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THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: DECEMBER 15. 1007.
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We will sell you an Edison or Victor Talking
Machine with nothing down, take the ma
chine home with you and commence to pay.
us on the instrument thirty days later.
All we ask you to do is to pay for the records you choose.
We carry every record, every style machine manufactured
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tributers west of Pittsburg. Buy here where you get a complete selection.
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White and Standard Sewing Machines King of Them All
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Drop-Head Machines, slightly used, but in first-class condition Complete with attachments. Guaranteed.
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Second-Hand Machines
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Household $18.00
Standard ....$25.00
White ., t $30.00
Box Machines, any make $5 to $12
We rent machines We repair and
sell parts for all makes of machines.
OPEN EVERY EVENING.
Kl
Domestic $23.00
Singer $20 to $30
New Home $18.00
Eldridge ....$15.00
Buy a Phonograph
Bought for on, play lor til.
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from ' SlOO
We are fully prepared
to handle your busi
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We- prepay e xpr e ss
charges o n all retail
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100,000 New Records to
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ii m m i ii u r
335 Broadway. Co. Bluffs. GEO. E. NICKEL, Mr. Cor. 15th and Harney, Omaha
Wholesale Department
Our Wholesale Department Is the largest,
most complete and best equipped In the west. We
carry the largest stock to be found In the west.
If you are a dealer or want to handle a line of
Phonographs, write us for our liberal proposition.
Curiosities Dug Up in Early Christian Cemeteries
OME, Nov. 28. Modern research
has established beyond a doubt
the original exclusive use of the
catacombs by the Christian! a
places of burial and of holding
religious assemblies, and the
various other theories put forth to explain
the origin of these cemeteries have all been
proved to be unfounded.
Tho Christian mode of burial In the cat
acombs seems to have been copied from
the Jews. A short time before the birth
of Christ Judea was made tributary to
Rome by Pompey and many thousands of
Its Inhabitants were transferred to Rome,
where a special district on the right bank
of the Tiber was assigned for their habita
tion. These first Jewish settlers adhered to .
the customs of their forefathers, especially
In a matter so sacred as funeral rites, and
they laid their dead In rocky sepulchres
outside the gate nearest their quarter,
liere. In fact, was discovered In I860 the
so-called Jewish catacomb, which It may
be assumed was the prototype of later
Christian sepulchres.
The earliest Roman Christians were very
probably converted Jews, were naturally
familiar with the Jewish mode of burial
and In all probability adopted it for them
selves. A gravestone discovered In one of
the Roman catacombs bears the date of the
third year of the reign uf Vespasian, A. D.
71, and thus affords proof of the antiquity
of the catacombs us places of burial.
In early times Christians were probably
burled on property, a garden or vineyard,
belonging to private families, and In fact
nearly all the anciept names of the cata
combs were taken from those of the owners
of the land. Thus, for Instance. Luclna, a
Roman matron, otherwise known as 1'um
penla Graeclna, who was converted to
Christianity In 6S, gave a vineyard near
the Ostlan Way for the burial of St. Paul,
While another matron of the same name
and probably of the same family excavated
and gave Its name to some crypts on the
Applan Way. .
With the passing of time and the Increase
In the number of Christians the original
cemeteries were extended, excavations on
a larger scale were undertaken and gradu
ally the catacombs were formed. The
architects of the catacombs were a special
class of persons known as, fossorea, or
diggers, who either formed tho lowest order
of tho clerics or were a voluntary associa
tion of laymen, a forerunner oi the mediae
val confraternities who out of Christian
charity devoted themselves to this task.
The work of the fossorea was undertaken
at the peril of their lives, especially Jn
time of persecution. Besides attending to
the excavations of the catacombs they
also undertook the still more perilous tank,
of fetching thither the bodies of the dead.
The catacombs originally were used
exclusively as cemeteries, but later they
provided places for religious assembly and
In some cases worship. In apoatnllo times,
they generally met In the house of some
IPS'
rite WW$m
PAINTINGS
CUC1LIA.
