The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-04-16
THE LATEST IDIoCY IN TAvERNs.
Paris Cabaret with Funeral Walters
and Chamber of Horrors.

The Paris correspondent of the Glasgow
Herald has been dwelling on the strdnSe
taste for the horrible and grewsome when
at the present moment charaGIer ri4t rne
performances at cafe concerts IN the gay
CITY," The eliminating point in this dlrec-
ton seems to have been reached at CAP
aret just opened in the Boulevard Roche
chouart IAN outer boulevard), which goes
by the name of the Cabaret de la Mort,
This grimly-baptiZed place of amusement
Gf the term be not misnomer) is out d
few yards distant from the popular music
hall known as the Gazette Rochechouart,
where rollicking fun is the order OF the
day, and songs of too broad description
to suit the taste of Senator Beranger are
encored with indescribable enthusiasm by
an audience composed of the peculiar class
of society TO be met with In the Mont
martre district and its surroundings.
Remembering the traditional respect and
veneration in which the French hold the
dead, the correspondent was surpri sed to
find it largely patronized. on entering the
loW-roofed house, the door or when Is or
namented with a deaths head and cross
bones, a visitor is somewhat taken aback
to find himself in the presence - number
of ''croquemortS" mutes), dressed pre-
cisely they are for a funeral. These
the walters, who are forbidden TO smile,
to talk cheerfully or to accept any erat9 el
gestive attire, lit up by weird green
light, and generally mournful aspect cast
a chilly feeling upon one, in spite of the
knowledge that all is assumed.
There was, moreover, a very unpleasant
smell about the place, due, 10 doubt, to
tables are quite new. At these collins a
score or so of customers were seated-a
few women among them-drinlxing beer,
coffee or liquor. The whitewashed walls
of the room adorned, as a matter OF
course, with suitable engravings, drawings
or pictures. There are skeletons every
where; a guillotine by way of change In
a word, a delightful exhibition OF the hor-
rible and sinister. n notice is posted up to
day of the week. the charge for refresh
ments of all kinds is raised half a franc,
and that on that and every other day the
charge made for a book or d grog gives
the customer the right to visit the cellars
beneath the cabaret, to which he is at
tracted by the Information that there he
will see what becomes of his body after
death.
The correspondent continues: Down a
dimly-llghted flight of stone steps Is
spectral sort Of vault, where fifteen or
twenty persons are waiting their turn 10 be
admitted TO what may be called the cham
Der GI fber 40 fr re t6 Trin
wall, which, on being looked through, re-
veal studies OF cholera patients, OF persons
buried alive, and similar cheerful subjects.
With the imagination thus prepared for
what is to follow, the waiting party is ulti-
mately admitted to another vault by a
hooded and masked individual, with clank-
ing chains and huge keys about his person.
BY a clever arrangement of mirrors one
sees ones self on entering reflected lying in
a coffin and this, coming unexpectedly, SO
upset the nerves OF a woman present that
she nearly tainted, and had to 60 away.
ION a few rough wooden forms the COM
pany took their seats, while a second
masked and hooded individual, after MAX
ing a little speech anent death and what
came afterward, inquired whether anyone
present was willing or anxious 10 die. y
young man offered himself, and after shak-
ing hands with his companions, he was
taken by the masked man and placed in a
coffin standing on one end, just opposite the
spectators. His body was then wrapped in
a winding sheet, the last dress, the
masked individual observed, of the rich and
poor alike, n spectral green light was
thrown upon his uncovered face, and We
were told TO follow attentively the work of
destruction and decomposition. At this mo-
ment gentleman present left his place on
the form beside me, turned deathly pale,
and declared he felt i'll, strong the
impression the CHASTITY comedy produced
upon him. i confess l was half inclined to
initiate his example and turn my back on
the liVid face of the man in the coffin, but
such weakness seemed TO be pureile, so
determined TO have all the horrors to which
the payment for my book entitled me.
The winding sheet by some trick grad
ually melted away, so did the flesh. or
rather the man in the coffin, and a skeleton
appeared in his stead. There remained an
other experiment TO be witnessed, namely
the crumbling away to dust OF the bones
and having thus supped off horrors, and
dropped a few pence into an hour-glass for
the benefit of the masked and hooded gen
tleman, | was not sorry TO go upstairs
again and find myself in the fresh night air.
1T is probable adds the correspondent,
"since taste for the grewSOme is the order
of the day. the Cabaret de la Mort will
prosper for awhile. 1t seems to me, how
ever that there is something almost revolt
drink ones coffee off table than off a
coffin lid