Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-03-24
!. Red spectre Of the T~uileries.

VNH kyNA
Are the contractors engaged in pulling
M '.o the burnt Palace Of the Tuileries
domn that they are also laying a ghost?
aware =. ddo,btfuI, for the legend Of the Red
s%nectre who haunted, and may still
|S ,pprnt. the building is now almost forgot
.sa Yet it is not 80 long ago that the
. eahl;n. who showed himself on the eve of
e suaat disasters, was mentioned with bated
s leah not only in the Palace, but by
psnv Of the inhabitants of the Louvre
mnanrtier. There is no record to show
, ,'han he first took up his lodging at the
T,,;leries, but it is affirmed that he dis
-i,asod his existence there most unmis-
.alshly during the great revolutionary
.ar;od. A few days before tho terrible
Ierh Of August, 1850 the story goes
1yur Antoinette's women were sitting in
the the Sale des Gardes when they became
s,,ddenlv aware Of the presence of a
small man clothed from crown to heel in
s"arlet, who looked at them with such
s,naarthlv eyes that they were frozen
nth terror. They rushed to the apart
want of Madame la Dauphine and re-
lated their adventure.
The next apparition of the Red Man
,ros in 1914, in. the presence Of the little
T;ns of Rome and his attendants; and
tho red figure was again seen, according
"a renort, a little before the death Of
+ ouis XVIII.-this time in the Galerie
dn Louvre. In 1915, however, much
discredit was thrown upon the ghosts
existence by the practical joking Of some
srt students attached to CROSS studio at
the Louvre. Some Of the Louvre apart
ments had been placed at the disposal of
mined emigrants who had returned to
France and found a %protectress in the
Ennchesse d~'Angouleme. Among these
we're two old maiden ladies and a knight
Of ST. Louis, who were dining together
one evening when to their supreme as
tonishment a 'grand diable rouge" came
down the chimney and ~snatching a leg Of
mutton from the table disappeared with
It by the way he came. The incident
was reported to the Duchesse, who sought
the presence of the King and with tears
pouring down her face declared her con-
1viction that some great misfortune was
impending. The King laughed at his
niece's fears and sent for a chimney
sweeper. A boy who went up the CHM
new to look for the "diable rouge did not
return. A man was sent up, but nothing
more was seen or heard of him. The
greatest excitement reigned in the Pan
ace, and at length a fireman undertook to
explore the haunted chimney. He re-
turned and explained the mystery. 1t
appeared that the chimney passed by
Gross studio, and that his pupils, by
making a hole in the wall, were enabled
to play these pranks upon illustrious per-
sonages. They had made the two sweeps
their ~confederates, but the fireman was
not to be bribed. A writer in one of the
Paris papers who recalls this anecdote re-
lates in all seriousness the circumstances
under which the genuine goblin of the
Tuileries made his final appearance. 1t
was in 1871, during the last days of the
Commune. The journalist had the story,
he says from the lips of a witness, who
trembled while he told it. He was a
concierge at the Louvre, and while MAX
ing his accustomed round m night, Ian
tern in hand, through the silent galleries,
he observed in the Galerie d'Apollon a
human form standing against a window,
with crossed arms and dropping head, in
an attitude of profound affection. Be-
lieying he had Surprised robber,, the
concierge made toward the intruder, who
%thereupon disappeared in most mysteri-
ouE fashion. He tried to persuade him
self that his senses had deceived him,
when on reaching the Grande Galerie he
saw the same figure again, in the same
melancholy posture. Onbeing challenged
the form vanished. The official then re.
membered the legend of the Homme
Rouge, and lost no time in regaining the
street. Presently he returned with some
OF his comrades, to whom he related
what he had seen; but this time the
search for the goblin was fruitless and
was cut short by another kind of appari-
iona lurid glare in the sky. The Com
munists had begun their incendiary
work, and the next day the flames shot
out Of every window of the fuileries. 1t
Will be seen that the Red Man not only
ihaunts the palace with which his name
Is associated, but also the adjoining
buildings Of the Louvre. So it is doubt
1ul if he will quit the precincts to which
ne is linked by SO many associations,
even when there is not a stone left to
ten where the Tuileries once stood.-M.