Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-08-08
a FAMOUS B AsTILE.
CHATEAU DIE is one OF. THE GREAT
SIGHTS m FRANCE.
Crowds of Pilgrisns Visit the Prison|
Wherein Dumas Located His Great
Characters IN .sMonte-Christo,sE Ed
mund Naptes and Able Earis.

+
Wherein Dumas Located His Great
Characters N .ssIonte-Christn,,' Ed
mund nantes and Able Faris.
is it true" asked of NJ. Chanot, the
president OF the general council OF Mar
settles, that they actually show the
cells OF Dantes and the Able Fnria ut
the Chateau If?' saysss Marseilles cor
respondent OF the Paris Temps.
Certainly, M dorht Of IT, replied NJ.
Chanot. sad every hing lhst he added
was enough to ssp6 Q fellow &to pro-
found rsvsr;s. The next day tcck the
steamboa. which euss three tines day
to the Chateau alt. What "A Immense
number OF .eadsr1 pHExA GtaE hAa. Tho
big bout vas crow3sd IN lie ti.rong
there We're three priests. ons military
man. number OF Epxi:.hmeE. knights
of the Legion Of Honor. workinen and
business men. The trip lasted abou. half
an hour. Everybody was serious, and
very properly when on n pilgrimage.
| Soon the Chateau DIFF appeared. Upon
an island OF about 500 meters in circum-
ference, entirely surrounded by walls,
stands the heavy building with its great
towers and square dungeon. There is
something imposing in the thing, which
comes from the somewhat golden color
sof the stones, the very heaFiness Of the
/ mass and the abundance of the solids
/ over the voids, MS an architect might say.
1t was never anything hut state prison,
! the bastile of the south, and Francis 1
/ himself in 1924 laid the first stone OF it.
I Through personal experience he was well
up in prisons.
The cells open upon a sort of interior
1 courtyard, narrow and sofnber. Many
are without windows, and some are veri-
!, table dungeons below the surface OF the.
/ exterior soil. Three of the largest and
/ most striking are on the first floor. They
| are the cells of the famous prisoners-the
( Iron Mask, who in 1856 was taken thence
! to the island of Ste. Marguerite; Phi
/ lippe Egalite, the father of Louis Phi
I linpe. who was capitated on Nov. 6,
I 1893, and Mirabeau, who was sent there
! by virtue of lettre de cachet demanded
/ by his father after his separation from
i Mile. de Marignane, sensitive woman
/ and about as inconstant as her inconstant
& husband.
1 But my companions paid little atten-
ton to these cells. They made rush.
for cell on the ground floor, perfectly
i terrible in its aspect. with a door framed,
i in iron, bolt that weighed at least IL
4 pounds and with Il little barred window
I After passing through that door we en-
i tered dry cave lighted solely by a little
& lamp. There is u notice outside which
! reads as follows: Cell of Able
4 Faria, expelled from Rome in 1911: inn
\ prisoned in the Chateau DIFF as a con-
I sI,irator; died in 1929. "
Nevertheless this is only an antechain-
her. The cell OF Farm is a sort of tomb
in the fartlest corner and in which one
can hardly stand upright In one of the
walls is the hole made by the able to
communicate with Dantes Sure enough,
there is the hole! What son Of the south
ever made it. Nobody knows. But there
it is, irrefutable proof of the power for
realization that popular work possesses.
And the cell of Dantes can be vaguely
seen through that hole. 1t is seen in a
4 mystery all the more terrifying because
the military engineers walled up the door
SO that it is impossible to enter.
sDantes. Dantes..' cried one of the nil.
grims who wanted to play the practical
joker But he did NOT do it we'll His
voice was almost trembling, and If Dan
les really did reply the joker would not
have been at all astonished. How adlni-
lable and touching is the creative power
of imaginGtion.
According TO the serious archaologists.
j among whom is NJ. Espearandie,,. the ia
nous architect, there We're really prison
ers III that horrible cave. One was nam
4 ed Bernardot. a rich merchant of Mar
4 settles. who was arrested on the charge Of
having spoken disrespectfully of Cardinal
Richelieu. He died there of starvation,
and Jean Paill. ., sailor who struck lis
commander died there in 1873 after 81
years captivity.
It is doubtless the story of these two
men, literally buried alive. that inspired
Dumas. Today for everybody it IS the
prison of Faria. and the Inscriptions are
there % certify the existence OF the ra-s
fortunate able. Is it not true that cpl
s graphic monuments constitute the most
authentic source Of histursss M7eli. The
episrarh of the Chateau diff aiir,ns that
Dantes and Farm really lived CanpoS-
terity ask for anything moro? Tho old
guide. Grosson. who was probably the
author of this mise On scene. gave details
Still more precise. ere is the hole
said liz, made by Mgr. Faria with d fish
tone.''
And so at the present time Faria and
loantes really live. A few Years ago an
Italian kissed the stones of these cells
and wept. Doubtless it was while read
q liiS -1O1lt-NahIiSlp IltiL TINS SQil6 OF tte
peninsula had his first dreams Of the
freedom Of his country: for the Able En-
riu was sent 10 the Chateau DIFF. accord
ing to the fancy of the ro,nancer. forhav-
ing taken Nh again the plan of Borsia.
The man who could create such Il legend
Was certainly no ordinary person. There
is only one writer perhaps who shares
5 his glory. Radicals. The peasants Of
Tonraine Will show today in ali serious
ness the localities which Garsantua loved
! tol,aunt.
In thinking all tliese things returned
with the crowd back TO the steamer The
captain showed me a little island in the
\ sea, mass of rugged and tragic looking
rocks. That Is Tihoulen.' said lie,
where Dantes landed after his escape.
must confess that, as write. really
believe that the story of Monte Christie.
is all perfectly true.
Poe's Last Hour.
After consciousness returned the doctor
said to him, Mr.. Poe, you are extreme
" weak; pulse very low; l will give you
a glass Of toddy.'
He nm syynref .tSir If T thonpht tic M