SUNK SHIPS OF CAESAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19768, 16 February 1927, Page 8

SUNK SHIPS OF CAESAR

MAY BE SALVED DRAINING LAKE NEMI. The project to drain Lake Ncmi in the hope of recovering the two great Roman galleys that lie at the bottom, is viewed with misgiving by the people of the village of Nemi. Though no scheme of draining has yet been decided on, an Italian Government Commission* is considering plans for the salvage of these relics of the Caesars. The inhabitants of the picturesque village in tho heart of the Alban hills demur at the mere possibility of losing, even for a time, the beautiful sheet of blue water, called by the Ancients “Diana’s Mirror.” j The galleys, which were floating pleasure palaces, were built and launched on the lake by Caligula, doubtless to form an occasional plcasiant refuge from his strenuous life of crime in Rome. They were encrusted with marbles and precious metals, adorned with statuary, while the sails were of the finest linen and the hangings woven with silver and gold. After the lapse of 19 centuries their dark outlines can be faintly seen at the bottom of the lake on clear still days. Wood for Home Fires. Though an assurance has been given thatthe ships, when reclaimed, will be placed in a museum, on the shores of the lake, which will draw visitors from all parts of the world, the fear still remains that once the waters arc pumped into the near-by Lake Albano they will never return to Ncmi. It has been estimated that for the work of draining the lake eight, years must pass, as there are 30,000,000 cubic metres of water to be pumped out of one lake into the other. During those years Ncmi’s principal in- ' dustry, which is the tourist trade will languish, as the blue lake will no long- ■ er attract strangers to its banks. There are many who say that little, : if anything, remains of tho Imperial ) ships, as fishermen, when in need of 5 winter fuel, exploded dynamite charges 3 into the blue waters. This brought to - the surface a llargc quantity of hard 5 wood, which gave out beautiful flames I of blue and green. J. Decks of Porphyry. s Besides this possibility of not findS ing remains of these gorgeous galleys with their decks paved with porphyry and serpentine disks, and lines of green, gold, rod and white enamel, - there is still another difficulty. s With the excavating which will be s necessary in order to remove one of s the ships, will the beautiful blue, of 1 the lake be changed when the waters v are pumped back? d But these objections of the / of Nemi will not be allowed to interr fere with the project of raising the r Imperial ships, once the commission ;- has decided svhat plan is most likely to e succeed.