Evening journal., 1897-02-18
A CITY OF THE DEAD.
PERE LA CHAlSE, THE GREAT AND
BEAUTIFUL CEMETERY OF PARIS.

nfnents-lhe Last Resting Place OF Many
Whose Names Live In History-A Rat.
tleield In the Days OF the Commune.
Pere la Chaise 50 called after Louis
XIV's confessor. who had his residence
on the hill long ago, covers LOG 10 acres
and is laid out, like a miniature city.
in nearly $50 streets or avenues and lit
tie paths. Bordering these are SO. 600
mausoleums and monuments Of every
description, from the most magnificent
tombs to the most unpretending urns
Each little house has its family name
above the door, and few are ever with
OFT some fresh tokens of loving remem-
brance.
The French may not be a deeply re-
ligious nation, but they certainly do not
lack personal affection and respect, and
this is strikingly shown in their devo-
tion to the memory of their dead. Orna-
mental wreaths made of beads or tin,
black, white and colored, many of them
with appropriate notices, were piled or
hung upon the monuments.
Entering one of the main streets and
walking up the hill, we were soon in
labyrinth of tombs. Inside of one little
house, which had glass door, there was
n shelf built Of marble, upon which
stood framed photograph Of a man.
On each side were vases filed with
white lilacs, and underneath was stretch
cd white ribbon, and letters in gold
upon it told that this was an Offering
from his sorrowful schoolmates. Three
columns rising from one pedestal and
resembling some fragment of Roman
ruin stood to commemorate three broth
ers who had wished TO be laid together.
Many monuments were like obelisks on
in other Egyptian forms, showing the
influence upon the fashion of the time
of NapOleon's eastern campaign. One
large column with a broken shaft stood
alone in an open space upon a raised
platform and attracted our attention be-
cause of the great number of wreaths
and flowers piled high upon it. This
was a monument to those whose burial
places We're unknown, whose deaths
We're shrouded in mystery, and whose
mourners come here TO pray and weep.
AS we looked a poor woman with q
child by one hand added her little spray
of chrysanthemums to the gay but pa
thetic heap. Soon familiar and world
famous names began to claim our inter
est Here lay Moliere and further on
Alfred de Musset, the great poets,
Chopin's last resting place marked by a
beautiful figure. Lafontaine, with
little fox appropriately crowning his
sepulcher-for who can mention him
without thinking Of the sly puss that
got the crow s dinner?-Balzac, the nov
elist; Cherubini, the composer, and
many other famous painters, authors
and musicians. Then the brave men
who fought for F'rance-Marshal Ney,
Napoleon 5 right hand man, who lies in
little inclosed lot filed with shrubs
and flowers, but with no monument, for
when he died his enemies We're in power
and would allow none to be erected, and
now it's absence and the simple grave
speak more eloquently than could the
finest tomb
Near by lies poor Villeneuve, who
lost at Trafalgar and in consequence Of
! Napoleon displeasure received such a
harsh repulse when he returned to Paris
that he ran a needle through his broken
heart Just across the way from him is
Parmentier, the agriculturist. He was
the man who with the utmost difficulty
convinced the dainty French that the
potato was worth cultivating and cat
ing. They say that Marie Antoinette
helped him to attain this end by wear
ing potato blossoms with her beautiful
ball gowns However true this may be,
certain it is that the vegetable is planted
every year around the good mans tomb.
There is one tomb which every one is
sure to visit at Pere Ia Chaise, and this
is the grave Of Abelard and Heloise, the
grave that has been the subject of Sc
many songs and verses, and where low
ers come to plight their vows and pledge
their faithfulness. Very romantic il
must be, too, ON a moonlight evening,
with the palc rays falling on the stone
figures lying peacefully side by side,
with folded hands, under the canopy Of
early Gothic style, with queer gargoyles
at each corner. The story of the lovers
is we'll known. They had many trials
and tribulations but at last they rest
together, according to Heloise's last
wish that she might be reunited to hel
idol Through the tombs and trees we
went higher and higher, until we came
out upon a wide terrace and Paris burs
upon oUr view. Paris, sparkling IN tho
sunlight, spread before us in glitterinI
panorama, an immense expanse Of white
buildings with domes, towers, spires
and bridges, and the Eiffel tower rising
like q gaunt skeleton amid the feast o.
beautiful architecture. No wonder tina
the mutineers Of the commune appreci
ated the fine advantages Of position af
forded by Pere la Chaise. Here they IN
trenched themselves and transformed
.he quiet cemetery into a noisy camp
Here they met the fire from the govern
, ment positions, until finally they wer
overpowered by troops which scaled tn
heights, and the terrible slaughter tool
place when thousands Of the communist
fell among the sepulchers. Some poo