The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-07-23
THE MORGUE.

At the CONNER cement OF the second
empire there stood facing the Hotel
Disu, 4 gloomy building known as the
the most melancholy monument IN
Paris. The form Of this edifce united
in some Doric outlines the threatening
gloom of a malefaetor's cell with the
profound sadness Of a tomb. Its
| double aspect Of incarceration suo-
/ gested for it a name once used technic-
ally to describe "the entrance of a
prison" But In It's new association the
" La Morgus acquired an emphasis
of tragedy.
II the exterior Of this building was
sad, it's interior was appalling. A
chamber inelosed ia glass contained
| tables of black marble, upon whose in
| ciined planes were stretched before the
public gaze the ghastly forms of sui
| cides or of unfortunates found drowned
| in the Seine. The institution was be-
/ gun in 1904, and had as its design the
! exposure of all victims of violence. ac-
eident. or snicide whose eorpses should
be found in she strasts or waters Of
l Paris. There they were held for a time
for the purpose Of Identification or of
recognition by friends.
Appalling as the place was, a NOR bid.
fascination made IL he central attrsc-
tion of its neighborhood it was actu-
ally courted as a place of rendezvous.
and noted end of the promenade.
People rushed there daily, as to morn
ing gazette or exciting bulletin, and the
scenes of its real grief were Knocked by
brutal curiosity, and sometimes by re-
voting levity.
There came a day at last when the
most hardened habitues of the morgue
could no longer look upon it without
shudder.
To obliterate all traces Of that bloody
time, Napoleon III. transferred the site
of this melancholy institution, and
changed the character of its architect
Ure to a plan more In accord with his
smiling renoV atiOns, Built upon the
little arm of the Seine that separates
the isle Of st. Louis from the city, the
new mergue occupies a miniature des-
ert, and cOnceals in decent isolation the
details of its work. Staircases of stone
descend from it on every side, and
serve to facilitate the reception of the
drowned, who, excepting IN the heat of
revolution, when cannon sweep the
streets, constitute IN major part the
patronage of this funereal hostelry.
The morgue Is composed of two cham
bers or saloons, the largest of which,
divided IN two spaces by a partition of
glass. 1t is not always this larger 'sa-
loon that bears testimony of the most
terrible tragedies. There is a secret
hall, a '' sale Or5Uee,'' devoted to the
dead who have been withdrawn from
the public gaze, or those already recog-
nized, who await their enshFouding.
Here the processes of autopsy take |
place, and confrontations are made of
accused murderers with their victims.
1t was in this lesser chamber that the |
murderer Traupmann recognized with |
horror the Kaupt family, who had been !
miraculously recovered from a ditch in |
which he had buried them. The pop
ular excitement IVES at that time so fu- /
rious that La Morgue had to be closed |
and guarded by soldiers to prevent the |
abhorred wretch from falling into the |
hands of an avenging mob.
The revolution of September made |
few contributions to the new morgue, |
nor was it crowded during the siege, /
for they who fell as heroes were regis- /
tered among the batta1iOls5, but N the /
time of their BON bardmenf there were /
mangled bodies brought there hourly, |
chiefly of ganli11s who had been collect /
ing shells TO sell as euriosities, or of |
old people overtaken by unforeseen ex-
plOsions-parents killed with children |
whom their arms vainly sought to pro-
tect-yOung mothers pierced through |
the breast, where her babes lips were |
still pressed.
During the commune it became i'm |
possible to centralize the disposition of |
the killed, and temporary morgues |
were established IN the ehapels of the /
cemeteries. As there were no cOnven-
fences there for suspending the clothing /
to view, the dead we're left In the ha-
biliments in which they fell, and what
ever objects had been found in their
pockets were laid upon their breasts to
assist Identification. When the insur-
rection reached its climax even these
provisions ceased: the bodies were
placed in the trenches where they were
to be buried, and the trenches were left
for a short time open to allow the in
spection of those who sought their
missing friends. When the Versaillais
took possession of Paris the dead we're
stretched at the foot of the wall where
they had fallen, and the payements of
the streets became the morgue.
The Seine is always the principal re-
source of these unfortunates of Paris
who would escape from life. So COM
mon is this mode of self-destruction
that when there is brought into the
morgUe corpse taken from the river,
the spectators exclaim, without interest,
90 All, it is only one drowned ]" Unless
the victim happens TO be a young and
pretty woman, not yet disfgured by |
death, the connOisseurs scarcely look at
the pitiful form, upon whese head a
slender Jet OF water falls. The objects
that draw crowds are victims of assas-
sinatiou, or of suicide that haunts the
imagination by some narrowing associa-