Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-02-27

Time advanced to the 18th of the month; and more information of the interesting sort reached MT. Troy. The labols of the insu- rance commission had come to an end-the report had been received from Venice that day.
 CHAPTER VIII.
 On the 14th the directors and their legal advisers met for the reading of the report with closed doors. These were the terms in which the commissioners related the results of their inquiry:
 "Private and Confidential.
 We have the honor to inform our directors that we arrived in Venice on Dec. 6, 1SSO On the same day we proceeded to the palace inhabited by Lord Montbarry at the time of his last illness and death.
 i've were received with all possible cour- teey by Lady Montbarry's brother, Baron Rivar. My sister was her husbands only att tendant throughout his illness, the baron in- formed us. She is overwhelmed by grief and fatigue-or she would have been here to receive you personally. What are your wishes, gentlemen, and what can l do for you, in her ladyship's place7'
 "In accordance with our instructions, we answered that the death and burial of Lord
  tain more complete information relating to his illness and to the circumstances which had attended it than could be conveyed ln writing. We explained that the law provid- ed for the lapse of a certain interval of time before the payment of the sum assured, and we expressed our wish to conduct the inquiry with the most respectful consideration for her ladyship's feelings, and for the convent ence of any other members of the family in habiting the house. .....
 gro 4fis the baron replied, I am the only member of the family living here, and and the palace are entirely at your disposal From first to last we found this gentleman per fectly straightforward and most amiably willing to assist Us.
 "With the one exception of her ladyship's room, we went over the whole of the palace the same day. It is an immense place, only partially furnished. The first floor and part of the second floor were the portions of it that had been inhabited by Lord Montbarry and the members of the household. We saw the bed chamber at one extremity of the pal ace, ill which his lordship died, and the small room communicating with it, which he used as study. Next to this was U large apart ment or hall, the doors of which he habit ually kept locked, his object being-as we were informed-to pursue his studies uninter- ruptedly ill perfect solitude On the other side of the large hall were tue bed chamber occupied by her ladyship and the dressing room in which the maid slept previous to her departure for England. Beyond these were the dining and reception rooms, opening into an ante chamber, which gave access to the grand staircase of the palace.
 ''The only inhabited rooms on the second floor were the sitting room and bed room oc- >solh hxyp pnv :xyoss tLar n< some distance from it, which had been the bed room of the courier, Ferrari.
 % "The rooms on the third floor and on the basement were completely unfurnished, ard in condition of great neglect. We inquired if there was anything to be seen below the basement-and we were at once informed that there were vaults beneath which we were at perfect liberty to visit.
 We went down, SO as to leave no part of the palace unexplored. The vaults were, it was believed, used as dungeons in the old times-say some centuries since. Air and light were only partially admitted to these dismal places by two long shafts of winding construction, which communicated with the back yard of the place, and the openings of which, high above the ground, were protected by iron gratings The stone stairs leading down into the vaults could ba closed at will by heavy trap door in the back hall, which we found open. The baron himself led the way down the stairs. We remarked that it might be awkward if that trap door fell down and closed the opening bshind us The baron smiled at the idea. Don't be alarmed, gen. tlemen,' he said the door is safe. had an interest in seeing to it myself, when we first inhabited tue place. My favorite study is the study of experimental chemistry-and my workshop, since we have been in Venice is down here.'
 "These last words explained a curious smell in the vaults, which we noticed the moment we entered them. We can only describe the smell by saying that it was of twofold sort -faintly aromatic, as it were, in its first cf feet, but with some after odor very sicken- ing in our nostris. The baron's furnaces and retorts, and other things, were all there to speak for themselves, together with some packages of chemicals, having the name and address of the person who had supplied them plainly visible on their labels. Not a pleas ant place to study Baron Rivar observed, but my sister is timid. She has a horror of chemical smells and explosions-and she has banished me to these lower regions, so that my experiments may neither be smelled nor heard He held out his hands, on which we had noticed that he wore gloves in the house. Accidents will happen sometimes,' he said, mo matter how careful a man may be. burned my hands severely in trying 2 new combination tho other day, and they are only recovering now.'
 i've mention these otherwise unimportant incidents in order to show that our explora- tion of the palace was not impeded by any attempt at concealment We were even ad- mitted to her ladyship's own room-on a sub seQuent occasion, when she went out to take the ar. Our instructions recommended us to examine his lordship's residence, because the extreme privacy of his life at Venice, and the remarkable departure of the only two servants in the house, might have some sus- picious connection with the nature of his death. We found nothing to justify sus- picion.
 "As to his lordships retired way of life, we have conversed on the subject with the con- sul and banker-the only two strangers who held any communication with him. He called once at the bank to obtain money on his letter of credit, and excused himself from accepting an invitation of visiting the banker at his private residence on the ground of delicate health. His lordship wrote to the same effect on sending his card to the consul, to excuse himself from personally returning that gentleman's visit to the palace. We have seen the letter, and we beg to offer the follow l ing copy of it. Many years passed in India | have injured my constitution. have ceased A. S>-L-