IN THE CRYPT OP ST.
wealthy member of the community. Later
they built churches. After Diocletian In
S03 ordered the churches to be destroyed
the Christians evidently then took refuge the walls and the translation of martyrs
stantlus, and Boniface I went to the
cemetery of St. Fellcltas when the anti
Pope Eulallus was elected.
With the cessation of Christian persecu
tions, when the catacombs were no longer
needed as places of refuge, they gradually
ceased to be used as cemeteries. The latest
date found on any grave In the catacombs
is 410, and although during the first half
of the fifth century and the latter part of
the fourth Christians had a pious desire to
be burled near the tombs of the martyrs
this practice seems not to have been en
couraged. For several centuries the catacombs were
used as places of devotion. St. Gerome and
Prudbntlus mention the stream of people
flocking from sunrise to sunset to pay
their devotions at the catneomb?, find not
from Rome alone, but from rill neighbor
ing cities and other more distant places.
The entrance to the catacombs were now
rendered public. Shafts or air holas called
lumlnarla were opened for purposes of
ventilation. The subterranean chapels
were built over the cemeteries of the mpre
celebrated martyrs.
About the middle of the fifth century a
portion of the catacombs were rifled by the
barbarians in hopes of finding treasures,
and thus began the devastation which led
ultimately to their neglect and ruin. Pope
Paul I writing in Tfil says:
"Many of the catacombs had before been
neglected and In great measure ruined,
but now by the impious Lombards they
were thoroughly destroyed. This disin
terred and carried away many bodies of
saints, In consequence of which the hom
age due to such holy places was now care
lessly paid; even beasts had access to
them, and In some places men had dared
to put up folds, and so convert the con
secrated burial places of Christiana , Into
stables and dunghills."
For this reason It was considered .more
reverent to cause the bodies and relics of
martyrs to be removed to churches within
In the catacombs which, although known
by their persecutors to exist, could not be
reached or entered, as neither their precise
position nor their entrances could be ascertained.
The catacombs were also used occasionally Btulctii Maria ad Martyres. But It
as places oi concealment. Several popes
used th-m as a hiding place from the be
ginning of the second century onward. St.
Stephen was murdered In the catacombs,
where he had lived for some time during
the Valerian persecutions, and tils succes
sor, St. Sixtus, was also martyred In the
catacombs.
Even after Christianity had become the
recognized religion of the empire the cata-
comlw afforded shelter and concealment to
began. There are Instances of such trans
lations In the beginning of the seventh
century, when Boniface III removed a
cuiislderable number of bodies to the
Pantheon, which was thereafter called
was
in the ninth century that the catacombs
roujly began to be emptied and the work
continued until the beginning of the thir
teenth, when religious interest in them be
gan to diminish.
From the thirteenth to the fifteenth cen
tury all knowledge of the ancient ceme
teries seems to have perished. The acci
dental falling in of a portion of the high
road outside the Porta Salaria in 1S7S led
bones. Thus Llberlu. hlrtrtn f,.r to the discovery of the Catacomb of St.
over a year In the catacombs of St. Agnes Priacilla. Public Interest In the subterra
untll the death of the Arian' Emperor Con- nen Christian cemeteries was awakened
and archaeologists turned their attention
to their examination and study.
Alfonso Clacconl, a Dominican friar, dis
cevered several forgotten catacombs. lie
waa followed by Bosio, who spent thirty
three years of uninterrupted labor In con
nection wila Uie catacombs. Pope Clement
PAINTINGS IN DIkFERNT CATACOMBS REPRESENTING TUB ADORATION OF THE MAGI
' - - J ' r ' '' ii.
XI and his successor, Clement XII, en
trusted the care of all the catacombs to the
cardinal vicar of Rome, under whose di
rection they were excavated exclusively
for the extraction of relics.
Pius IX appointed In ISG1 a commission
of sacred archaeology, under whose direc
tion the work of excavation and research
In the catacombs has Blnce been con
ducted. The name catacomb Is, comparatively
speaking, modern.) The Christian ceme
teries were named either after some saint
burled In them or the person who orig
inally owned the land where they were
situated. The use of the present name
dates back to about the sixteenth century.
