Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-21

Berlin and to the British Museum. or
had been bought by private collectors.
Casius Caesar, nicknamed Caligula
because he always wore "caligae" or
military sandals, reigned from 81 to Al
! AID, so there can be no doubt of the
approximate date of the galleyS Cali
gula's idea of building these luxurious
pleasure boats was not original, but
other monarchs in even more remote
times had constructed floating palaces
with sleeping apartments. baths, NINA
ture temples and magnificent banquet.
ing halls, embelllshed with gold and
silver ornaments and with precious
works of art.
Several Theories on Sinking.
Several theories have been advanced
| to explain the sinking of the boats:
According TO the most romantic and
| improbable Of all, during one OF his
midnight orgies Caligula, perceiving that
his guests were half unconscious from
wine, thought 1t good joke to revive
them by cold bath. So he secretly
gave orders to effect large openings in
the bottom of the boats. which were
slowly engulfed with their flower crown-
ed merrymakers. Caligula had pre-
viously rowed ashore, whence he enjoyed
the scene of terror. But this must be
regarded as one of the many fairy
tales forming the legendary lore of Lake
Nemi. When the ships have been re-
covered a "post-mortem" examination
of the hulls will show finally whether
there was any truth in the story.
Prof. Paribeni and other archeolo-
gists believe that after long period OF
abandonment an attempt was made to
draw the ship to the shore to plumber
them with greater ease. But owing TO
the heavy superstructures OF the almost
f1at-bottomed boats and to some mis-
take in towing. operations they prop
ably turned turtle and sank.
According to Gen. Malfatti. naval en-
gineer who first accurately measured
the vessels In 1908, the one closer in
shore is "a meters long by 20 wide,
while the other ship. lying in much
deeper water, is II meters by 24.5O.
Must Lower Lake Level.
To leave the galleys high and dry 1t
is necessary to lower the level OF the
lake by about % meters. pumping 81
million cubic meters Of water through
the underground outlet built by the
ancient Romans, and leaving million
cubic meters. thus reducing the surface
of the lake from l,7l9,ooo square meters
to only 100000.
The government did not feel justified
in ,expending five million lire on ven
ture which, however interesting, is not
without uncertainty. So group Of i'm
portant italian firms, carried away by
the enthusiasm Mussolini put into his
speech. volunteered to drain the lake
at:their own expense.
The Milan firm of Riva, hydraulic en-
gineers. the Roman Gas and Electricity
Go. and the Latium Electricity Co., rep
resented by three experts, Guido Uceli
/ Guido Fano and Augusta Biagini. start
ed work. and the huge electric pumps
we're soon lowering the level of the lake
about centimeters every "a hours
! After his speech before the Roman
Historical Society, Mussolini, turning. to
/ the then Minister for Public Instruction
Signor Pietro Fedele, said half jokingly
| and half in earnest: And now you must
set to work, but remember that II you
! don't succeed in recovering the galley'
you had better prepare to take a plunge
| in the lake yourself"
(Copyrieht, 1929, by North American News
paper Alliance.)