The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-05-24
SECRETS UNEARTHED BY THE COM
MINE


Mysterious Great Vault Not Discovered
Provisions in Abundance The Nuns
Begging from the Starving Paris Poor.
Parts Correspondence Of the London Times.
The reigning scandal of the day is the affair
of the Convent of Picpus. So highly reused
has public indignation been by the supposed
discovery Of atrocities committed within those
jealous walls that the people have been ex-
cluded until the investigations of justice shall
be complete. managed, however, to pene-
trate within the precincts by attaching myself
to the cortege of an English friend, who was
journeyipg thither under special official
orders to investigate the case of an Eng
lish sister named Garret. In the Rue de
Picpus, near Mszas Prison., stand two
large buildings, each surrounded by high
walls, above which may be seen green trees
at intervals. The one is an establishment of
the Jesuits, the other the convent of the
White Nuns. The Jesuit Brothers escaped
at the first sign of approaching danger, but
the sisters held their own until forced into
cabs and conveyed to the cells of St. Lazare,
there to await the results of a judicial inquiry
into certain matters that are deemed suspi-
cious. Arrived at the gate of the convent,
we we're obliged to force our way through
crowd of angry people who demanded an in
slant permission to enter, and who were as
persistently swept back by group of Ma
tlOndl OudIub-N6, uOWSN6I, D6luR duhllbJ6u
inside the door under cover of the official pass
and signatures. In the courtyard, under the
shade of some fine trees, few guards were
PLAYING BOWLS IN THE JEsUITs' ALLEY,
and making up to one of them whose cap dis
played tokens of authority, we mentioned our
business, and begged permission to see what
was to be seen. Our friend was very civil,
accepted a cigar, and marched us off to go the
rounds. He pointed out to as the fact, of
which there certainly could exist no kind of
doubt that the two buildings communicated
one with the other by means of an old door
which still exists at the hack of stable, as
we'll as by other apertures in the garden wall,
which show signs of having been recently
closed up. The Jesuits garden is most
beautiful one, occupying a space of some
twelve acres, laid out with care, and furnished
with fruit trees of every description, pruned
and trained after the latest horticultural de-
signs There are
woNDRoUsLY INGENIOUS PLANS,
too, for irrigating the beds; forcing pits and
hot-houses, and long alleys with vines trained
ever them. Through the. old door above
mentioned we passed into the Sisters garden,
equally large and beautiful, though not kept
with the same care. In the centre stands a
gymnasium, I Suppose for the use of the
children brought up under the sisters care,
and further on their cemetery, lovely spot,
where, under the heavy shade of ancient
Expresses, lie bearers of some the most ancient
names in France-''Prince of Salm-Kyrbourg
inundated under the Terror, aged 49,"
''Rochefoucauld," "De Noailles," "Montmo-
rency," ''the great Lafayette" the whole
family Of the Talleyrand- Perigords, and
legions of princes and princesses. Some of
the vaults have been opened, and many lead
coffins, half-covered with
RoTTING VELVET AND GOLD LACE,
lie exposed to the light of day, awaiting an
examination at the hands of the Minister of
Justice. At the extreme end of the garden,
however, are the three little conical huts,
side by side, resembling white ants nests,
which have been the cause of SO much eX-
citement and judicial inquiry. When the
convent was occupied by the National Guards
these little huts were tenanted each by an old
woman, enclosed in a wooden cage, like a
chickens pen, the three buildings being SINH
lar in size and construction, six feet square by
seven in height, with slate roof, through
which daylight was visible, while the three
old women were
ALL HOPELESS IDIOTS.
The Lady Superior has kept her lips reso-
lutely closed up to the present time, but ad-
mitted, when first questioned, that the three
sufferers had lived in their hideous prison
for nine years, in an atmosphere of sitting
heat throughout the summer, and lf-frozen
with cold throughout the winter; "but," she
added, 'they were idiots when they came. "
The conductor of the inquiry replied that, if
such were the case, it was illegal to have ad-
mitted them to the convent at all, and that
even supposing them to have been admitted,
the place where they were found was not fit
dwelling place for dog. key was dis
covered among sher papers, labelled 'key of
the great vault" but where this great vault
may be has not yet been found out. The
Superior and her nuns keep uniform and
persistent silence upon the point; excavations
have been made at different points in the
garden, and under the high altar of the
chapel but hitherto without effect At one
end of the nuns garden stands an isolated
building, in which were found mattresses
furnished with straps and buckles, also two
IRON CoRsETs, sKULL-CAP, AND A RACK
turned by cog-wheel, evidently intended for
bending back the body with force. The Supe-
rior explained that these were orthopedic
Instruments superficial falsehood. The
mattresses and straps struck me as being
easily accounted for; L have seen such things
used in French midwifery and in cases of
violent delirium; but the rack and its ad juncts
are justly objects of grave suspicion, for they
imply use of brutal force which no disease
at present known would justify. On outway
back through the gardens our guide made a
detour in order to show us
GREAT sUBTERRANEAN WAREHOUSE,
where an enormous quantity of potatoes was
stored, as well as barrels full of salt pork,
while in the yard hard by lay granting fat
pig. 'Look at this" cried our National
! Guard Indignantly. 'Look at these stores,
which might have helped to feed the starving
poor of the arrondissement during our six
months siege, and think that these people
! wera heopinp from door to door the whole