
cient. When l had exhausted Rome
itself l was seized with desire to
visit its environs. had read of the
Campagna as it was when covered
with farms and villas.
But by the time l had seen Rome it.
self my money was all gone. hadn't
enough even to buy a return trip ticket
to America. 1 was stranded in q for
eign country. What could I do
What did do? J followed the genius
of archaeology that was strong within
me. Reading a notice in a newspaper
that an eXcavating party was to make
a search for the ruins of q certain villa
some fifty miles from the city, hired
myself as a digger to the archaeolOgist
in charge, went with him and dug with
the rest. In his reading he had hit
upon a description of the site, but
could only confirm his views by bur
rowing in the ground. In other words
he must hunt for that for which he
was looking.
We dug three days, at the end OF
which time my employer gave up the
J search. During this time / put in my
spade here and there on my own ac
count, with no result. When the par
ty went back to Rome i asked for my
pay, few Ira, and they returned
without me. 1 had seen a stone pro
jecting from the soil at some distance
from where we were digging that seem
ed to me to have been artificially shap
5 ed, and wished to investigate 1t.
! AS soon as the party were gone
began to dig about this stone. l found
that it rested on another, to which il
was fixed by mortar. This in turf
rested on another. Then l came to q
wall. followed the wall for dozen
feet and came to an angle. The TOT
of the wall was five or six feet from
the surface, and l was not likely tC
= find anything of value at less depth
] dug all day, and as the evening was
coming on, some ten feet below the
surface, my spade struck something
hard. 1 shuddered, for by this time
knew that was liable to ruin treas
ure. These villas were Ornamentet
with statues-some Of them very beau
tiful-and every year they are found
had with me a scoop and, throwing
down my spade, began to dig abOu
the hard substance with the smaller
implement. 1t was round. In few
minutes uncovered a marble head.
Had l discovered a mine Of mex
haustible gold l could not have beer
more delighted. / scooped ava!
}. enough earth to tell me that l hat
t found q statue. But it was by thi'
time too late to look any further.
threw back the loose earth, marked
the spot with a stake and hurriet
: away from the fever stricken Cam
pagna that might not be caught Their
after nightfall.
The next morning I went to the al
chaeologist who had conducted tn
search and told him of my find. l
would have been illegal for me to re
move the statue myself, and l pre-
ferred to proceed under his superin
tendence. He was as much delighte'
at my luck as was myself. We start
. ed at once for the hole l had dug
removed the loose earth and expose'
the marble. We could tell nothing
about it except that the face was yer.
l beautiful.
We dug about the statue till W
could see that it was the figure of
woman, the drapery being ancient Re
man.
The archaeologist before leavin
Rome had left word for workmen t
follow, and when they arrived tn
statue was removed. 1t proved to b
I Of great value. had struck the sit
Of the villa for which we had searched
and other articles were found in Il
though none In as good condition a
this. T received a remuneration fo
my find, but what / valued more wa
being taken as a student by the ma
who had employed me to dig for hin
| spent q number of years under hi
tuition and by my own efforts hav
contributed to the contents Of the mt
seums In no small degree.