Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-10-08
Some Observations of a Skeleton Deal
er Who Has Had Twenty Years
Experience.
A Neritable Chamber of Horrors is
That of NJ. De Robaire in Phil
adelphia.
Skeletons are Imported in Large Num-
bers, Still the Demand is Not
Supplied.

pleasure In this occupation than anything
| else in his life. His store is veritable den
of skeletons, The weather beaten sign
swinging over the door, creaking dismaly
with every gust of wind, bears this simple
i legend. m. de Robaire, Parfumerie."
| from which it is evident monsieur would
have tae world believe that he deals al.
most exclusively in those berfumed waters
so dear to the feminine heart. Every
family has skeleton in the closet. how
ever, and the monsieur's family, which
consists only of himself, is no exception
to the general rule. He has his skeleton,
III fact he has scores of them in
| closets and otherwise - the majority
otherwise. The truth of the matter is,
| the old Frenchman deals in skeletons.
Living as he does in a neighborhooa
thickly populated by ignorant negroes,
who are, as rule, very superstitious. De-
Robaire has found it necessary to ply his
queer trade as secretly as possible. The
| doctor has occupied his present head
quarters for the last quarter of
century, and enjoys quite a large
practice among the colored people, who
| would have nothing to do with him did
they suspect the weird doings about the
little shop.
The second floor boasts of only two small
rooms, the rear one being used as work
shop, while the other, directly over the
store and fronting on the street, serves the
double purpose of bedchamber and storo-
room.
| Such another bedchamber as the one
| occupied by the old Frenchman prob; bly,
| does not exist, and how monsieur man
ages sleep the sleep of the just among such
grewsome surroundings in an insolvable
mystery to the few who have been admit
ted to it.
The walls of the small room are orna-
mented with skulls and crossbones and
real llfeslzed skeletons, or, rather, death
size skeletons in all sorts of grotesque
positions. Four hideous skulls grin from
their positions on top of the four posts of
the bed and close to the sides of the bed
stands a skeleton with arms outstretnhed
doing duty as clothes rack. The whole
is dimly lighted up by faint glillmer
of light emanating from lamp made of
a gastly skulls suspended from the middle
of the ceiling with thongs of tanned hui
nan hide.
De Robaire himself is an old-looking
man, and tie resemblance between him
and one of his own skeletons is decidedly
striking. He has giant. wolf-like features,
his thin upper lip and bony chin being
adorned with an iron gray mustache and
imperial. His head is entirely bald save
for few bristly red hairs standing upon
his forehead like a small bonfire, and
under pair of bushy eyebrows of the
same fiery hne his small black cyos glitter
like Goals of fire.
For score of years he has been carrying
on his business in the old place, having
emigrated from France In 1865 coming
direct to Philadelphia. where he establish
ed himself in business. For time he had
hard struggle to keep soul and body to-
gether, owing to the number of COMPETE
tors in the field, together with the dull
ness of business. 1t soon became neces'
sary for him in addition to his other trade
to set himself up as a druggist, and he
still runs his little shop, though principal
y as a decoy.
Late in the SOS, when the Knights
Pythias we're organized in this state, th,
demand for skeletons increased, as they
were used to great extent in the lodge
rooms. De Robaire prep, red as conse-
ouence, since most of his competitors had
given up the business.
Off and on during the following twenty
years business vas brisk and dull by turns,
but the old man has amassed small for
tune, and there is no reason why he should
longer continue in the business, except
that he has taken liking to his work.
He is a true artist in the full sense
of the word There is undoubtedly no one
who can articulate skeleton as neatly as
he, and is no idle boast on his part when
he claims that with eyes blindfodpd, he
can take a mass of bones representing the
human frame and build up The skeleton as
it was originally, without one bone out of
place.
Again, be can by merely touching
bone, tell to a certainty what part of the
frame of man or beast it belongs. There
is no possible way of determining the ma
tionality of the person who existed around
"a certain skeleton during life except that
in the case of negro, the aperture in the
skull once covered by the nose is not SO
narrow and sharpened as white man.
The doctor" while standing in his
workshop few days ago, with his sleeves
rolled up over his skinny arms, thus held
forth on the subject nearest his heart:
This skeleton you see me operating ON |
have imported from France. You will
notice the high polish on the bones, due
to method of preparation practiced only
by the French. They clean the bones by a
process Of maceration with murlatlc acid,
the whole operation requiring two or three
months time, while In this country the
bones are hastily and carelessly boiled and
come out rough and dirty. In all my ~
years service never came across Chinese
skeleton. This is due to the fact that a
Chinaman believes he will not reach heaven
unless his bones rest IN the Flowery
Kingdom"
"Tbe different prices of skeletons are
based upon their degrees OF hardness and
whitenfs IS, upon the development of the
bones. and the amount or absence of fat IN
tneir extremitles. For this reason the
French article is decidedly of more value
than the American or German. Up to this
year over $500 skeletons have been i'm
ported into this country, but they hava be-
come scarce of late for some reason, and to
supply the demand ] find it necessary to
manufacture them Of PAPER. Ut course l
have stock of them In my bedroom, put
| would not part with any OF them. Mon
pieu! | have come TO in0k upon them as
dear friends and companions. Here you
see my artificial teeth, and the whole
covered with white polish which gives
the appearance Of the genuine article.
can make three ef these each week, and
theh bring from $40 to SIS, while the i'm
ported genuine article cost from $50 to S3o,
and the domestic $40 But then the imi-
ta.ions are bought only by secreS societies.
Yes, cave grown old in the business
and love it. have artic llated and handl--
ed over 900 skeletons In my life.
The wharf strike at Savannah, Ga. is
b oil L e