The Ordway new era., 1915-07-30

strange accounts of the e1
ploits of German army spies
in all parts OF Europe, but
surely the strangest of all Ii
that they have concealed themselves
In the Catacombs of Rome in order
to spy on the operations Of the Ital.
ian army. says writer In the New
York American.
Where the earliest Christians CON
structed these wonderful secret hid.
ing places in the rock to escape the
'bloodthirsty tyranny Of the Roman
cmperors. these efficient moderns have
concealed themselves for the purposes
Of war. Where the earliest Christians
sought refuge to conduct their sacred
services in safety. the modern mill
tarists have made q stronghold for
the most subtle and deadly objects
Of the gospel Of war.
The Catacombs furnish an almost
impresnable hiding place. for there
are about sixty of them in all. with
uncounted entrances. and the winding
passages within them are perhaps
two hundred miles In &ength. Their
exact length has never been measured.
but as they wind about one under the
other until there are often fve or six
of them IN depth. It win be easily un-
derstood that they may have at least
that length. They are Just outside
the ancient city walls and are exca-
vated in q kind Of rock called Tufa,
which. though soft. holds its form
when excavated.
Endless Maze Of Galleries.
The Catacombs now consist of. an
endless maze Of galleries. This was
not the original condition. but the re-
suit Of the gradual evolution through
centuries. during which one genera
ton after another added to their COM
plications. During the first and Sec
ond centuries some Of the Roman
Christians built small catacombs for
the burial OF themselves. their fam
lily and friends. These usually con-
sisted Of square chamber. In which
q single gallery ran around the sides.
about eight feet high by three feet
wide, in whose sides were cut recesses
called "loculi," one above the other,
to receive the bodies.
Persons of distinction were buried
in special chambers. or cubicula,
which opened out Of these galleries,
and for these burials carved sar-
cophagi were often used. placed in
arched inches or "arcosolia." These
recesses it appears. have been used
as hiding places for the food. fuel and
papers of the German spies.
Usually some early Christian mar.
tyr was buried In such chambers and
his tomb served as an altar at which
religious services were afterward .cele-
brated. n 5
AZ the number Of Roman Christians
increased in early times and conse-
cuently the number Of burials. the
originally small catacombs were HON
eycombed with galleries and extern
sions When one story of them was
NO longer sufficient. stairways were
made, and another system Of galleries
excavated beneath. This was fol-
lowed, II necessary. by a third. fourth.
fifth or even sixth story of galleries.
The catacomb Of St. Calixtus occu-
pied leading position, and here the
bishops of Rome of the third century
were buried in q special crypt. 1t
10 said that this catacomb concealed
the principal headquarters of the Ger
man spy organization.
During this ancient period passages
were gradually cut to connect the
neighboring catacombs. thus Joining
the whole of them together into an
endless labyrinth. through which no.
body but an experienced person, such
as one of the monks orr church off,
cials, put in charge off these places.
was likely to find his way. Indeed.
there are sruesome stories Of Scuri-
GUS Americans in modern times who
have tried to explore these catacombs
alone and have lost themselves and
starved to death. A trained track
er," however. with proper lights and
some method of marking hts, track.
would have no great difficulty iufnd-
ing his way out again after 2 tftp to
the deeper recesses. .'
History Of the cataeombs.
The catacombs reached their high
est development in the middle OF the