The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-27
WEIRD SPOT IN PARIS
Home of Cagliostro, the Wizard
Is Still in Existence.
BANQUET OF THE GHOSTS
Spirits of Six Dead Men Attend the
Sorcerers Dinner-House Where Car
dinal de Rohan Was Brought Into
Diamond Necklace Plot.

Cagliostro's house still stands in
Paris. Few alterations have been
made in it since the days of its glories
and mysteries, and one may easily i'm
agine the effect which it produced in
the night upon those who gazed upon.
when the lurid lights of the alchemist's
furnaces streamed through the outer
window blinds. The building preserves
it's noble lines in spite of modern adj
ditions, and at the same time has
weird appearance which produces an
almost depressing effect. But this
doubtless comes from the Imagination,
because the house was not built by
Cagliostro; he simply rented it. When
he took up his quarters in it, it was
the property of the Marquise dOrvil-
lers. Cagliostro made no changes in
it, except, perhaps, a few temporary
interior additions for the machines
which he used in his seances and
magic.
The plan of the building may well
be said to be abnormal. The outer
the angle of the Boulevard Beau
marchais. The court yard has a morose
and solemn aspect. At the end I'M
der a, tagged porch, there is stone
staircase, worn by time, but which still
preserves its old iron railing. On look
ing at that staircase one cannot help
thinking of the hosts of beautiful wo-
wen, attracted by curiosity to the den
of the sorcerer. and terrified at what
they imagined they were about to see,
who placed their trembling hands upon
that old railing. Here we can evoke
the shade of Nine. de la Motto running
up the steps, with her head covered
with a cloak, and the ghosts of the
Wallets of Cardinal de Rohan sleeping
in the drivers seat of the carriage, with
a lantern at their feet, while their
master, in company with the great
Copht, is occupied with necromancy,
metallurgy, cabala, or oneirocritics,
which, as everybody knows, constitute
the four elementary divisions of Gag
liostro'S art.
A secret stairway. now walled up, ran
near the large one to the second story,
where it's traces are found, and third
stairway, narrow and tortuous, still ex-
lists at the other end of the building
on the boulevard side. It.is in the
center of the wall, in complete dark
ness, and leads to the old salons, now
cut into apartments. the windows of
which look out upon a terrace which
still retains its, old iron balconies Be
low, with their moldering doors, are
the carriage house, and the stable
the stable of Djerid. the splendid black
horse of Lorenza Feliciani.
II was in the summer of 1881 that
the Comte de Cagliostro first appeared
in Paris. All sorts ofsfantastic stories
have been tpid about Fhim. according
to the most authentic records he was
a rather badly built man, clad in poor
ly cut blue taffeta, laced on the bor
ders He wore his hair in a startling
and most ridiculous style, with pow
dered plaits punched in cadenettes.. His
silk stockings were embroidered in gold
and the buckles of his velvet shoes
sparkled with precious stones. The
display of diamonds on his fingers and
watch chains went beyond the line of
Vulgarity. His head dress was a point
ed hat ornamented with white plumes.
During eight months of the year he
wore a great blue fox cloak, augment
ed by a fur capuchin in the form of a
carapOuSe. On the street he was a
walking scarecroW, and the children
used to flee from him in terror. His
features were regular his complexion
clear, his teeth superb, and his eyes
We're so marvellous that they defied de-
sCription. His wife, the COmtesse LOr-
enZa. was rarely seen, but by all ac-
counts she was a woman of beWilder-
ing beauty, realizing the Greek lines
in all their antique purity and enhanc-
ed by an Italian expression. The most
enthusiastic of her so-called admirers
We're precisely those who had never
seen her face. There were many duels
to decide the question as to the color