VOLUME XXX NO. 7 - Mines Magazine - Colorado School of Mines

hot ashes and pumice in 79 A . D.),with a card bearing my name so 1crops in the fields but we did notewidth. T w o other men from the of­the Hali of Justice, lots of stores andturned my baggage over to him andalfalfa, cabbage, sugar cane, cotton,fice were also going so all three ofshops, and the Temple of Apollo inmarched down the gangplank to berice, and something like corn. Thereus donned our Tuxes, ate supper to­which we found several interestingmet by a company representative.Withwere many water buffalo, some graz­gether, and at 9:15 were at thestatues. One with a hole in the backhim to steer me it was a matter ofing, some plowing, others walking intheater,—supper, by the way, is servedof its head had formerly had that holemoments to pass the customs and ina circle attached to a pole thatturnedin Egypt at 8:00 P. M . W e managedconnected by a pipe with an under­a few minutes more we were at thea water wheel to furnish irrigationto stay for the first act but then weground chamber so that a priestcouldSocony-Vacuum canning factory orfor the fields. There were manyskipped. As we went out the manact as the voice of the oracle andthusshipping department. Here 1 met theburros, as usual carrying enormousat the door who had tickets for re-impress the people. Another rathermanager and was sent on a tour oftheloads, and quite a few camels —admission asked "Are you comingstartling one was of an hermaphroditeplant.dromedaries I think is a better termback?" In unison we replied "Whatbut we were told there were severalsuch statues and paintings in the ruinsas the Pompeiians seemed to featuresuch unusual persons.The Forum or main public squarewas quite large, and here we turnednorth I believe. At any rate we wentthru a public bath house and saw thehot, tepid and cold water and steambaths, the dressing room with itsbrasier to supply heat, and poles forhanging up clothes, some more castsof people trapped here, possibly slaves,and numerous small statues.Our route led us by many housesand gardens where we could see prettyfountains and mosaics, tbe house BulwarLytton described in his "LastIDays of Pompeii," and finally one ofthe finest homes yet unearthed, that ofthe Brothers Vettii. Many houses bythe way, are known now by the designin the mosaic forming the floor bythe front door. There is tbe "Homeof the Dog," "Home of the W i l dBoar," etc.In tbe fine house tho we foundthat the artium because of lack ofwindows, had a square hole to admitlight in the roof, while under it inthe floor was a catch basin or poolto catch the rain water and carry itoff. By the front door was a paintingthat for respectability sake has beencovered up with a door and locked, butis shown to men visitors with specialpermit, and to women by themselveswho tip the guide,—never to mixedgroups.Inside the house is a patio withgarden, statues, original Roman leadpipes, etc. Formerly there was anotherstatue here but it is now hidden withsome very spicy pictures in a side roomand only shown by special permit. W ehad one. Oif of this patio are severalrooms with the original paintings,most of them of mythological subjects,still on the walls. T o a casual observerthey are not so bad but to thebetter initiated some are rare, particularlythe one of the wooden cowor origin of the Minotaur of Crete.There is also a vomitorium off thedining room, just a plain room with acatch basin in the floor. The Romancustom was to eat until full, retire tothis room for a few minutes, then returnand enjoy another meal.From here we wandered pastnumerous old houses and gardenswithmosaics and fountains to the middleclass red light district where our permitagain gained admission. Herethe small rooms, stone beds, rare andspicy wall paintings, and scratches onthe walls were veryinteresting.Unfortunately our time was runningshort and we couldn't take inthearena, tragic theater, etc., but we didget to see public drinking fountainsshowing stone walls worn by drinkers'hands, stepping stones across thestreets at intersections for pedestrians,and ruts worn by chariot wheels in thestone roads.W e went back by the main street orStreet of Abundance, got a kick outof the sign on one of the stones in thestreet pointing to house No. 4 or redlight of the rich. W e didn't enter asall of the paintings, etc., have beenput in the