THE RUINS OF POMPEII : EXCAVATIONS IN THE OLD ROMAN CITY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3100, 13 August 1913, Page 45 (Supplement)

THE RUINS OF POMPEII : EXCAVATIONS IN THE OLD ROMAN CITY.

he time of its destruction in 79 A.D., by an eruption of Vesuvius. Pompeii was a prosperous trading town of between 20.000 and 30,0000 inhabitants. The city was buried in pumice and ashes to a depth of 12ft. For more than 1600 years Pompieii lay undisturbed by the hand of man. At length, in 1689, some ruins were noticed, but it was not till 1755 that any excavations were made. Since 1860 the excavations have been carried on systematically, but up to the present time not much more than half the city has been excavated. The remains found are in a remarkably gooa state of preservation, owing to tlie fact that the city was destroyed not by lava, but by showers of sand, ashes, and cinders, forming a light covering, which found its way into every nook, and, as it were, hermetically sealed up the town.

TWO SCENES AT LAKE COLERIDGE, CANTERBURY, THE SITE OF THE GOVERNMENT’S HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER WORKS.

WINNERS AT THE SOUTH CANTERBURY PLOUGHING MATCH, HELD ON THURSDAY, JULY 24.