Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-28

''Oh. the poor old
non. The poor girlr'
Mamma. why does the dead woman keep
one eye shut and one eye openr'
conc Marie. it is time for lunch"'
ne MOrgue's chief reason for existence
Is TIE Identification Of unknown corpses-
MURDERS, suicides and accidents: and. little
by little. il has come to be transformed. not
Only into something very like a medico-
Ie7aI Institute, but also a branch of the de-
teItiTe system. Thus. upon an order from
The PaFIg~t office OF the public prosecutor
h0- only The unknown dead, but also bodies
o. known victims. whether of high family
or OF i1T- may he hers set UP for the crowd
10 stare at, If their case be Ola tragic char
2cter. sufficiently Involved in mystery. And
50, UP TO the present time. the visits of the
PSopIe' as to a museum. are encouraged.
Nc qsssttOTls are asked: there is no wicket
To- pass; scarcely door &c enter; the hall
Is almost like an open portico upon the
street. . -,
ss.l-- The Daily Moreue Crowds.
The people crowd. In the early morning
day ldborer5 as they cross the bridge drop
In ~ lake a. look. Later, servants running
errands stick in their heads Then, on to
n'r tiieors. Etsls' boys and girls. accompanied
By. .thsir. nurses. parents. guardians and
masters, come TO snatch compliment peeks
ADJ ,E"andsr 'ssas again TO eat fresh waffles
on the eHrbSIone.
. al ssss .rths -ourb- directly by the morgue
two apple women always sit. In summer
o<,> al them has celd 6rinks-licorice water
and red soda. and the other sells ice cream
m tttie dabsr In winter the first retails
hot chestnuts, while the second dame con-
trIues all the year TO work her waffle irons
- Ia nod
becduSe the sights inside give folks hol-
low feelins-inside.
a merchant of watchmakers' junk-de-
tao ned wheels and pivOts. weights and
frames and diaTs and hands-conducts his
stani few steps further on. where he has
Squatted in the open air upon the bridge in
one OF its recess-s. He also keeps spread
out u CHASTITY stock of worthless bric-a-
brac. door bells and Knockers pipes, snu8
boxes. rusty knives. unmatched brass
knurkles. boxes Of old coins and medals,
eycSldSs frames and furnished fanS-a lit
tie ni6rsue Of arts and trades. The people.
passing out from the long dead hall, where
they sazei 50 vacantly. will stop before one
apple woman or the other. stare at her
AMI then give UP their minds to what the
junkman has. :F
The Building.
The mOrgue is a bare builling. all of
stone. cne story high. AMI something like
Greek comb. Il has 4 wall at each end.
fenc;n-s OFF garden by the river side. It's
situd'iJa at the eastern corner VI the Seine
islant caIiaI La Cite tthe most ancient Part
OF Paris. ana still It's physical ccn'er) is
almost theatrical. More than half the
Clients of the mOrSue are from the river.
They find IL easy to slip over a bridges
talustrade when there is TO one looking.
The mOrgue is at the tail end OF the island.
It's back is to the, open river; its sides are
TasheI Continually by the parting waters.
Its front faces the flying buttresSe5 Of
Hotre Dame de Paris that stand out in
yhe moonlight Ike 50 many great stone
EallONs. And the huge gargoyies, with
devils faces or the heads of birds Of prey
or namelesS monsters, leer down on the
open place.
Book Morgue and Dog Pound.
: Along the southern Seine wall stretches
ont the stock in trade of the secondhand
book dealers. spread upon the parapet, all
in the open air. turn over a pile of old
sheet-music and read inscribed in English,
in a fine Italian hand, Mary J. P.
Boston The lot for 80 cents. You can
bave a leather-bOund Greek-Latin folio
Which weighs some fifteen pounds for one
frapc. and 3 half. 1t is. d morgue of books.
The fOUrriere. or dog pound is close by,
Just 1sn the little Rue de Pontoise. where
2o,s) victims OF NJ. LOze. then the project
OF po..Ce. gave up the ghost in one short
Iiouth OF 1S92- y few squares on, beside
the river bleak ard dirty i'll winter, Bills
tered anu dlrtler IN summer, SQuatS the OIL
hp-iAL-d AMI deserted Jardin des Plantes-
a morsUe for trees and plants, with few
discouraged and diseased wild animals in
rusty cages. .....-
Notrc Dame.
You walk around the sides OF Notre
Dame. the great cathedral. and in and out
Its handsome. raiiei back garden. Half
tipay logfers Huger On the garden benches,
by whose siies lie mingled heaps Of other
in stone. which have been taken from the
walls ami stee2Ies in the course OF many
RESERVATIONS. You walk inside of Notre
Dame. Bessars sit upon its steps. Inside
the air is damp. bell sounds. Standing
in the Gothic twilight. where the walls
sweat. YOU begin 10 think it is the morgue
OF happiness and beauty.
80 the mOrgue is we'll surrOun1ed; and
the Little. HAT stone buil1ing that looks SO
like d Greek tomb at the corner of the
island just behind the great cathedral sets
the motive for a t4lorOus symphony.
The Mortgages Tenants.
Accor ling 10 the statistics Of the morgue
the great majority Of it's clients are and al
Ways have been persons OF middle age
with from three times 10 five times as
many men as women. Striking cases, like
the beautiful young woman cut in thirteen
pieces, are not common. The contingent
from the river always is repulsive, though
the trained attendants. Of the mOrgue do
wOr i-Fs in the way of working gas and
water eJIt Of .sh -Eal And this contingent is
four times more numerous than the cases
fl psI2- q ny. O,her .SiI-s % cause. The next in
fEe,fIency is being crushed to death be-
Ielth. the Wheais- OF k,arfs drdys AMI omni-
S-=
Tie Seinc's Victims.
A. ~ the river. o. Deaths by drowning
ar most fra4uent in July. and dwindle
down y next to nothing in cold weather.
tLJ;!gb the river -seldara- freezes. 1t thus
hapcrns that in the winter months there
e. fn'1- bodies 70 expose. for 60 the
CHE means O( suicide. in Paris is by drown
r. Ken use il three times as often a any
,-ha- ,-ctuz, and wgn.sn seven times. in
G.4rL- Jy dryv hing there are nearly three
tim as man. SUICIDES a. accidents. But
e. ~itu rg-art 70 these statistics, the
t4ss-- are as follows G-4Ies, females. new
born infants.
MEDALS and Money FRIES.
The prefecture u pglice, with a view to
fu.l--i-r. encourages the zeal Of fishermen
a. ~iy ~ inasars hy giving medals and fixed
Ina-.y vr.z-s fpv all bodies rescued. quick
O. r-.I. There j. an ancient prejudice in
Iaris which pretf uds that the reward Is