Show MODERN ROME A most wonderful transformation is being rapidly effected in tbe construction con-struction cud app3arance cf the Eternal City When some foutecn yeara ago the troops of Victor Emmanuel Em-manuel made their entry by the Porta Pia the condition of Rome was deplorable de-plorable in respect to the narrow noisome streets the acoumulatsd piles of filth on all aides and the lazy dirty habits of the inhabitants The Italian government however immediately on taking possession of the long coveted capital instituted a vigorous system of municipal reforms re-forms and although ths projected changes involved an enormous outlay out-lay they have been to a great extent carried out and now a large portion of Rome presents an aspect la nowise no-wise inferior to that of the other great centres of Europe The entire Esquilioe quarter is laid out in broad handsome streets and Equarea lined with imposing buildings Oleanlineos is carefully maintained throu hout the city by an army of street sweep era whose brooms are kept in constant con-stant action and the lavished water supply said to be the finest in the world besides being utilized innumerous in-numerous public fountains carries I its cleansing stream into all the newly constructed dwellings and into many ol the old houses a3 well As a result of this sanitary reform the dread Roman fever is rapidly disappearing and will probably ere many years have passed have become a tradition exciting wonder that the old order of things under the pontifical government govern-ment could ever have been endured One of the most admirable features in this great work of improvement is the intelligent care that baa been evinced in preserving and partially restoring ho relics of imperial and medieval Rome Through a thousand thou-sand years of neglect and positive destruction systematically pursued the ruins have been so degraded that it required the eye of faith to assimilate assimi-late them with the traditions of the mighty mistress rrf f the world It is true restoration cannot as yet extend beyond merely arresting tha progress of ruin but this at least is being done most effectively Wherever a ruined wall or tottering arch requires support sup-port bricklayers and stonemasons are set to work and the damage is repaired repair-ed while the distinctive features of ruins are intelligently preserved For instance in the excavations of the forum which are being activoy prosecuted the remains of the house of the vestals were uncovered and here the ruins were carefully propped up each brick numbered to fi the space whence it loll and the fragments frag-ments of cornice together vith the vestiges of Ireecoed walls fitted carefully care-fully into position so that this moat interesting reLc of the last centuries of the empire is nw good for another couple of hundred of years even if i no other steps should be taken for its further restoration During the work of excavation in the house of the veatals while digging in the cellars lying under one of the chambers cham-bers the workmen came upon a number of large jars amphoiae many of them broken but with eome few intact and among theses latter was one sealed with hard wax blackened black-ened with age and sealing oil in lay era On being opened this jar was found to be full of a dark viscid substance sub-stance which on inveatinglion proved to be oil and was undoubtedly such as was used by the vestals to feed the saced flame on their altar from which as is well known to students of history the fire was distributed dis-tributed to all the sacrificial altars in Rome This curious find after its interment of some 1500 years ha been the source of the liveliest antis faction among archaeologists and ba attracted quite a number of savants to Rome on the qui vive for any fur thur discoveries of a similar nature that may be made While digging for the foundations of a theatre a superb recumbent statue of Venus Hermaphrodite was discovered executed in the finest style of Greek art This statue which has but one counterpart in the world namely the famous hermaphrodite her-maphrodite in the gallery of the Louvre is ranked among the most perfect specimens of ancient art and would if intact be considered price less Unfortunately It has been mutilated in that one leg is gone but even as it is it was taken by one of the Oostanzi creditory at a valuation valua-tion of 30000 francs and the present owner declares that he would not part with it for less than three times that amount It is difficult to arrive at a just appreciation ap-preciation of the almost exhaustless mine of antique treasures lying beneath the accumulation of soil in Rome Under the city of the middle ages are interred the marbles bronzes columns and statues which embel ished the residences of nobles and patricians under the Caesars Some conception of this may be formed when it is told that for more than 400 years not a single slab of marble been has brought into the city and never thelessthe prodigality of this precious material is noticeable at every turn in churches and palaces in the lowliest low-liest dwellings and shops even in stables and cow pens In byways and noisome close lanes exquisite bits of sculpture have been mixed with common com-mon building material Wherever I the spade turns over a square foot of I ground fragments of statuary and I basrelief are found in the black soil and for many years under the pontifical ponti-fical government the lime used in Rome was manufactured exclusively from the marbles that once adorned the dwellings of a Cesar or embellish cd the temples of the gods This wholesale vandalism is almost inconceivable I I incon-ceivable but happily an effective check has been put upon any further destruction and in the course of time the world may yetsee the restoration in part at least of the existing relics of the grandeur of imperial Rome fSt Paul Pioneer Frees |