The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-01-30
UNDERGROUND EUROPE.
Vast Labyrinths Uncharted and IN
known to the Authorities.
(New York Tribune

lNcW 1OEh 1Elblie-J
England's parliament is about to be
called upon to institute measures for
the purpose of putting a check. if not
I an absolute stop. to the process or
/ honeycombing the foundations and sub
soil of the British metropolis. An
4 alarming accident has recently taken
place at Paris. where the celebrated
( Restaurant ChampeauX, in the Pace
! de la BOurse, where the princes OF
| finance are wont to foregather for their
midday meal. was wrecked the other
day by an explosion of terrific force.
which is ascribed to the accumulation
/ Of gases in the subterranean passages
and tunnels which traverse the French
capital. maze fashion, IN every direc-
ton Then. too. the works OF the new
| METROPOLITAN or underground railroad
beneath the crowded Rue de HiVoi thaL
I skirts the Tuileries are encounterlnS
almost insuperable difficulties, OWING
I to the extraordinary number or Vauited
! galleries that, tier upon tier. intersect
{ the entire route of the projected rail-
way. and which will require the most
I delicate handling in order TO avoid
danger to the huge buildings that line
the Rue de RivOG throughout the great
/ er part of it's length.
1t is asserted that more than third,
indeed nearly one-half. % Paris is IN
derrun by the aUarries out OF when
the stone that went to build the city
in ancient times was extracted Ihese
/ .snaersrc ind passages and tunnels pear
{ the name of cataconbs. but were not
originally intended as such. lndeeu' IL
was only at the close of the last cen
fury that the government conceived the
idea of converting q portion OF these
tunnels in the stone to sepulchral USES,
and from 1856 until the end OF the 1eFo-
luton all the bones OF the dead were
col. ected from the various cnurcheS
and cemeteries Of Paris. where they
had been accommodating for centuries.
and were deposited in these vaults. ice
portion OF underground Paris devoted
to these relics Of humanity is known
officially as the "o>Suaire munlclpaI -
the municipal bonery-and, strictly
speaking, it is only this part that
should be known as the caIacCmDs. but
il forms q relatively small portion OF
the entire maze beneath the surface OF
Paris which IS to SUCH an extent IN
dernined that the city may almost be
SAID to be built on pillars ana butt-
resses, rather than on solid ground No
one knows the extent OF Underground
Paris. Tunnels ar1 subways. tGe pres
ence Of which had been unsuspeeted'
are constantly being found II IS
strange that the mysteries in connec-
ton Herewith should have Appealed
to so. few noyelistS, Alexandra Dumas
the elder being, so far as l know, the
only writer of any eninence who mas
ever given them place in MS booEs-
Equally unpleasant is the feeling thaL
ths ground on which one stands and
the house in which one lives are under
mined and likely to give way without
warning at any moment
1t is a matter fer surprise that con-
graduation that the anarchists ana
the nihilists. in their efforts to terror
5o1 N which they
ara the relentless foes, should nave
neglected until now 70 avail themselves
of the unriValed opportunities aiCrded
by the underground portions or the
capitals Of Europe for the preparation
Of Outrages. With tunnels and suoWayS
passing beneath royal palaces anu
public buildings, as is the case IN 50
many European cities. one cannot help
wondering why the anal chistS SnouId
not take advantage Of these subWayS
already made instead of burroWlnS
afrssh on their own account A OOmD
dropped from the window or carrtaSe
in the underground railroad which
passes beneath the house Ct parliament
in London, or from the window OF the
trauway that will speed beneath the
Quirinal palace at Rome would be
sufficient to reduce either Of these two
edifices to ruin. Yet, curiously enough,
no attempt of this kind has ever yet
Deen fldQG. Is THIS ~ " -AAAbN-S~Nt
the remnant of scrupie, and to unsUs-
pected sentiments Of humanity on the
part of the anarchists, or merely to
lack of enterprise?
Enow Of but TWO sOvereisns IN the
present century who ha aged
any taste for subterraneaD passages.
namely, Napoleon III and the present
kaiser Of Germany. Napoleon III had
q secret underground passage con-
str1icted at Paris leading from the
Elysee palace beneath the Rue q Elysee,
to a private house on the other side
Of the street. This house belonged to
his chamberlain, Count Bacchiochi. and
whenever the emperor wished TO under
take some secret excursion without the
knowledge of his jealous cOnsort ne
would proceed from the Tuileries to his
former residence at the ElySee for the
alleged purpose of working quietly
there with his ministers, and then,
while mis- wife's spies remained watch
ing at the gates OF the palace, ne would
quickly pass from his private room
through the subterranean passage 10
Count Bacchiochi'S house, enter the
,t IN nd drive off