The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-01-21
UNDERGROUND. EUROPE.

Wnere Iney nad been accommodating for
centuries, and were deposited In these
vaults It is calculated that the remains
OF over three million human beings were
thus disposed Of, the bones, as a rule,
being laid closely In order, with their
ends outward, while at regular intervals
skulls are interpreted in ranges so as
to present alternate rows Of the back and
front part Of the heads. The portion Of
underground Paris devoted to these relics
of humanity Is known officially as the
''ossuaire municipar'-the municipal bon
ery--and, strictly speaking, it is only this
part that should be known as the cata-
combs. But it forms B. relatively small
portion Of the. entire maze beneath the
surface Of Paris, which is to such an
extent undermined that the city may al
most be said to be built on pillars and
buttresses,. rather than on solid ground.
AS just stated, no one knows the extent
of underground Paris. Tunnels and SUBJ
ways. the presence Of which had been
unsupported are constantly being found,
and II, Is mo exaggeration to state that
1t is almost impossible to make any ex-
cavation along streets built before the
present century without finding subter-
ranean passages and vaults. OF the ad-
vantages which all the, latter offer to the
criminal classes 1t is hardly necessary to
speak. and many a robbery has been
perpetrated by burglars making their way
into the cellars through tunnels. the ex-
er Of the house. .l .r .. fl
It is with the object Of protecting the
Bank of France from burglaries of this
kind that the institution has been provid-
ed with most ingenious system Of tanks,
which would have the effect of discharg-
ing an enormous body of water into any
tunnel thieves might endeavor to bore
from the secret subWays beneath the city
into the, vaults of the bank. The disap-
pearance of the water from the tanks
has the effect of starting off a burglar
alarm. - -, s"@ ~a"~.
At the close of the Commune a number
of the insurgents are known to have
sought refuge in this underground portion
of Paris, and, owing to the absence of
any charts or plans, the authorities were
soon obliged to give up the search. 1t
is understood that the majority of the
fugitives got lost below ground and
starved to death, although some are
known to have escaped. But even to this
day the so-called catacombs. or carrieres,
afford hiding place for the criminal
classes, where they are relatively safe
from intrusion on the part of the police,
who only venture into the outer galleries,
and do not attempt to involve themselves
in the maze Of passages and subways,
which remain to them terra incognita.
Occasionally when the, Seine floods its
banks there are sudden and mysterious
eruptions of water into these tunnels, and,
Champeaux restaurants: the other day,
gas escaping from leaks in the big mains
sometimes accumulates in the subways
and explodes. .~.:.-F .-..,..-
Rome is another city honeycombed like
Paris with subterranesn passages, which,
according to St. Jerome, were in exist
.ence already in the earliest period of the
Christian era but which were closed UP
and forgotten for hundreds OF years. I'M
til, in the seventeenth century, their ex-
istence was unexpectedly brought to light
by excavation. There, too, they are un-
charted, and no one knows their extent,
the official figures of the mileage of these
underground passages varying from 300
to 900 miles. And, as If this were not suf-
f1cient in the way Of honeycombing the
Eternal City, the Roman municipality has
just begun the construction of long
tunnel which is to connect the old city
with he new, passing right under the
Quirnal Palace. IT,. ...s.-.- t.. u~,. |
There is something distinctly uncanny
In the ignorance which prevails in Paris,
Rome and other cities of Europe with re-
gard to the subterranean portions there
Of, and. it is odd that the mysteries in
connection Herewith should have ap-
pealed to so few novelists. Alexandra
Dumas the elder, being, SO far as know
the only writer of any eminence who has
ever given them place in his books.
Equally unpleasant is the feeling that the
ground on which one stands and the
house in which one lives are undermined
and likely to give way without warning
at any moment. r,'.-.
It is a matter for surprise and con-
graduation that the anarchists and the
mhilists, in their efforts to terrorize that
social system of which they are the re-
lentless foes. should have neglected until
now to avail themS selves of the unrivalled
opportunities afforded by the underground
portions of the capitals of Europe for the
perpetration of outrages., They are fond
of burrowing. At least half a dozen Of
the attempts upon the life of the present
car, of his father and Of his grandfather
have been made by means of tunnels be-
meath the railroads or streets which they
were to traverse and beneath the
cnurcnes and palaces in which they vere
" we present at stated time. The pur-
pose IN eacn instance was to use the ex-
cavat1on thus made for blowing the i'm
periai party into eternity With tunnels
adlu suoWays passing beneath roval nal
aces and public buildings, as is the case
IN SO many European cities, one cannot
help wondering why the anarchists should
not take advantage Of these subways al
ready made, instead of burrowing afresh
on their own account. A bomb dropped
from the window of q carriage in the I'M.
aerground railroad that passes beneatl,
the mouse Of parliament In London or
from the window Of the tramway that
w. WI speed beneath the Quirinal palace,
az Rome, would be sufficient ia reIluco
eltner OF these two edif1ces to ruin. YET
Iulaousiy enough, no attempt Of this kind
4t l ever yet been made. Is this to he
attrlouted to the remnant Of scruple. and
" unsupported sentiments Of humanity
to lack Of enterprise?
know of but two sovereiens in tba
present century who have dfsnIa ved anv
taste Tor subterranean passages name1y !
Napoleon III. and the present kaiser -
S germany. Napoleon Ill. had a secret IN
leading from the Elysee paIaca heneath
the Rue d'Elysee. to a private house On
Inc other side OF the street. This house
belonged to his chamberlain. Count Rac0
cnlocM and whenever the emperor
wished 10 undertake some secret excur-
sio, witnout the knowledge Of his jealous
consort he would proceed from the TuiI-
cries to his former residence at the Elvsea
,oF the alleged purpose Of working quiet
~ there, with his minister's and then
whi!e his wife's spies remained watchinp
al tle gates of the palace, he would
thne.y PASS from his private room
through the subterranean passage To
Count Bacchiochi's house, enter the lat
Let's carriage and drive of. Eventually
llaIian consptrators found out the exist
ence OF this underground passage and
on one occasion toward the close Of his
tsa an attempt was there made to stab
the emperor by an Italian carbonari, who
was himself Immediately killed by the
emperDrs Corsican bodyguard, Baron
Griscelli =
Emperor William has in the same wav
spent considerable sum of money re-
cenaly IN the construction Of his subter-
ranean passage extending from the opera
to the zeughaus. !" where strong milf
tary detachment Is always on duty.
Ihanks to this, the kaiser is able to reach