New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-15
TIE ST. BERNARD MORO UE.
From a Letter to The Boston Journal.

From q Letter TO The Boston Journal!
The great curiosity ut the Monastery of the Monni
st. Bernard is the mOrgue. Ii the day 10 % ns.'
warm the brother who attends 10 visitors hs ~.
tates bit before opening the door OF the WoVue1
house just outside the chef building lie uls'
drives away the dogs who come prowiins s'y r"s
snuling the air suspiciOusy and mas lheln 49, NV,
INTO their opposite the huge reiectOry. LII
lie marshals the little company oil InternHNv.,Ji
tourists IN line lpOre the mysterious door, sss
opens the chamber of horrors. The keen inoussss
air PUSHES in. and presently YOU are consgOas o
faint, sIckly odor-nOt strong enough 10 ve 49,
sve. but eminently suggestive of death ln g 20
you stand there peering with strained ey ,bat
the darkness, you become vaguely cohsoIVu' ~ Ia
face i; looking at you. L DEFY anyone W., W. \,
possessed of the smallest grain OF imagna's, ia
see that mysterious face growing slowly op' - %srt
ObscUrIty without a sudden slnKinS Oh lno -
and chill which effort of the will can SuPp
IL is the face of u woman-and yet Ol gnVS ~
kinu of cUrporcul presence Invested OF llo, IA
so horribly like life that you are almost 49, al
bOny and skinny frame to when IL DelOnS' a,sr
arise and stretch OUT It's dreadful arms, aa
you down into the depths which you 70 ~ us" any.
lively shun. The good brother does nol S' sase.
thing he watches the effect OF this curious Ia
tace upon YOU. Pretty soon you can discern hal
the face belongs to the body OF woman-.an~ ols
this woman is clasping to her breast inc lo,onnd
tiny babe. The mother is seated Oh arv doss
and appears to be dazed by the light poutnh a,raf
into her darksome habit aticn But on tn1 snss Ia
of her face. Here is death without decay n sisht
this wondrous air, Oh this pass more tn lstos
lUOuSuuu Ietl dDONc INC lcNci, P"'AN -..tute
unknown and bouies found in the SHOWS ID soa
or after the white shroud has melted away .ssva
the bosom of Nature in the spring-are pto'Tns
entire so long the monks care 70 keep tneth fa
guinness of the spectacle is enhanced oy tssssd
that nearly every body found is contorted wv sad
strained aud knOtted In fantastic shapes. ,,osnsel
then one which bears all the appeal Oh sa sc
sleep is brought III: but in most cases W. nstts
indications that man and Woman. In the,ii and sai
with Nature, fought hard and despera'o,yy force
refused TO be overcome until every partlco vheiss
was exhausted. Tho brethren gather up ,ne a noas
with tender care and place them In the a.s msy
in the usually vain iSpe that some relat. a. ths
come to recognize them. Where Is the s.hVi .sps 10
child which this strange spectral motnei ,s,nsE
her armsf What WAS the history OF ~. iron
who had thus wandered in the wlid WINS ~arues
tho Rhone valley toward the kinder anu "" With
Italian slopes Perhaps her husband wa Wa hottcr
he--an3 perhaps his body now lies az sn 'vaank, q
Of some preciplce where even the pioush 10
Saint Bernard cannot lind him-or pefn nsss,.irale
here, ia the dead house; perhaps tnat us "a ha
body, seeming to grovel on the rooky nooi ,hh sss
The peasants rarely carry any paper Wins vi The IN
completely identity them, and solnetlmois .S sucb
iortnnates found dead In the pass mere i' SSsrye6
wandering lives-going to Switzerland - s,ntef
work in the summer and to Italy when tn0 :" elss
nips then-that their passports even give
to their birthplaces or native villages