Almost all the catacombs are outside
the walls of the city. The aggregate length
of their galleries is said to be about 687
miles, and they are excavated on different
levels and cross and recross each other.
Hence, although the area which they un
derlie Is not considerable, yet If the gal
leries were stretched In a continuous line
they would extend through the whole of
Italy.
The galleries vary In height from eight
to twelve feet, and are from two to four
feet In width. Their sides are pierced wltn
a series of shelves, one above the other,
which have been aptly compared with the
book shelves of a library, and every niche
contained one or more bodies.
The sepulchres are all after the pattern
afforded by the burial of Christ, "hewn out
of the rock, wherein never yet had any
man been laid," and to each corpse was
assigned its separate place. The niches
are characterized by the simplicity of tlielr
form and a careful economy of labor and
space. .
Almost every grave had a marble or
stone slab with an inscription engraved
upon it, or sometimes only scratched,
mostly in Latin, but several In Greek,
containing generally an invocation or dedi
cation, followed by the name, and in
some instances a description of the de
ceased. These inscriptions vary in length
and they arford a vast field for study.
The ordinary graves are known as locull.
but at various Intervals the succession of
shelves in the galleries is Interrupted and
room !s rnajo either for a doorway opening
into a small chamber, where the graves
have a semfclrcular form, called arcosalla
or cubicoli, or else for several chambers
made, close together, with altar tombs,
which contained the bodies of saints and
wht re the faithful used to meet for wor
ship. A good Idea of the arrangement of the
graves In the catarotnba may be obtained
from the accompanying two Illustrations of
the crypt of St. Cecilia and Its paintings.
St. Cecilia was martyred In 177 and her
body was carried In the catacombs of St.
Callxtus, wlure It was found by Pope
Paschal I (817-K4) after the eaint had apt-eared
to him la a dream and pointed out
the exact locality where she had been
burled.
On the wall there Is a painting represent
ing Saint Cecilia richly attlrc-d. Under it
is a niche for a lamp, at the back of which
is a bead of the Savior, represented ac
cording to the Bysantlne type with rays
of glory behind it in the shape of a Greek
cross.
To the right of the niche is a figure of
Popw Saint Urban In full pontifical dress,
who with his own hands burled the saint's
remains In the arcosolium near the paint
ings. The painting belongs to the alxtb
century.
The crypt contains several ordinary
graves besides tbe arcosolium. and It re
ceives light and air from a lumlnare. on
the wall of which are to be seen other fres
coes representing the three saints Polloa-
mus, Sebastlanus and Cyrlnus, who were
burled In the same chapel.
Another interesting tomb, which Is a
mere grave In a gallery with a rectangular
Instead of a semlcorcular space above It,
Is that of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian,
whose portraits decorate the walls. There
are other paintings representing martyrs,
but only one figure, that of Saint Sixtus,
has been Identified. At the right hand of
the tomb there Is a low block or pillar,
concave at the top, which in ancient times
was filled with oil, with floating wicks
burning constantly before the martyrs' re
mains, and from which the pilgrims used
to help themselves at pleasure, carrying
away oil as a relic from the shrine of the
saints.
The mural paintings of the Catacombs
represent varied subjects, mouly biblical,
liturgical and symbolical. The adoraHon
of our Lord by the wise men of the eust
or rather their visit to Him, for they ar
never four-1 prostrate or kneeling is a
subject of reuuont recurrence.
The wise men are commonly represented
as offering gifts to Christ as He sits In
His mother's lap, she also being seated.
The number of the magt is not always un
iform, but this is probubly owing more to
the order and regularity In the paintings
than to the knowledgo of tho ancient
apocryphal tradition mentioned by Paint
Auguitln and Saint Chrysostom, according
to which their number was twelve.
A very Interesting painting in the cata
combs of Preatcxlatus represents a lemb
between two wolves. Common symbolical
subjects are fishes, doves, palms, etc. Sym
bolical representation was often used
owing to the dlsclpllna arcana, a law re
quiring Christians to conceal from unbe
lievers the great mysteries of faith lest
they should be exposed to desecration and
blasphemy.