Museum in Naples, andonly the shell of the inside remains.Back past the voting chamber andthru the Forum we soon regainedour car and headed for Naples. W eran out of gas shortly after we enteredtown, fortunately near a service stationor rather pump, and herelearnedhow a car can be weaned for ourchauffeur bought a litre (roughly aquart)of gas which is the daily rationper car, except for business trips likeours. Gas, by the way, is five and ahalf lires a litre which figures out atover a dollar a gallon.W e didn't see much of Naples exceptthe University, an old fort, amonastery or something on a hill, andthat is about all. W e reached the shipwith a few minutes to spare andsailedat 4:00 P. M.—dead tired but gloriouslyhappy. W e passed betweenCapri and Sorrento and were soonheaded for the open sea to the south.At 11:30 P. M . just before tbemoon set we came within sight ofthe fiery crater of Stromboli. Itbrightened and showed activity ahoutevery ten minutes for the next hourand a half, and once flared high andmade a grand spectacle. By the timewe were abreast of the volcano tho, themoon was down and nothing couldbe seen of its general form.Tbe night was so dark I gave upall hope of seeing the Straits of Messina,between the toe of the boot andSicily, and went to bed. At four A . M .the ship slowed down to pass thru thestraits and the change in vibration ofthe engine woke me up. One look outthe port hole and I grabbed a bathrobeand dashed on deck—the only passengerthat got to see the sight. Thestrait was rather narrow, and linedwith houses, streets, etc., all lighted uplike a church on Sunday night. Tbetwo long lines of light against a pitchdark background made the scene looklike the "Great White Way," and asight not soon to be forgotten. Hopeto see the towns by daylight next time.While in Italy by the way we gota few Fascist salutes, chiefly fromofficials but sometimes by individuals.It was more like an official salute andfar less obnoxious than the Nazi salutewith its accompanying "Heil Hitler"so universal in Germany. Giving itwas easy and natural to a "Heil Hitler"expert like myself and I gave itperfectly to the first one who sprangit on me even if a fraction of a secondlate.There followed two days of perfectlycalm weather, a barely perceptablevibration from the engines beingthe only motion. W e thot we weregoing to see Crete but the ship took amore southerly course and neversighted land.Thursday morning, December 21st,just twenty-six days after sailing fromNew York, we were at Alexandria.A government boat met us outside theharbor and inspected the passengerlist, passports, manifest, etc., then permittedus to enter the harbor anddock. A custom's porter came aboardIt was an interesting trip for theymake it all here including the can.Old barrels and cans are reconditioned,different grades of oil areblended, and, if I understood correctly,even the machinery was made locally.While this was all very interestingthe high light was a small storeroomcut in rock and kept closed by alocked door. It seems that in buildingthe plant they cut into a hillside toobtain more space and ran into thisold crypt with Greek columns whichhad been cut by band from the rockover 2500 years ago. Originally itwas full of bones but they disintegratedas soon as touched. One roomhad been filled up to make space forthe factory but two more were openand used for storage space. Cut inone wall were a number of compartmentsfrom two of which led tunnels.M y guide, the plant engineer, toldme that one went sixty feet to anotherchamber full of bones and the secondled toward the heart of town. He hadfollowed it for a kilometer or two butthe air was bad and he came out withoutfinding where it led to.The manager's car then took us uptownwhere I got some money changedand bought a newspaper, "The EgyptianMail." The monetary unit hereis the Egyptian pound which has aslightly higher value than the Britishpound,—that is a little over four dollars.It is divided into one hundredpiasters, and that, or possibly tbe halfpiaster, is about the smallest unit theAmericans use. There is anothercalled the millieme, I think, ten ofwhich make a piaster. The sights inAlexandria were all strange but asthey were much the same as in CairoI'll describe some of them later as Igo along.At the depot 1 found myself slatedfor a first class compartment togetherwith a Standard