Montpelier examiner., 1912-11-29

much saved from it by its inhabitants,
dug out and dispersed by Plinys contemporaries
and by the barbarians who followed them even
in civilized times. On the contrary, Herculaneum
sealed In its tomb in few hours by the
mixture OF mud, ashes and scoriae, and
has even been able to reach 1t, SO high is the
mountain Of debris and hardened stone by which
1t covered. "The entombment of Hercu-
laneum" says Mr.. Waldstein, sudden. COM
plete and secure. and this was not the case with
the other Campanian cities. nor with Pompeii"
From the excavations under Resina treasures
have already been obtained. "All Europe" wrote
a correspondent of the Mercure de France In 1851,
"impatiently supports the suspense in which 1t
is held over the discoveries In ancient Hercu-
laneum, or Heraclea as 1t Is now termed In Ma
pies" But only at present has the Italian gov
ernment been able to think OF accomplishing the
gigantic task OF unearthing the entire city. and 1t
is most probable that the new tone given to the
national spirit by the war may make the charge
appear light which must be imposed upon the
budget in order to obtain complete result
In Roman official spheres there is absolutely no
knowledge of the existence of and project of Mr..
j. Pierpont Morgan for excavations at Hercu-
laneum. Mr.. Morgan's name has been mixed mp
with this question owing to the fact that MT
Charles Waldstein, the author of an international
project for unearthing the buried city. delivered
a lecture January 3. 1905. in his house In New
York with the object of collecting the money
necessary for the work, which was then estimated
at 100000 lire annually. at least
had visited Rome and spoken the matter with
the king Signor Giolitti and Signor Orlando. then
minister OF public instruction He had even OBJ
tanned from Signor Orlando a letter warmly COM
mending the project but in no way engaging his
responsibility AS soon as the idea became
known in Italy the press raised violent protests
and Signor Orlando obliged to withdraw his
moral support from Mr.. Waldstein,
Two years later an under secretary OF state
for education declared in the chamber of deputies
that the italian government reserved to itself
the faculty of making the necessary excavations
and that commission had been appointed with
this object and funds supplied to the general d.
rection of fine arts and antiquities. the direction
of which had just been placed under Signor Cor
rado Ricci world renowned writer on art
Mr. Waldstein later published an account of
his i'll luck In italy and America In a book upon
Herculaneum which was much appreciated ("Her-
culaneum Past Present and Future, by Charles
waldstein; London; Macmillan Co. 1sos)
saw Signor Giacomo Boni this morning at
TIE excavations or, Mount Palatino where he has
j,.st made some lucky finds. which led him to ask
flmbly: Am worthy of t." He declared to
me that ne knew nothing of any project OF Mr
]. Pierpont Morgan in regard to the question of
excavations at Herculaneum-a question. more
over. that has been settled.
Signor Corrado Ricci, general director of fine
arts and antiquities, repeated the same thing to
me- He added. "The italian government will
never-I repeat never-giye permission to any
one whatever to search the soil of the fatherland
We are not Turkey Even though foreign gov
ernments should express the desire to excavate In
certain places to complete their studies we sioud
hasten to undertake the work ourselves at our
own expense and to place the material unearthed
at the disposal of whoever wishes to study them
This is what we have just done for the Grand
Duchy of Baden which desired to know what was
hidden under the soil of Loeria In Crotona, ID