When the fierce persecutions against the
Christians ceased and the catacombs were
no longer used for burial purposes basili
cas, or churches, were built on them. Such
was that of St. Petronllla, the spiritual
daughter of St. Peter, a noble lady who
is supposed to have been one of the apos
tle's converts. Tills basilica n discovered
In 1871 and restored recently by the com
mission of sacred archaeology.
The catacombs have been stripped of all
the objects of interest they contained, such
an rings, seals, lamps, ampullae, cupa of
ornamented glass, instruments of martyr
dom and even inscriptions, and these are
now scattered In the public museums and
private collections.
the skin of his face completely scorched
and of a' deep copper color; it gave off a
serous liquid like that from a burn. Sev
eral sailors who were at some distance
from the turret had their vision so affected
that they were sent to the hospital, and It
was feared that they might lose their
sight. This la a characteristic- case of
"electrlo sunburn."
Klectrle Sunburu.
Cases, of injury from exposure to intense
radiation are becjinlng more common as
sources of such radiation are more numer
ous. Not Jtng ago the sun itself was prac
tically the only source of the kind. Now,
not to speak of such forms of radiation
as tho X-rays and that due to radio ac
tivity, we have many powerful sources of
light. .Jill as the various types of elecirlo
aro, that are liublo to do injury when their
Intensity is great. On board a cruiser re
cently under repair at Portsmouth, Eng
land, it became necessary to make a hole
in the shutter of a turret. The mechaniral
processes commonly employed for work
of this kind are so sldw that an officer
asked permission to melt the hole by using
the electric arc. This operation, although
well known, attracted many curious spec
tators, from the captain down to the sail
ors. All went well, and the solid steel,
under the action of the current, flowed
like melted glass. But on the morrow
everyone who had witnessed the operation
was either half blinded or horribly burned.
The officer who bad directed the work h4
Men Who Built Exposition
(Continued from Page Four.)
era' Brewing company, and was a director
who served on a number of special com
mlttaeg. J. B. Markel, director, and former pro
prietor of the Millard hotel of Omaha, is
in Chicago and is a large contractor for
feeding railroad employes and operates a
line of restaurants In the south.
J. H. Millard, director, Is president of
the Omaha National bank, and has served
a term in the United States senate since
the exposition.
C. 8. Montgomery, director, and general
attorney of the exposition. Is practicing law
in Omaha. Mr. Montgomery settled some
$K6.O0O of personal Injury suits against the
association for $6,850, the exposition organ
ization not being responsible for many of
the claims brought against It.
Frank Murphy, who Is numbered among
the directors of the great enterprise who
have paused to their final reward, was
president of the Omaha & Council Bluffs
S'treet Railway company, president of the
Omaha Gaa company and of the Merchant
National bank.
A. II. Ntye was manager of the Ham
mond Packing company in South Omaha
and Is now In Chicago holding a high posi
tion with the National Packing company,
which absorbed the. Hammond interests.
George If. Payne is in Omaha, at the
head of the Payne Investment company.
W. A. Paxton, sr., one of the "grand old
men" of Omaha, died several months ago.
Mr. Paxton had succeeded in his own busi
ness. He gave the same quality of intelli
gence which gave him success to the ex
position enterprise. Among other Interests
which he had In Omaha was his connection
with Paxton & Gallagher, wholesale
grocers; Paxton & Vierllng, wholesale hard
ware; president of the Union Stock Yards
company, a director of the First National
hunk end owner of the Paxton block at
Sixteenth and Karnam and the Ware block
at Fourteenth and Farnam streets.
E. C. Price was former manager of Swift
and Company's Interests In South Omaha,
and has since removed to Chicago, where
he Is In the packing business.
Allen T. Itccror, formerly a member of
the firm of Rector & Wllhelmy, has left
Omaha to engage. In other business, and is
about the only director of fifty who haa
not kept In close touch with his former
associates In Omaha.
