The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-29
A CEMETERY IN Paris
Many Costly Decorations But Not = Flower
That Ia Natural.

PARIS, Oct 2i-Think of a cemetery without
a flower that is natural They adorn the tombs
Of their dead in Paris They pay for decorations
II thousand dollars where Americans pay one hun
dred On some Of the family vaults and lots small
fortunes are spent but not in natural tributes.
Walk along the grayelled and paved roadway oil
Montparnassc and you will sec what men can
make out Of iron and stone but nothing that
nature can do To beautify this great city Of the
dead Sometimes a few spears OF grass or hardy
weeds manage TO struggle through crevioe In the
fagstones or marble slabs There are trees, poor
apologies OF trees, standing alone here and there,
their trunks dwarfed and shrivolled with strag-
Cling branches showing clusters Of leaves Of a
sickly greenish hue, almost indistnct in summer
from their dusty coating. such trees as you might
expect to see growing In a desert But these are
the only signs of vegetation, Of nature. All else
is artificial
Surrounded by big stone wall whose painted
side glarcs in the sunlight, the interior OF the
cemetery cannot be until the visitor passes the
sleepy gendarmes leaning against the sentry box
at the bronze gate. Once inside. the place rescm
bles an immense stoncyard for the iron, bronze
and brass work does not appear prominently In
contrast with the after Of fiat stone aud
marble slabs the hundreds Of stone walled vaults.
and what is literally forest Of monuments Of
marble granite, brown stone, red stone and ell
blocks cut from limestone quarres Something is
lacking in all this mass Of human creation. Per
haps you cannot think at first what II is Then
is pictured in the mind the beauties of Greenwood.
Arlington, Hollywood, Mount Auburn and other
American burial places. with their stretches OF
velvety grccnswaTd their beds Of roses. geranums
and foliage plants, their thousand floral urns and
their miles Of drives and walks winding between
stately trees and towering shrubs II is contrast
Ia , l. pt,lf
crty Of nature in the midst Of the wealth Of man
Beside shaft the masterpiece Of the marble work
er, or tomb revealing the cunning Of the Italian
sculptor. looks for r,scbush
single plant: but there is none. Instead they
have shapes in metal, flowers Of iron and bronze
some painted, some gilded. some even plated
Vaults are favored for Use in French cemeteries
and III Muntparnassc one can see all sizes and
novelties. Here is one Of plain marble, the walls
reaching three or four feet above the surface. but
extending ten feet below IT, They are thick and
safe enough 10 store treasures in without danger
Of robbers. The roof pieces are ccmented 10
Ecther and melted lead is run into the joints Tho
doors are Of iron bars an inch in thickness OK
tending horizontally and vertically, SO that The
light enters through spaces about two inches
square. Within ere i've or six rows Of iron cof-
iins, the tors firmly bol:cd :" that each would
have 10 be cut open with cold ChiSel before its
contents could BE- removed \ huge brass pad
lock fastcns The doors. Nothing but an inscrip-
whatever. II presents decided contrast to the
next where the massiveness Of the browns,one
walls and iron doors IL partly relieved by the skill
Of the artisan. On the doors, which are made
Of sheet iron strengthened by lattice work Of
bars are boltrd wreath and cross The wreath
represents wheat the stalks beng made OF IRON
ribbons ard the kernels and shcavts stamped
Grt Of Tie same metal! Il is painted CLASSY
bars around which IS twlncd vine. The vine
: also Of iron, but made Of galvanized metal
"A of lilies IL chpd % These
are wrong hi Of copper apparently, but painted
white. making them ghastly imitation Of the
Nearby IS lot without vaul'. Like the
others its surface is closely paved filled with
grave stui at not an inch IS left for greensward
In n marble urn which stands ON II pedestal like
n sentinel IN the midst Of the tombs is rcp!e
made Of combinations Of wire. The stems and
sprays glitter N the sun for they have been washed
in SOM ch"m !rt which gives them sycry
tin apparently and then painted, but at a distance |
the rcscmblnnrc toa nalural plant Is very striking
modelled after spray oflilies of the valley; Many
Of the cmbems are Of band copper and iron. the
pieces so deity joined that the, riyets con
cral'd. On the roof Of one OF ths larger vaults |
or iInnk is a rod quarter Of al inch in thickness
From Il branches of heavy wire extend supporting
the flowers and leaves. The color IS dull black |
and the effect III connection with the dingy gray |
walls OF the vault is grotcsque and seems mock
cry of nature.
metal Som" 81 the artificial plants and flowers |
are Vanished Some are actually plated, and
at first SIGHT II seems il silver grasses were
growing on tombs here and there but they are
only punches Of metal strips, cut to simulate |
the, genuine, The marks Of the chisel Of the
sculptor and stoncworkcr are seen everywhere
SlatuarH, heroic and life size, is 50 common II |
Montpa'n that it seems like ii hall of scup |
tu,c in the open air In some parts, where the
vaults not erected, the long rows of fiat stones
between the monuments convey the impression |
that this is the site Of ruined temple or palace
Of past ages and that only the marble floors and
lew pillars remain OF its former magniiiCcnCc.
II is difficult for the visitor realize that he is
stone OF worked in the metal, very few are Of a
religious nature The figures Of angels and |
chcruhs, So frequently seen in English and AIMEE
lean cemeteries, are rarity here. In their place
sta tues Of the deceased at times erected. while
hall nude figures Of mythology are common.
~ seen over the tombs OF priests, one Notes bmt
little Of n sacred character The Biblical texts |
which one is accustomed to read ON monuments
III his own city of the dead cannot he found here
though he walks from one end Of the enclosure |
To the other
ways but strangers like himself, unless it Imp |
pens that funeral party is inside, Pansans have
no f4ndncSs for visiting cemeteries They regard |
10 be fastened down by bolts and rivcts, To be |
bound with metal and the deceased to be remcnl
nature TO I've walled up. then LEFT forever You
may walk through Montparnasse for hours |
and see nothing living merely the mono,orous
rows OF vaults and shafts with the squares Of fiat
COMMISSIONERS with their borders Of granite blocks |
lnttrminglcd with the new are the old Some
and some ar" silent witnesses 10 the scenes Of the |
7Os when National Guard and Communist !
fought in the h"tbcd Of Revolution in which |
Near one Of the entrances is a large marble cross |
The top and part Of Onr arm are missing, car |
RED away hy a shell during street fight 81 this |
Revolution.
RARE CANE ~ THE ROCKIEs.