Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-03-23
In MONTE CRlSTO'S HONE.
PLACES IN MARsEILLEs MADE FA.
NOUS BY DUMAS HERO.
A Visit to the Noted DunEeon-Scenes
To-day Almost Exactly a. De.
scFibed by Dumas-Chateal
diff Hard to Get At.

scftbed BY Dumas-Chateou
DIFF Hard to Get At.
One of the most interesting things in
following Dumas footsteps about Mar
seilleS as he makes them known in THE
Count Of Monte Cristo," is the finding that
the old city is precisely the same now as
he described 1t at the opening of the story.
on the oath of February. 1915. OF course it
has grown since then, writes a CORE
spondent of the New York Times. but the
growth has been outward toward the sur
rounding hills. There was no big break
water in these days. but its coming has
not changed the surroundings of Old Port
in the least. Here are Catalans. the Can
nebiere. the Alice Meilhan. and the Cha
eau diff. just as he describes them. The
buildings of the Cannebiere and the Alice
Meihan may be newer and larger, but they
are in the same general style. The only
change Is the taking away OF a big chain
that formerly guarded the narrow entrance
to the harbor. AT a shout from the boat
the chain that closes the mouth OF the port
was lowered. and In a second they were
o outside tb the h han Int There aId re Is mo such 1ei1
me that such was once the custom.
An Unsavory Landing Place.
To step ashore with Edmund Dantes.
hAiS SALoASo SooAt - AohAS ~ IN
stepped ashore on that February day in
1915. is to see the central part Of the city
as 1t is to-day. His vessel. the Pharaoh.
came in from Smyrna, Trieste and Naples.
If you go down and stand by the mouth OF
the harbor you will see vessels coming In
from Smyrna, Trieste and Naples this
morning; it is still a daily occurrence. The
port lookouts signaled that she was COM
ing. They were on the summit OF the nigh
hill Of Notre Dame. where the signal poles
still ale-the same poles. very likely. The
idlers congregated on the waterside to see
are still there. those idlers. Perhaps not the
same ones. but able successors. as rank and
unWashed a crew Of Turks. Corsieams,
at the sight of a cake of soap. The region
Of the Old Port Is one of the greatest and
most unsavory loaferies IN southern Eu-
"Dantes passed through the town; after
landing. to Meilhan's alley. where he en-,
tered a . small house. ,pn hs,d Then he tb ne o had P n9t
is a broad. open space, paved with stone.
called the Quai de Ia Fraternite. ct is
, here that thu The G idlers sashe1 the in E Ereat t
street in the world az you take the Mar:
settles opinion of i'll, begins at the quail
and runs inland for three blocks: ms Is
every Marseillais prides himself upon: rs
there anything like It elsewhere? Have
you anything to compare with It IN New New
Marseilles is locally believed to be a
much greater town than Paris. IF Paris
1 had one 5t % or Two s sa,k,s IKE Tse the ca Gannse,sFs
pavements are wide. but navigation
through it is dinicult n unpleasant. It
is well lined with cafes that do most Of
them with tables and chairs. Covering a
whole block. or one side is the Hotel de
Louvre 81 ct p de Ia Psi1' ,d, ens on fhe a nosi
when they tire of watching the ships. vary
the monotony by a stroll through the Can
nebiere. It gives no idea Of the truth to
They are stepped in it. soaked in it. wrap
ped in 1t, as in a mantle. The smell Is
$40 Sse HE cannebie aa' as MUCH as possible.
And in going along the street those peo-
pie remind me of a COW on a railroad track.
either eo for her own Comfort or for the
trains. Not that they do hustle you or
act badly, but they do not know which
ton Of the old saying that one country
man takes more room on the
than four city people.
Dantes Lived In q Flat.
But we were following Edmund Dantes
to the Alice Meilhan. After the Came
biere runs through its three blocks it be-
comes the Rue Noailles. which is pre-
cisely the same length. And at its upper
Meilhan. which Is a little longer than
either Of its predecessors. The name is
misleading. when used in our tongue, as
but a walk. an avenue. The Alice Meilhan
is by no means an alley in our sense, but
a fine, broad street. nearly. or quite, as
park running through the middle. To fol
low this street Of many names a little
further, we come into the Boulevard de
Tor road de Notre Garde de St. julien.
the whole forming the chief thoroughfare
from the sea to the hills.
Crossing it at right angles. between the
Cannebiere and the Rue Noailles is the
Cours Belsunce. and these two thorough
fares form the skeleton of the city of Mar
settles. Dantes went INTO the. house and
apartments. So they had hish buildings
in those days. as they have now. and lived
in flats. Everybody lives in fats in Mar
settles. There are some separate houses
on the Prado and on the Corniche. but
| they are only summer residences for the
| wealthy: in winter even the wealthy move
back to their flats in own and keep their
shutters SO tightly closed at night you
| would think every house deserted. SO the
elder Dantes lived in the "Sme etage." as
tered the house he was in the 'rez-de-
chaussee.'' or ground floor: when he climb
| ed one flight he came to the entresol: the
next flight carried him to the first etage.
fourth to the third etage. That is precise
ly the arrangements Of the houses Of the
| Alice Meilhan at this day. and most of the
| Marseilles houses. The ground floor Is a
| shop, the entresol is for offices. and people
begin to live at the top of the second flight.
Where His Sweetheart Lived.
Having first visited his aged father. as
in duty bound. Dantes FASTENED out to the
| Galatians to see his sweetheart, the beauti-
full Mercedes. THE Galatians is a small
half-Moorish. half-Spanish village. peopled
by a race which does not intermix with
| that at Marseilles. 1t has but a single
street. in which a small house contained a
beautiful girl There again he had not
far to go. After passing the entrance to
the Old Port. guarded or the south by Fort
| ST. Nicholas. the land juts out into a
broad point, upon which Napoleon III.
built his Pharo palace. since converted in
to a medical school,. And just around the
| point. at the beginning of the Corniche
road. is the Galatians. It has grown since
| the days of Dantes. having eight streets
now instead of one; but it is still a village
| Of small houses, rooted with red tiles. in
habited principally by fishermen and Span
fish workmen; and a very romantic looking
place.