Composition Ruins Pompeii
“There are something like 2,000 people aboard – over 350
children of all ages including babies only a few weeks old. The two lower decks
are filled with immigrants.” – SS Otranto Wed. Dec 22/54
Those were words that May wrote back to her sisters in Canada. Harold and May Chambers may not have been among the immigrants to Australia but their names were still captured on the passenger arrivals index which I found through the NAA (National Archives of Australia) site www.naa.gov.au I was surprised to see the index also included passengers arriving by air.
This was a pleasure trip for the Chambers couple and, I would imagine, their experience was somewhat different than that of those on the "two lower decks". Among the ephemera for the Otranto, Sydney Heritage Fleet https://www.shf.org.au/ had photos of passenger common rooms and menus that were probably more indicative of the couple's surroundings and fare on the voyage to Australia. The ship that they took on the return journey, the Orsova, doesn't have any similar information on the database as yet.
As with many pleasure trips, their journey included sightseeing. While in Naples they took a tour of Pompeii which led me to wonder if any of the immigrating passengers did as well. It also changed my understanding of immigrant voyages which I had always thought of as the quickest possible journey between two points.
May describes the tour of Pompeii as follows:
“Our drive took us close to Vesuvius which appears close to
the harbour but is really miles away. The ruins of Pompeii are most extensive.
You go through the archway where the old City Gate used to be and walk the
ancient cobbles all through the narrow streets solidly built far into the
distance. The ruins are partially Grecian partly Roman. The Forum, etc. are
most interesting. I was particularly interested to find the Grecian columns I
always thought built of marble were of brick construction washed over with
stucco. In the museum they had skeletons dug from the ruins filled with “liquid
plaster”, then covered with plaster as they were found lying with hands
covering their faces to try to protect themselves from the gases thrown off
from the eruption. In one place there were thousands of clay jugs looking good
as new. Jugs for wine, water, etc. etc.”
Does that description of Pompeii hold true today? I don't know but it is nice to travel for a change even if it is vicariously.
Sources:
Chambers, M.C. Letter to Miss Margaret Gilchrist written
Dec. 22 – 23, 1954 SS Otranto nr Port Said
Images:
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