The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
CUGLlOSTROD Famous House in PpRlO
is NOW BEING TORN DOWN



coined such man and hailed him as its
guide. Whence did he come? What was
his country, his age, his origin? Where
did he get those extraordinary diamonds
which adorned his dress, the gold which
he squandered so freely?' 1t was all a
mystery. So far as was known, Cagliostro
had no resources, no letter of credit, and
yet he lived in luxury. He treated and
cured the poor without pay, and not salts
heo with restoring them to health he
made them large presents of money. The
Germans, who lived on legends, imagined
that he was the Wandering Jew. Speak
Ing strange gibberish, which was
neither French nor Italian, with which he
mingled jargon which he did not trans
late but called Arabic. he used to recite
with solemn emphasis the most absurd
fables, and he. found the people ready to
listen and believe him
The Count dressed in a manner that be-
flied his calling According 20 the most
authentic records he was rather a badly
built man, clad in poorly cut blue taffeta,
laced on the borders. He wore his hair in
a startling and most ridiculous style with
powdered plaits punched in cadenettes
His silk stockings were embroidered in
gold and the buckles of his velvet shoes
sparkled with precious stones. The dis
play Of diamonds on his fingers and watch
chains went beyond the line of vulgarity.
His headdress was a pointed hat orna-
mented with white plumes During eight
months of the year he wore q great blue
fox cloak. On the street he was a walk
ing scarecrow and the children fed from
him in terror. His features were regular
his complexion clear, his teeth superb and
his eyes were of marvellous briIliancy
His wife was q woman OF bew1ldertng
beauty, realizing the Greek lines In all
their antique purity and enhanced by an
Italian expression. Duels were fought
between gallants over the color of her
eyes and the dimple in her chin.
It was the Cardinal de Rohan himself
who installed Cagliostro and his wife In
the home of Nine. dOrviiliers, and which
is now to be torn down. He used to visit
the sorcerer almost every day, arriving at
dinnertimo and remaining until late In
the night. It was said that the
great Cardinal assisted Cagliostro in his
labors, and the people Of that time spoke
OF the mysterious laboratory where gold
bubbled and diamonds sparkled in cruel
bles brought to a white heat
The Queen Of France had strange an
tipathy toward the charlatan, and 1t was
forbidden to mention his name in her
presence or at court The wife of the
Comte de Ia Motto, an adventures Of the
first rank. boasted Of her ability to con-
quer the Queens dislike. She first made
ward that of CaglioHtro, who introduced
her to the Cardinal. Then followed the
well-known intrigue of the diamond neck
lace. The Cardinal, the woman La
Motto" and Cagliostro was imprisoned in
the BastiIe. Here is the Counts own
statement of the Affairs
ION the 22d of August q commissaire
and eight policemen entered my house.
The pillage began In my presence. They
lad ms m a
Elixirs, balms and precious liquors all be-
came the prey of the officers who came
to arrest me. begged the commissaire
to permit me to use my carriage. He re-
fused. The agent took me by the collar.
He had pistols, the stocks of which ap-
peared from the pockets Of his coat. They
hustled me into the street and scandal
ously dragged me along the boulevard to
the Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazaret There
a carriage approached, which 1 was per
n1itted to enter to take me to tho Bas-
tile"
While IN the Basti1e Cagiiostro made
the remarkable prediction that ono day
the Bastile would be RACED to the ground.
How we'll that prophecy was realized his
tory relates. After ten months tmpr1son-
ment the necromancer was released and
he received triumphant welcome home.
Ten thousand people crowded the boule-
ward near his house They cheered him,
kissed his hands and carried him on their
shoulders.
But his triumph did not last long. An
order was issued by the King command
ing the Count Caglioetro to leave Paris in
twenty-four hours and France before the
end of two weeks. He bowed to the man
date Of the sovereign and with his wife
visited Switzerland and afterward Eng
land, but he had little success.
In 17Ss he went to Rome, where he en-
deavored to found one Of his Egyptian
lodges, but the Holy Inqutsttion pro-
nounced him guilty Of Freemasonry-a
particularly heinous offense in papal ter
rttory-and condemned him to death. The
sentence however, was cou1muted by the
Pope to perpetual Imprisonment IN the
gloomy fortress Of San Leon, Urbino.
The manner of his death and the day Of
II are uncertain, but most authorities
agree that he died on August 2S, 1875. from
apoplexy.
His wife, the beautiful Lorenza Fell
ciani, ended her days in a convent.
For eighteen years after Cagliostro had
closed the doors of his laboratories In his
Partisan home the old place was undis-
turbed.
II was not until 1905 that the doors were
opened, for the purpose OF auctioning or
the furniture and rare belongings of the
Count Since then the gloomy house has
away.
s. g g g g Sc Sc
lowed to come directly upon the granite
capstones which surmount these piers.
Instead, 1t is distributed by the system
of steel girders which is familiar to all
engineers. These g1rders are from eight
to At feet in depth. They are in effect
big bridges placed between the founda-
tons and the footings Of the vertical
columns of the building to carry the
weight evenly. The heaviest of these,
beneath one wall of the building, weighs
over fifty-two tons.
Above the surface the method of con-
structing the building has been the one
that must be tolerably familiar to all res
idents of the larger cities who have
seen tall buildings in process Of erection.
It consists of q steel framework, built
span above span as is done IN the build
ing of a cantiIever bridge. The walls
are merely the sheathing for this skele-