The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-09-12
ST. HELENA TO PARIS
TIE REMOVAL or RAPOLEON'S BODY
TO IT'S LAST RESTING PLACE.

i Wonderful Preservation Through Nine
teen Years Intermrnt- Spectators Moved
u Tears Impressive Ceremonies at the
Church OF the Invalides-
The grave IN the valley of Napoleon,
on st. Helena, as the place had come To-
I be called, Was surrounded 10y AN iron
railing act III heavy stone curb. Over
I the grave was Il covering Of inch stone
which admitted To vault II feet deep,
s feet long AID feet inches broad and
w;ts apparently filed with earth. but
digging DOWN some seven feet layer If
Roman CCplcnt WAS found. This broken
laid bare Il Layer If rough hcwn stone 10
inches thick and fastened together by
iron clamp. II torl, ! g, hours toremove
this layer. The 50, ;ic up. the slab form
ing the hd II Tie interior sarcuphaia1s
Wa, exposed, Incl cd III u border of Ro-
man ccl..,..t stron. Y attached 10 the
walls of the vault 50 .,toutly had all
these varioCs coverings been scaled with
cement and lound Y iron b..,d; that it
took tie Large parry OF workers ten
hour tp rC.gh the coffin.
~ nc cu .rimost coffin was slightly in
jurcd. -.,y.' an eyewitness. "Then came
ono Of lead. y,i..ch WA, in good condition
and inrlo>,d two u.Lcr-,re Of tin and
one uf wood Tho Lust coffin was lined
inside with white satin, which, having
become detached by the effect of time.
had fallen upon the body and enveloped
it ike winding sheet and had become
slightly attached To it.
1t l. difficult To describe with what
anxiety and emotion those who were
present waited for the moment which
was tO expose to them all that Ny.ls left
IF the Emperor Napoleon. Notwith-
standing the >in@Slar state Of prcServa-
ton of the tomb and collins we could
scarcely hope TO find anything but some
miSShapcn remains OF the least perish
able part Of the costume To evidence the
identity of the body But when DIR.
Guiil.lrl raised the sheet of satin, an in.
de>cribable feeling 81 surprise and aiTc,..
tion was expressed 10y the spectators.
many Of whom burst into tcai>. The
emperor himself was before their cve-.
The features Of the face, though elan. "a.
We're perfect IN recognized; the hand, ,N.
trcmely beautiful; hi. well known cos
tune had suffered but little, and the
colors were easily distinguished Tho M.
utUGc itself was fall If ease. and but foi
the fragments of satin Inning which Gov
cred, rs with fine gauZc, several parts oi
the uniform, we might have believed
We still saw Napoleon lying On his Lcd
OF state. "
The climax Of the pageant in Plri.
was the temple OF the Inyaiides. The
spacious church was drapcd in tho most
magnificent and L.i>h f-s.iou and
adorned W.sa a IcrIccJ be-, .ljcr.yut oi
I'M crlal cuiulcmf. The l-,t Wus ,lut
out ly hdngings OF violet velvet: tril, tis
bLtz;ns with colorcd flames. and thoa-
sands upon thousands Of waN,u candles
in brilliant c.mdclahra lighted ~ tenn
PIE. Uudcr tic dome. i'm the place. uf tine
altar, stood the cttaialquc which Nvas
to receive the coffin
il was g O'Clock in the al tcrnoun when
the archbishop If Paris. preceded I,v "a
splendid cross bearer. and followed l,y
lG incense boys and long row, Of white
clad priests, left the church 10 meet lhc
procession They returned soon. Fol.
lowing them was the Prince. de- Tuinville
and "a select few from the grand curtcge
without. In their midst NaJulcan's cof-
fin.
The king descended from lis thu ue
and advanced To- meet the cortca,c.
Sire, said the Prince De Juinvillc. II
present 10 You the body Of Napoleon.
which, IN accordance with your com
mandS, | have brought back 10 France. "
L receive it III the name Of France. "
replied Louis Philippe
such AT least is what the ''Monitcur''
afirms WAS said. The Prince de Join
vile gives different version: 1T ap-
pears that a little speech which / was h
have delivered when l met my father.
and also tine answer he WAS 10 give me.
had been drawn up in council, only the
authorities had omitted To inform me
concerning II. So when arrived / sim.
ply saluted with my sword, and then
stood aside. l SAW indeed that thi silent
Salnte. followed by retreat. had thrown
something out. but my father, after
moments hesitation, improvi~ed some
appropriate sentence. and the matter
was afterward arranged in the 'Moni
teur.
Beside the king stood III officer. bear.
ing cushion ;5fI-lt lay ,hc sword Of
austcrhtz Marshal Soult handed it 10
the king, who. turning to Bertrand.
said:
General, 1 commission you to place
the emperor's glorious sword on the
bier. "
And Bertrand. trembling with emo
tion, laid the sword rcverently ON his
idols coffin. The great audience watch
ed the scene in deepest silence. The only
sound which broke the stiffness was the
half stiiied sobs Of .he gray haired sol
diers Of the mvalideS, who stood in
places Of honor near the catafalquc
The king and the procession returned
to their palaces, and then followed a
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