Louisiana capitolian., 1880-03-06
VAuDERBECKEN'S TOMB.
AN ANTWERP MANSION OF CRIME AND
EVIL MEMORY.

In the beginning of the year 1873, Bel
pinm was inundated with food of
counterfeit bank notes, believed to be
the work of Partisan experts, in the
lawless art.
In the suburb Of Antwerp, called the
Orange Grove stood at that time house
which had for the past two decades been
known to all the low country as Wander
beckcn's tomb, from the fact that its
lost owner had committed suicide with
in it's precincts It was at ono time q
splendid mansion of brown stone, every
nook of which had been imported from
Scotland, and even in its present decay,
with the stone scaled off in thick layers,
rs if it had suffered an architectural
smallpox, with featllering grasses wav
ing in tho sagging, leadcn cutters and
vagrant ivy struggling over tho walls
thick with mould, it was structure as
imposing as it was melancholy. A dou-
bic staircase of stone led up to the re-
cessed front door of Vanderbccken's
Tomb. On each side other stairs gave
access to the side entrances. The walks
leading to these stairs were walled in
by the towering tenement houses which
in late years had sprung up around the
old house, the narrow alleys thus formed
being shut off from the street by barred
iron gates 50 rusted in their hinges that
they had almost become part of the
walls themselves. Amid the active life
about it The old mansion seemed u vcri-
table mausolcum, silent, tenantless,
staring with its blank WINDOWS at she
world, Stunned by every living thing
but the stray dogs which found shelter
in its grass grown portco, and the pig
cons which nestled in its crumbling cor
nices.
In olfs sof the alleys leading up to the
side doorSof vanderbecken's mausoleum
strcct-boy one early morning in July,
1878, discovered the body of woman.
1t lay at the foot Of the steps, with its
head toward the gate and it's lower OK
trcmities on the stairs. In the gloom Of
the dark alley, to which no ray of sSll-
light ever penetrated, the rich, crimson
brocade dressing gown in which the
corpse was attired made perfect blaze
of color. It was this which had caught
the boys eye.
The gate was beaten down with a
slcdgc. No mark of footsteps was dis
ccrnablc on the messy flags of the alley.
A long smear on the the mouldy wall OF
the tenement house suggested that it
had struck against and slid down it.
The body was that of very handsome
woman Of thirty. Her undcrclothing,
like that of her outer garments, were OF
the finest quality, elabOrately trimmed
wiz costly lace. There were jcwelcd
rings on her shapcly fingers, and soil
taircs in her ears. The top of her head
was crushed in, but whether from a
blow or fall could not be determined.
The only disorder to her attire was such
as would naturally be occasioned by her
fall.
A number of windows opened through
the tenement house wall over the alley.
The rooms to which these belonged were
searched. Only the poorest people in.
habitcd them, and to thcss tho woman
was absolutely unknown.
A cronc who occupied one of the ken
nels, however, told q strange story. She
had frequently noticed, she asserted,
lights cleaning through tho cracks Of
the closed inside shutters of % window in
Vanderbccken's Tomb which was di-
rcctly opposite hers. On the night be-
fore she had heard faint cries, followed
by rattle as of u window being opened.
She was in bed at the time, but the
noise made her jump mp. But when she
reached the window all was silent and
dark.
This statement led to u search of the
deserted house. The doors were forced.
The lower floor was in state of ruinous
decay natural to long neglect. The rich
furniture and hangings were moth eaten
and destroyed, the pictures mildewed
and the frames black with damp. On
the dust thick floor of the main hall
were the imprints of footsteps, however.
They led in two directions One trail
pointed up the massive oaken staircase
to the floor above, the other to the Gel
lar, or rather basement, for the first floor
above, the cellar, or rather basement OF
tho first floor of tho house was high
above the level of tho street.
In the extensive back room of the
basement, which had seryed in former
times as kitchen, was found u small
printing press with its attendant para
phernalia, and some sheets of paper such
as the Belgium bank-notcs are printed
on. Among heap of crumbled waste
paper in corner were some imperfect
impressions of counterfeit bank notes.
In corner of the place Nas a furnace
filled with the ashes of q recent char
coal fire. The windows of the basement
were all boarded up, and the cracks of
the planks were covered with felt. A
brass lamp was suspended from the cell
ing by iron chains. A door giving exit
from the cellar on deserted yard was
closed but not locked Tracks led across
from this inclosuIe to high fence which
which divided it from the small yard of
a tenement house facing on the other
street. Two blanks Of the fence were