A. L. Reed, director and member of the
executive committee in chargo of the Im
portant department of concessions and
privileges, is president of the Byron Roed
company, real eslate dealers. Mr. Reed
conducted his department in such a manner
that his report showed total receipts for
the exposition of more than S3ii0.ono, thpugh
the board of directors estimated before the
show opened that the concessions would
bring In but 150, ooa. ,
Edward Rosewaler, director and member
of the executive committee in charge of
the department of publicity, afterwards
took upon his shoulders another depart
ment, that of promotion, and the enormous
amount of advertising which brought mora
than 2,(XjO,0uO visitors to the exposition, was
entirely in the hands of Mr. Rusewater, as
each member of the executive committee
was made entirely responsible for his own
department and planned the work to be
done almost Independent of other members,
ubinitting It for approval. Mr. Rosewuter
was editor and founder of The Omaha Bee
and passed away August 30 of last year.
Alvln Saunders, director, was former gov
ernor of Nebraska, former United States
senator and at the time of the exposition
vlco president of the Merchants National
bank. Mr. Saunders is numbered amonrf
the directors who have since died.
Arthur C. Smith, director, has succeeded
his father as president of M. E. Smith St
Co., wholesale dry goods and manu
facturers of many kinds ot clothing anil
dry goods specialties.
Dudley Smith. formerly a wholesale
grocer of Omaha, Is now a broker In)
Chicago.
Dan Farrell, Jr., was a director In the
exposition, but a short time, passing away,
during the zenith of the big enterprise.
II. A. Thompson was one of the old
Board of Directors who first organised for
the big exposition In 1S96, and served among
the fifty. Mr. Thompson Is still of the
Thompson-Belden Company at Sixteenth
and Howard streets.
John I Webster, director, was one of
the attorneys who was called to the ad
ministration building by the board at 'most
any old time of the. night" to consult on
legal questions, and still has his offices In
the New York Life building.
Luculs Wells, director, represented Coun
cil Bluffs on the board In a way and showed
the satne Interest In the affairs of the ex
position as an Omahan. He Is still In the
Implement business In Council Bluffs.
C. F. Weller, director, Is president of tha
Richardson Drug Company, wholesale
druggists of Omaha
John C. Wharton la another attorney who
was member of the board, and whose
legal services were a part of the assets of
the association. Mr. Wharton still making
his home In Omaha.
R. 8. Wilcox, director, was and Is man
ager of Browning, King ft Co., clothier,
helm, furniture and carpets at Sixteenth
C. M. Wtlhelm Is still a business man ot
Omaha and of the firm of Orchard A WJ
and Howard streets.
Howard streets.
C. E. Tost, Is at present, as In exposition
times, president of the Nebraska Telephone
company.
Fred M. Youngs, who represented organ
ised labor on the board of directors and
was foreman of the press room of The
Bee. Is now foreman of the press rooms of
the Oregonlan at Portland, Ore.
Thus endeth tho roll call of the thirty
third degree boosters, many of whom gave
almost two years of their time to the pro
motion, organlxation and completion of the
great enterprises, which attracted mora
than 2,jo,0uo people to Omaha, and which
has Influenced millions of dollars of In
vestments which have since been made In
the great transmlssisslppl country.
The members of the executive committee
met dally at lunch for months before the
exposition . opened. During the 153 days
the show was open they met at 4 o'clock
every afternoon in the rooms on the expo
sition grounds and received reports, the
meetings lasted from two .to five hours each'
day. The board of directors met when
ever called, and gave their time freely to
the good -of the enterprise. Few examples
of patriotism have equalled that of the
way in which Omahans gave their time
and money to the Transmlssisslppl and
International Exiositlon, and when the
Spanish-American war ended In victory for
the United States, with a minimum amount
of sorrow and grief, the great show of
Omaha became a living, throbbing thing,
demonstrating tha patriotism of American
people. They came to Omaha with a
Jubilee feeling, to wave flags and listen to
Inspiring music of love for country, to see
the wealth of products, of the United
States and outlier countries, and realise
what American men western men can do
when they are animated with tha spirit of
the fifty meg, and hundreds of loyal
women, who made the exposition of issjt
the glittering period of a great tpocb.