Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-07-19

dead, for there are as many as sixty differ
ent places of entrance to the catacombs, and
We passed numerous galleries leading OF
from the one through which we were con-
Quoted. In the arrangement of the bones |
am again compelled to admire the French
talent for ornamention. On the floor and
back to the wall. about yard in depth are
arranged leg and arm bones, on top OF these
a layer of skulls, then another series OF limb
bones, diversified with skulls on top. To
relieve the monotony of these long, CHASTITY
galleries. the skulls are at intervals, for
few rods. arranged in graceful curves.
which present to the spectator as pleasing an
appearance rs, considering the material
used, could be expected then again the
facade is diversified hy artistic presentations
of d,ath-heads aud cross bones, made of the
genuine material. We observed in passing
that many of the skulls had bullet holes,
some more than one, in the forehead Others
had the appearance Of having been crushed
by sabre strokes. There has been no effort
made to keep the bones Of different in
diyiduals separate. Only OF late years
have the bones disinterred from different
cemeteries been arranged in distinct
galleries. and prince and peasant, monarch
ist and revolutionist, religionist and infdel,
friend and enemy. male and female. have
been made to exchange and mix limbs in
grotesque and moralesque manner. "llaste
thee to my lady's chamber and tell her,
though she paint an inch thick to this favor
must she come at last" | observed that
many of the skulls were toothless, and from
the way in which an American dentist (he
said he was a dentist) pulled at the teeth as
we passed, thought had hint of how
they became toothless. What a ridiculous
mania for relics some people have.
Everything favored
THE GREAT ILLUMINATION
in honor of peace and industry. The weather
was clear and pleasantly cool The boule-
Yards were lined on each side with gas pipes
with Jets of light about four inches apart
The trees in the parks and along the streets
were hung with Chinese lanterns. The pub
lie buildings and churches were outlined in
the darkness by jets of gas on their lines of
architecture, and the Dome des lnyalides
and the Church of St. Augustin, especially,
looked like temples of fire. The main avenue
of the garden of the Tuileries was gorgeous
with lattice work of light, in various de-
signs, which, shining through glass of differ
ent colors, presented a scene of indescribable
beauty But by far the most interesting
part of the spectacle was the hun
dreds of thousands of French think
ing, acting. and speaking men, women,
and children, of all classes, mad
with excitement and happiness, surrender
ing themselves to the merriment Of the occa-
sion with a volatile abandon that some
would call childish and others ridiculous.
The incidents and episodes Of that night will
not be forgotten by those who witnessed
them, and they furnish key to French char
acter and to the tragedy of French his
tory such as cannot be found in volumes OF
brilliant dissertation Hundreds of process
sions composed of boys, girls, middle-aged
and well-dressed men and women, servants
male and female, with white caps and
aprons, singing the Marseillaise or love
song, were marching at quickstep in the
direction of the Bots dc Bouiogne. The pro-
cession was not continuous, but scores OF
crowds, of from fifty to two hundred people
each, appeared to rally to tire standards OF
self-constitutei leaders. One crowd vas led
by boy with a white apron and bare arms.
To see him walking backward in front of
mob of genteel looking men and women,
waving little stick, after the manner of
leader OF the orchestra. while they wee
chanting love song, was exceedingly ridicu-
lous. Another motley division was led by an
elegantly dressed girl. Still another battal-
ion had rallied to the leadership Of man
who had basket on his head with his child
in it. Yours, &. A. ).