The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-12-19
TRADES IN SKELETONS.
AntslLApELpsilA FRENcHMAlps GREW
some BUSINESS.

8 q Uealor who Has Handled Over Five
1houaand Skeletons During His Lugu'
/ nslous Carser-Hideous Decorations Of
3 Betaroom-A Being That Loves Bones
70 deal In the bones Of human beings
would be an occupation repugnant tc
most men. Yet In the vicinity Of Sixth
I md South streets lives an old French
nnan who finds more pleasure In this oc-
4 equation than anything else In his life.
Hiz store is veritable den Of skeletons.
The weather beaten Sign swinging over
The door; creahng dismally with every
rust Of wind, bears this simple legend,
~. de Robaire, Parfumerie," from
I which 1t is evident monsieur would have
fhs world believe that he deals almost
exolusfvely in those perfumed waters so
dear to the feminine heart. Every fam
lly has skeleton in the closet, however,
and monsieur's family, which consists
only of himself, is no exception to the
general rule. He has his skeleton-in
1Act he has scores of them-in closets
<and otherwise, the majority otherwise.
The truth of the matter is, the old
Erenchman deals in skeletons.
The second floor boasts of only two
small rooms, the rear ope being used as
workshop, while the other, directly
over the store and fronting on the street,
serves the double purpose of bedcharn-
Der and storeroom.
Such another bedchamber as the one
occupied by the old Frenchman prob
ably does not exist, and how monsieur
manages to sleep the sleep of the just
among such grewsome surroundings is
m insolvable mystery to the few who
have been admitted to it.
The walls Of the small room are orna-
mented with skulls and crossbones and
real life size skeletons, or rather death
eize 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 out
stretched doing duty as clothes rack.
The whole is dimly lighted up by faint
Ghmmer of light emanating from lamp
made of CHASTITY skull suspended from
the middle of the ceiling with thongs of
hnned human hide.
THE SKELETON TRADE.
De Rebaire himself is an odd looking
han, and the resemblance between him
nd one Of his own skeletons is decidedly
triking. He has gaunt, wolflike fea-
lures, his thin upper lip and bony chin
being adorned with an iron gray NOUS
tache and imperial.
For score of years he has been carry.
ing on his business in the old place, hav-
ing emigrated from France in 1855,
coming direct to Philadelphia, where he
established himself ia business. For a
Ssnle he had a hard struggle to keep body
and soul together, owing to the number
Of competitors in the field, together with
the dizziness of business. It soon became
necessary for him, in addition to his
other trade, to set himself up as drug
gist, and he still runs his little shop.
though principally as decoy.
Late in the sixties, when the Knights
Of Pythias were organized in this state,
the demand for skeletons increased. as
they were used to great extent in the
lodgercoms. De Robaire prospered, as
consequence, since most of his compel
itors had given up the business.
Of and on during the following twenty
years business was dull and brisk by
turns, but tile old man had amassed
mall fortune, and there is no reason
Thy he should longer continue in the
business except thar he has taken lik-
ing to his work, such as every true artist
does. He is an artist in the full sense of
the word. There is undoubtedly no one
who can articulate skeleton as neatly
Is he, and it is no idle boast on his part
when he claims that with eyes blind
folded he can take mass Of bones repre-
senting the human frame and build up
the skeleton as it was originally, with
out one bone out of place.
WHAT THE DOCTOR" SAYS.
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.a method of preparation practiced
only by the French. They clean the
bones by process Of maceration with
muriRtic acid, the whole operation re-
duiring two or three months time, while
tn this country the bones are hastily and
: Catelessly boiled and come out rough
md dirty. In all my twenty years serv'
Ice Ihave never come across Chinese
skeleton. This is due to the fact that q
ChinRman believes he will not reach
heAven unless his bones rest in the Flow
sey Kingdom.
The different prices of skeletons are
eed upon their degrees of hardness
nd Whiteness, upon the development o.
Ills bones and the amount Of absence o.
nj ID their extreinities. For this reason
Eh6 French article is decidedly Of more
lae than the American or German
9p 70 this year over z, 800 skeletons havs
ban imported into this country, bu