Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-10-01
LETTER FROM A NAPOLEON
BOY TRAVELLING IN
EUROPE.
NUMBER TWO.
FRANkroRr ON THE MAIN, Aug. IS, '0e.

FRANKFORT on THE MAIN, Aug. 2s, '9d.
lcoNcLUDEDI
Opposite a small park back of the eathe
dral is the morgue had to pass by it, and
when 1 reached the door yielded to a NOR
bid curiosity to see what l knew must be a
gruesome sight and went in. Back OF
glass partition, lying upon six marble slabs
were as many bodies-two of women and
four of men. From large pipe overhead
water dripped down upon the ghastly up
turned faces of the poor unfortunates, but l
must draw the curtain upon this scene-the
more prominent features of which were very
repulsive to say the least and ought not to be
dwelt upon at any length. A seemingly well
informed young Englishman who has re-
sided in Paris for a number of years and
whose acquaintance l formed shortly after
my arrival there, told me that many Of those
whose bodies landed in the morgue, were
victims of absinthe, a common and popular
beverage in Paris and throughout France
It is dark green fluid. From pharmacist
learned that it is prepared by macerating
the herb absynthum in alcohol; about two
tablespoonfuls is an average drink and is
usually served in goblet holding about
half pint. perforated spoon with a lump
of sugar is placed on the top of the glass
and water allowed to seep through the sugar
until the glass is filed, forming turbid,
milky looking mixture with greenish tinge.
In order to see what it was like l drank
glass of it at the cafe where We took our
meals. 1t has sharp, pungent taste and is
strongly favored with anise. Beyond a
| feeling of stimulation, equivalent to that
which about four fingers of good whiskey
upon an empty stomach would produce, l
experienced no other effects. The very kind
lady who offlciated at the bar knowing me to
be an innocent and unsophisticated Ameri-
can, unfamiliar with the ways and customs
of gay and wicked Paris, cautioned me not
to drink much of it. as it was very bad for
the head.
| The Sth day, Sunday, we made an excurs-
| ion TO Versailles, suburban town owing
much Of the prominence given it to its large
| palace and beautiful gardens and park. The
oldest park Of the palace was erected for
Louis XIII. Additions were made from
time to time until it became one of the larg-
est palaces in Europe, the total cost of which,
including the expense of laying out the
|
Paris, was over S2OO0OO, 900. The exterior of
the buildings is without great architectural
merit or beauty, but the chapel and many
of the rooms and halls are remarkable for
| their sumptuous decorations. We first made
detour of the interior of the palace, stop
ping frequently to examine paintings of
battle scenes with which the walls of most
of the rooms are covered. Some are very
interesting and of ordinary size-one repre-
senting the capture of a Turkish camp by
the French soldiers is 70 feet long and 16 feet
high One of the halls-"Gallery of Louis
XIV 2iO feet long, So feet wide and 40 feet
high, is superbly adorned with mirrors.
statues and fine ceiling paintings. In this
hall King William of Prussia was proclaimed
Emperor of the German states during the
siege of Paris in 1901, when the palace was
occupied by the Prussians and portion Oft
converted into a military hospital the paint
ings and furniture having been carefully
covered to protect them from injury. Near
the hall is the bed-chambeC of Louis, NV
containing the bed in which he died Septem
ber1, 1715. Leaving the palace we walked
out into the gardens characterized by the
carefully trimmed trees and shrubbery, and
the great number of basins with their richly
ornamented fountains TO the rear of the
palace is a broad parterre considerably high
er than other portions of the grounds upon
which are rows of species of evergreen
trimmed so as to form cones, pyramids and
towers. Great stone stairways lead down to
a wide avenue extending between shady
groves to cross shaped canal. To the right
in the woods are two pretty little Villas one
of them built for Madame Maintenon by
Louis XIV, the other the favorite resort of
Marie Antoinette. The roads through the
woods with the branches of the trees arched
above them, are very pretty. We were for
tunate enough to visit the park upon one of
the days when all of the fountains play for
about an hour, an event which takes place
about once month only is advertised and
always attracts large crowds of visitors. At
O'clock the water was turned on and we
saw, what l should be fully warranted in
saying, the most beautiful display of its kind
produced anywhere in the wide world. In
one part of the park, within radius of 1oC
yards, counted 50 streams of water shoot
ing into the air, varying in height from sc
to rs feet. The handsomest fountain is al
the foot of one Of the stairways and consists
, of several basins. encircled with gilded frogs
lizards and turtles, all with water squirting
from their mouths upon marble groupe
by which the whole is surmounted.
The following day we went to Pere Lach.
< aise cemetery, the largest of the % Partisan
burial grounds. 1t occupies ITO acres anG
contains over 10000 monuments. We were
; 1a1 Y1o nf4 4bo afn
which the most beautiful and interesting
monuments were marked, and without
much difficulty found our way from one te
the other of them. Not far from the entrance
D we came to the tomb of Abelard and Heloise
a double sarcophagus with canopy. L
) has been several centuries since Abelart
and Heloise were in the flesh and blood
Mark Twain in "Innocents Abroad" tells the
story Of their lives in which he combine:
some humor with considerable pathos. Ge
the book and read it. The graves are unGer
ground vaults, most of them about 6x8 feet
of different depths. One of them in whicl
we saw body deposited we afterwards ex
amined. 1t has spaces for 16 bodies. Among
! the famous men buried here are Thalina
: the great tragedian, Gay Lussac, the cele
, brated chemist, Chopin, the composer ant
! Admiral Sir Sidney Smith. One of the GENE
! terry police pointed QUITO us the place wher,
!. Marshal Ney, the bravest Of the brave il
/ supposed to have been buried. 1t is enclosed
by an iron railing-no monument marking
the grave. In Paris there are from so to 10
> deaths daily. Standing foremost among tn
attractions of the city is the Pantheon, bull
n in the shape of a Greek cross with a massiv
dome in the center. In front of the building
is a huge 'portieo with22 Corinthian columns
The interior resembles some churches
have seen. From what was able to lear
n about the building it has been used both a
# Church and Memorial Temple. On tn
d walls are paintings of scenes in the lives {
g st, Denis, st. Genevieve. the patron Saint {