of Caiifornia manand a Shell man I bad known on the"Exochorda." The train pulled outat 12:15 P. M . on the dot and at3:05 P. M . we arrived in Cairo, eatingenroute.There were many strange sightsalong the way so that the time passedall too quickly. The Nile delta, ofcourse, was flat as a pancake, and almostentirely under cultivation. BeingDecember there weren't manyas all we saw only had one hump.I saw one haystack ambling down theroad but as the train went by a camelshead was seen to stick out the frontend. There were also some regularcattle, geese, chickens, herons orcranes, and some other animals.The little farming villages werecollections of mud or adobe hutsusually more or less surrounded by awall. They reminded me very muchof Mexican settlements in parts ofNew Mexico but nowhere did redchili peppers hang from the roofswhich, by the waj', seemed to beof straw or brush.madeAlmost all the men in the countrywore a sort of white cap or turban,and a flowing grey nightshirt. O ntheir feet were sandals so that theyflop-flopped along as they walked.These villagers are also common inthe cities but generally the red fezpredominates there altho the nightshirtis still popular. I could see asort of vest at the top and front oftbe garment, and traces of an undershirtbut wondered what else wereunderneath. Finally tho at a railroadstation my curiosity was satisfied asone man raised his skirt to get somemoney, and underneath I found hewore a baggy pair of poorly fittingtrousers, or rather breeches, with sidepockets. W h y the nightshirt unlesshe was ashamed of the cut of hisbreeches I don't know as it wasn'tnecessary, hut it really looked almostimmodest to see him raise it and gofor a trouser pocket.In Cairo I was met hy the ChiefGeologist who took me to the CarltonHotel where a room awaited me, andafter washing up I went to the ofiiceto meet some of the gang.Believe it or not winter office hourshere are 8:30 to 1:00, and 4:00 to6:00 from Monday thru Friday, andfrom 8:30 to 1:00 on Saturday. Insummer I have been told they workfrom 8:00 to 2:30 and quit for tbeday, but that remains to be seen. Theoffice boj'S run around in jet-blacknightshirts and fezzes, and wear aSocony-Vacuum badge over theirhearts.M r . Fath gave me two tickets fora theatrical benefit for the British RedCross which he was unable to use,altho I only needed one in spite of mydo you think?" and out we went. Itwas ham performance and the acousticswere terrible.Cairo is said to be one of the mostcosmopolitan cities in the world, andthat isn't much of an exaggeration.Most of the women wandering aroundtho are foreigners as Egyptian womengenerally seem to obey the Koran andstay home,—or if they do go out areusually escorted, and many wear adiaphanous veil, tho not all. M e n apparentlyhold all the jobs, evenwaitresses and chambermaids beingmen wearing the customary nightshirt.Those in the hotel dining roomhowever, wear a white gown with abroad bright colored girdle as a cinch.By the way, you can laugh as muchas you like to but my figure here seemsto he the stjde—skinny birds don'tcount much, altho there are manyamong the porters and working class.There are traflSc cops at many cornersbut everywhere else you can gowhere and how you please. Pedestrianswalk in the streets and autos havea tough time of it unless they blowtheir horn hard and go fast—theneverybody jumps. There are lots ofcars but am not sure but what Americancars predominate.Arabic is undoubtedly the prevailingtongue while strange as it mayseem French seems to be second, andEnglish tbird. One also hears a lotof Italian and Greek but at the presenttime the German talkers are keepingremarkably quiet.O f course there are a lot of uniformson the streets, mostly Egyptian,but with a good sprinkling of Tommies,Kilties, Sikhs, etc. English naturallypredominates as far as Englishgoes, and I fear my perfectly goodAmerican tongue is apt to becomecontaminated.Arabic sounds alright to the ear butJ'OU ought to see it written. Thereare twenty-eight characters and eachhas at least four diiferent shapes orforms, depending on whether it standsalone, at the beginning, middle or endof a word. Complicated is no namefor it.This ends the story of the Pilgrimage;what happens later will be toldin another installment if and when Ihear from this one.350 THE MINES MAGAZINE ^ JULY 1940THE MINES MAGAZINE > JULY 1940 351