The Oskaloosa herald., 1912-08-08
EDITOR AND WIFE ABROAD.
Charles Nssdham, OF the Mentezuma Republican, Tells
Italy, and he Sad News Rseslved on aeaehins Paris.

at an open air cafe, hearing a band
concert--the moon came sailing ur
over the high buildings and with one
accord we hailed taxi cabs and hik
ed to see the old Colosseum by moon
light. 1t was one of those made to
order" nights, cool, still and white
We felt like ghosts and saw things
that looked like ghosts but they
proved to be solitary Americans, Ger.
mans or Englishmen. We were there
probably couple of hours and at
midnight We were quite a gathering
of nations. On Sunday evening while
In Rome we attended a concert In the
Borghese Gardens-a band of 400
pieces of the audience estimated al
100000 people.
Some Hungry People.
From Rome We ran down to Naples,
ARRIVING there July 3. We had drive
the same afternoon and happened at
the habor just as they were loading
soldiers to go to Tripole, great
sight. Then We drove through the
poor quarters, and | wish we hadn't
We bought spaghetti and macaroni,
Iready-to-eat. and all the youngsters
had their All. One hid yelled "Ameri
cans" and they seemed to come up out
Of the ground and drop from the skies
and they had 10 more clothing
than sky babies either. Naked, dirty,
hungry little animals, they fought
over the noodles like so many puppies.
Grady gave pennies right and left and
| finally he said for Gods sake let a
lget out of here never want to see
a place like this again, unless / bring
barrel of money"
Visited Burial City.
Next day, July 4, Grady, Bethume,
Mr.. and Mrs. Rayburn and "Swithe.
rs's as we called Powell Rayburn, all
went to see the buried city of Pom,
peii. We spent about thee hours ex.
ploring this long buried city, sudden.
ly covered with ashes in A. D. 70, and
brought to light in 174S. Here we saw
how the ancient Romans lived and
loved and played. Here we saw their
temples, their theatres, their homes
Of luxury, out of which 1t seems but
day since they moved. No where
does the long-gone past seem 50 real
as there.
At Crater of Vesuvius.
From Pompeii we drove to the new
crater of Mt. Vesuvius, from which
the terrible rivers of lava flowed six
years ago. Since that time Vesuyius
has been quiet. The streams OF lava
poured down the mountain side and
destroyed everything in their path
We saw where houses were complete,
ly buried, others filed half full as II
poured into windows and doors like
so much molasses and hardened into
the hardest stone. The seven streams
are petrified on the mountain side and
in the valley as they came. Our driv.
er and guide was an eye witness to
the last eruption and he said the lava
was as red as fame as it came. One
hundred and sixty villagers ran i1to
a church to pray for their lives. The
church was in the path of a stream
of lava and it filed to depth OF six
feet with this molten mass. Not soul
escaped.
They are still excavating at Pom
peii and one can see the sort of mater
ial which buried the city. 1t Is ma
Iterial like fine ashes and Cfnders and
1T is easy to excavate except such
great care has to be taken not to
destroy the buried treasure-but this
lava is adifferent matter. Once cold
1T Is as hard as flint, except thin
4 layer on top, which is porous and
crumbles easily.
A Rare Fourth.
1t surely was a rare Fourth of
July celebration. Grady and Bethume
were sons of Confederate soldiers,
Mrs. Rayburn's father fought with the
South, Rayburn'. father and my own
were soldiers In the Union army.
Grady was orator of the day and we
all sang the Star Spangled Banner.
We had a picnic dinner a. Pompeii
and returned to Naples that night to
find our dinner table at the hotel de-
coraed with flowers and American
flags. Cutest of all while at dinner,
tiny Girl, a little singer of the
streets, climbed into the wi dow and
sang John Browns Body" in the
funniest English you could imagine.
An Englishman had spent the day and
all his pennies coaching her. A sail
on the beautiful Bay OF Naples and
our day was done.
On our way from Naples here we
stopped at Rome, Pisa, Genoa, Monte