The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-09-11
NO. 20.
Lost in the Catacombs.

L0SG IN the Catac0mDs. 81
| Miss Bessie Darling, the actress who has
just returned from her European tour, gives
the following dramatic account of the misfor-
tune that attended her visit to the Cata-
combs of Paris -
| "There were thirty-one of us in the party.
Regardless of the guides injunetions that we
should keep together on the penalty of get
ting lost, wandered. unobserved by any of
my companions or the guide, into a trans
verse gallery,and after leisurely deciphering
the several inscriptions that attracted my
eye, turned to make an exit and rejoin the
party. But turned in the wrong direction,
and did not discover my mistake until / had
gone some distance. Positive. at first, that
my course was correct, hurried on without
giving an alarm. AS soon, however, as re-
allied that l was indeed lost, you may be
sure that my voice was exercised as only
woman in distress knows how to exercise her
voice. I retraced my steps in as much of
run as the flame OF my candle permitted
| pausing at every opening as passed to call
and listen. The echoes of my call were sim
ply flendish in the way they came back to
me. They were far from human in tone
more like derisive bowls uttered from the
cold grining skulls that were staring at me
on every side with their hideous sunken eyes,
AS these echoes only added to my tribulation
Irefrained from calling any more. My voice
was gone, at any rate. The ghoulish atmos-
phere seemed to defy any effort above
hoarse whisper. Thus wandered from one
gallery into another, into caverns and out OF
them and back into other galleries again,
and all the while going further and further
into the most dangerous sections of the cata-
combs, wherein visitors are never cond ucted.
I wandered this way for nearly two hours.
The silence was so oppressive that even the
squealing OF rats would have been welcome,
but the Catacombs are singulaIly free from
this vermln. So long as my candle held out
| kept heart and did not despair. When its
flame began to flicker and grow weak / les
sened my pace and carried the candle closer
to the ground to avoid the skulls and ribs l
was constantly stumbling over. The ground
was SO pasty it held my feet so firmly at
times that Imagined some unearthly crawl
ing creature was attacking me. I emerged
| at last from a narrow gallery into what I
thought was an enormous chamber, but its
darkness was so black that came to a stand
still at the threshold, as it were. could
not distinguish either floor or ceiling nor see
a vestige of already familiar skulls or bones.
The atmosphere was colder and purer than
what had yet experienced in the place.
CALAIS, POOR YoRICK ~
s'Idon't know what prompted me to do it,
but picked up skull and threw it forward
into the gloom in frolt of me. To my in
| finite terror [ did not hear the thud Sof the
skull upon any ground uatil after few Sec
onds, and then heard it away beneath me,
accompanied by muffled rattle as though
the skull had fallen on and disturbed pile
OF Others at the bottom of a great unseen
| pit. And pit it was-over one hundred feet
deep was afterwards told. Two or three steps
and might have gone headlong down. I
turned to 60 and die somewhere else; but
as turned the light of my candle expired,
and here nature gave way. tainted
within three feet of the edge of that
awful abyss. The chiliness of the air
revived me after awhile. l opened my eyes.
Was blind for I saw nothing. I threw
out my arms, and fe:t only the Shiny mud in
which was lying. l turned my head, and
my cheek rested against clammy skull.
Oh my God, how prayed for death. Once
more | became unconscious, and lay for
eighteen hours insensible. 1t was fortunate
that | fell where l did. Had | fallen in any
of the galleries restricted to visitors L might
have lain undiscovered thirty days, for, as
you aware, that the Catacombs are on public
view only once month. AS it was fell at
a spot frequented by the workmeu daily en-
p'oyed in the place. The pit near me. they
used as dumping hole for refuse bone lit
ter. Had tumbled into that pit my body
would have been covered up with tons of
CHASTITY dumpings before the search for me
would have been extended to the awful hol-
low"
''What were the circumstances of your
rescue ?" the reporter asked. ''sis
81 again recovered consciousness" Miss
the attention OF a retreating workman. Too
exhausted to call, could only groan, and,
brave fellow, he at once advanced in the di-
rection Of The sound. My face, clothes and'arms
were SO besmeared with mud that he could
not locate me until groaned again. must
have been frightful object, with my hair
all matted with the Shiny earth and my eyes
wide open upon him appealngly. But he
was courageous fellow to return my fixed
gaze and merely muttered to himself, Sui
eide and dead.' AS he stopped over me I
. managed to touch his foot, whereupon he
started up, lit a spare candle, placed it
beside me, and then fastened away. Oh,
has he abandoned me with out killing me?'
cried to myself. swooned again. When next
l revived I found myself being tendery car
! ried by stalwart hands up the steep man en-
trance steps down which l had descended
, SO many hours ago. Although l was per-
fectly conscious of the fact OF my rescue I
Gid not manifest the least sign OF life; hence
the newspaper reports to the effect that !
had been found dead. 1t was ten o'clock in
the morning when was rescued; had been
lost in the Inferno OF Paris since two O'Clock
! the previous afternoon
, ALARM OF HER SEARCH
9 ''Had there been any search for you insti-
tuted in the mean time ? the reporter inquir
ed.
'.None Whatever" the actress rejoined
I, ''My companions knew nothing of my misfor
| tune until they read it in the next days pa
> pers. There were so many of us, and we hat
t been somewhat independent in our move
d ments in the Catacombs. tagging behind Of
distancing each other, land dispensing uncere
!, moneously upon regaining terra tirma, tina
my absence could not have been definitely
= noted. My family were ignorant Of my havin.
g gone to the Catacombs. ] met the party OF
: their way there and was pursuaded to joil
! them. There was, of course, no little commo
a ton at my hotel when failed to retur
that evening. The police were notified ant
:, prenations made to beuin the next tnnrnin