Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1895-06-20

concert saloons, is a somber and dismal
looking building, the front OF which IS
painted a handsome black. A boy in
deep mourning stands upon the side
walk ana distributes cards, says the
Paris correspondent Of an eastern pa
per. The door is hidden by black
hangings sewn with silver tears. You
push the hangings back, and step hto
spacious, darkened room, where few
candles give an impressive twilight. A
dozen collins on supports replace the
ordinary cafe tables. 1t is the Cafe Of
Death, the latest thing in Paris Of the
fin de steele order. Thursday nights
are reserved for the beau monde; each
glass Of beer Is two francs and you
may kiss the undertaken free. On or
binary nights the book is IL sous. The
name Of this establishment is not really
the Cafe de la Mort, although all Paris
calls 1t so. When first opened 1t was
under that name that they gave you
beer to drink from imitation skulls.
But the police paid them visit, ordered
that drink should be served in plain
glasses, and suppressed the name Of
death. So now its title is officially the
Cabaret Tor drinking shop du Meant.
Meant Is French for nothingness. You
sit beside your coffin in the big black
room, and you see sitting here and
there in philosophic attitudes big skele-
tons that yawn and snap their jaws at
intervals. Death scenes and midnight
orgies decorate the walls, on which
may be seen the following suggestive
sign: "The lady clients are desired to
scream tout doucement," that is, very
gently, very softly" The walters are
costumed as undertakers' men, in
black coats of an ancient cut, tall oil
cloth hats, and with bands of crepe
tied around their arms. Beyond this
room is another one, called the chamber
of TRANSPORTATION, to which admittance
is gained by ticket, given you when
ordering your beer. The crowd moves
onward underneath an archway into a
black vaulted passage. Here women
often have attacks of hysteria, for as
the alley widens into what looks like
a burial cellar underneath church
there strikes upon the vision scenes in
the far-off perspective underneath the
arches and between the pillars-vague
glimpses of gray skeletons engaged in
conversation or the dance. The pas
sage narrows and there is a door. You
knock. A bell strikes three. There is
a voice: "What do you seek, my broth
err" You respond: II wish to die"
There is'a rafting of chains and you
are in the chamber Of TRANSPORTATION.
The attendants are clothed in monks
robes with hoods. You take your seat
and curtain is drawn aside. Down a
long vista, brightly lighted, is seen an
open coffin standing on one end. Some
one is then asked to step from the audi
ence to sacrifice himself for the others.
One of the spectators steps up, half
ashamed, half-smiling, half-repugnant,
vainly curious and supremely anxious
to shine in the eyes Of the community.
He is led off to reappear beside the
coffin in the distance. A parlor organ
strikes up distressing hymn tune as
they make the man stand in the coffin.
Undoubtedly 1t is the same man smil-
ing in a sickly fashion to his friends
down in the audience. The trans
formation in him that will stoon take
place is brought about by magic lantern
effects, as in dissolving views. The
man stands in the coffin and they tuck
a sheet around him, leaving only his
face uncovered. The attendant disap-
pears. The man looks at you from his
coffin. AS he looks at you his face
grows winter. The horrid parlor organ
goes on with its frightful tune. Green
lights begin to play. There is a smell
of phenOl and old bones Sometimes a
girl or a woman in the audience has
a cris de nerfs at this point, and is led
off sobbing, but the spectators for the
most part sit still, staring blanky at
the white face in the coffin. The face
takes on a greenish-yellow tint, it soft
ems, seems to deeOmpose, then hardens,
as the eyes grow big and black. The
body, covered by the sheet, begins to
shine through dimly-a yellow mass
that loses flesh, that shows its bones. |
The sheet is disappearing. The light |
grows more intense. The coffin holds
rigid, bony skeleton and nothing
more.