GEOGRAPHY. TRAVEL, ARCHITECTURE 



559 



like some umbrella pine of the neighborhood, 

 till it assumed the proportions of a great swarthy 

 cloud, dense with asnes, pumice, and red-hot 

 stones, settling down with a force increased by 

 the rain-torrents that intermittently fell. For 

 three days the flight of the inhabitants contin- 

 ued till Pompeii was abandoned by all who 

 could effect their escape. By the fourth day 

 the sun had partially reappeared, and the more 

 courageous of the citizens began to return for 

 such of their property as they could disinter. 

 The reigning emperor, Titus, organized relief on 

 an imperial scale, and even undertook the clear- 

 id rebuilding of the city. This attempt 

 was soon abandoned, and Pompeii remained a 

 heap of hardened mud and ashes, gradually 



<>wn with grass the wall of the great 

 theater and the outline of the amphitheater 

 alone marking its site till 1592, when the 

 architect Fontana, in cutting an aqueduct, came 

 on some ancient buildings. Unsystematic, un- 

 scientific excavations proceeded fitfully till 1860, 

 when the Italian kingdom took in hand the un- 

 earthing of the city. This was carried out with 

 admirable ingenuity, care, and success, and it 

 now attracts the pilgrim from every clime for 

 the object lessons it is unique in affording as to 

 the public and private life of antiquity. House 

 eon-t ruction consists mainly of concrete or 

 brick, and sometimes of stone blocks, especially 

 at the comers. Two-storied, sometimes three- 

 storied, houses are numerous, though the upper 

 floors, built of wood, have been consumed by 

 the eruption. Stores usually occupied the 

 ground floors of dwelling houses, on their street 

 aspect, let out to merchants or dealers as at the 

 present day, but not connected with the back 

 part of the house. They could be separated 

 from the street by large wooden doors, while 



they had tables covered with marble, in 

 which earthern vessels for wine or oil were in- 

 The storekeeper had sometimes a sec- 

 ond room at the back, when he did not live on 

 an upper floor or in another part of the town, 

 traffic must have been considerable at 

 Pompeii, to judge from the number of those 

 stores along the streets. Only a personal visit 

 nn convey an idea of the indoor life of the Pom- 

 peiians, with whom the absence of glass, the 



s of the openings in the street aspect of 

 the house wall, and the protection of these with 

 iron gratings are among the points noted by the 

 most casual visitor. As rebuilt after 63, rom- 



lows little marble, the columns being of 



tufa or brick cemented by mortar. A coat in*; 



is laid over wall or column and pre- 



! an ample field for ornamental paint inn. 



i list have given to Pompeii its bright, gay 

 culoriiiL', which, with its reds, blues, and yellows, 

 "ii column ana capital, on wall and partition, 

 harmonize so well with the glowing sunlight of 

 the south. 



I 'nit A rt h ur, a strongly-fortified port com- 

 manding the northern promontory enclosing the 

 (iulf of IVchili, in China. It was taken by storm 

 by the Japane.se in the war of 1894, but Japan 

 mp.-ll.-d to restore it, in return for an 



d indemnity. l>y Ku i:i. < iennanv, and 

 i in.i. h.>wev<T. gained nothing by in- 

 voking this European intervention. Port Arthur 



being occupied by Russia in December, 1897, 

 immediately after the seizure of Kiao-Chau by 

 Germany. In the spring following, Russia se- 

 cured by "lease" both Port Arthur and Talien- 

 wan, with other advantages, which gave her the 

 command of Manchuria and a sort of tacit ac- 

 knowledgment that this portion of China be- 

 longed to her exclusive sphere of influence. The 

 i Russians, under Gen. Stossel, were successfully 

 besieged here bv the Japanese under Gen. Nogi, 

 July, 1904, to January 1, 1905. At the close of 

 the war, the lease was transferred to Japan by 

 the treaty of Portsmouth, in 1905. As the ter- 

 minus of a branch of the Siberian Railway, Port 

 Arthur is an important strategic point. 



Porto Rico, a West Indian island; sev- 

 enty miles east of Haiti; till 1898 a colony of 

 Spain; area, 3,600 square miles; population, 

 953,243; capital, San Juan, metropolis, Ponce. 

 Under the provisions of the Spanish-American 

 peace protocol the American flag was officially 

 raised and the island formally transferred to the 

 United States on October 18, 1898. The Span- 

 ish form of the name of the island is Puerto 

 Rico ; but an act of the United States Congress, 

 approved April 12, 1900, established the official 

 form as Porto Rico. The people are most loyal 

 in their devotion to their new country and are 

 solicitous to be regarded as a part of the United 

 States. While there is a great amount of wealth 

 in the island, and in many places evidence of 

 great prosperity, rich plantations, and promise 

 of a great future for Porto Rico, throughout the 

 interior of the island, the people are poor and 

 their homes are of the poorest character, con- 

 sisting almost altogether of "shacks" con- 

 structed of the palm and covered with a straw 

 thatch or palm leaves. Into the cities and these 

 homes is crowded a large population, variously 

 estimated from 800,000 to 1,000,000. They are 

 generally a peaceful and law-abiding people, and 

 while there is unquestionably some lawlessness, 

 and some small offenses are being committed. 

 they do not exceed, if they equal, the number 

 being committed in the States of a like popula- 

 tion. It has been estimated that from 10 to 

 20 per cent, only of the people can read and 

 write. The people are anxious to have their 

 children educated, and are exceedingly solicitous 

 for the establishment of public schools. Thero 

 is no starvation upon the island, and while there 

 is great poverty in many plan cannot 



be any real starvation in Porto Kim. for tlu 

 reason that the people live frugally and are con- 

 tent with little, while the soil and the climato 

 are so productive of many of the simple neces- 

 saries of life that it would be almost impossible 

 to starve a people who live upon tropical fruits 

 and tropical vegetable productions. Vegetables 

 !l kinds known to our climate grow in abun- 

 dunce. Irish potatoes arc not a success. There 

 are no plums, cherries, or grapes. It would 

 seem that there would l>e no difficulty in L-: 

 inn grapes, but so far they have not been t 

 Indian corn is raised with some success, and 

 while the ears are small, that is made up by the 

 fact that two and even three crops can be gi 



lv on the same ground. Thi- can be grown 

 cither in the valleys or on the hillsides. No 

 wheat is grown on the island. At present all 



