The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-06-20
GRIM E1s c, Id INNS.
OLD WoRap ouTo F:THEsWaY TRAPS
FOR UrvvsRY TRAVELLERS.

OLD . ~ n
FOR uNWARY TRAVELLERS ~ FL :Ts
49, Exnersc1 &c $$ In II nm Inn on the
sps,Ifa., FrontIer-ResortsI In RnrnI
France Where Theft and Murder
and Worse Awaited the Victims.
From a worldwide traveller come
these stories of evil rains abroad. OF
dark nights, evil companions and lone,
illness. Ee says:
II som et:meS think CT u night
spent in an inn on the Spanish from
tier. in { little seaside village surround.
ed b.: Il thick pine forest. was &C
communicated with . bed in a large
room in which another traveller was
lying. He was tallAative, as most
southern Frenchmen are. and curious
as to my business. circumstances and
future movements. l told him story
of my financial troubles which seemed
to me to have saved my lite. lie was
restless during the night and kept go
ing TO the window. l could not go to
sleep while lie was moving about
In the end we both fell asleep. He
had given me his name, 4 name With
which year or two later the whole OF
France was ringing. He was tried for
q double "a urder. perpetrated under cir
Gums stances of peculiar atroclty, ana
with such q motive of petty rooOerS
that the opipion was he must nave
had long Familiarity with crime Inc
murder for which he was convicted
was carried out to gain possession of
200. and people believed none but a
hardened criminal would nerve himself
..Such was my companion in lonely
inn. where my disappeara would
have aroused neither curiosity nor
S,1spicion, How lie would have dis
posed of me could imagine from the
crime for which he was convicted. He
Travelled with q large trunk. | some
times think it was the one afterward
seized at the cloakroom OF q station
on the Cherbourg line containing the
body of his latest victim. L think all
that saved me from Sepulture WITHIN
it was the cunning with which l had
concealed the fact was in possession
that night of a considerable sum.
ut was with similar cunning that
nv brother and myself avoided ike
danger at Rotterdam. We Were lads
of ten and twelve respectively, on our
way home to England from our school
w
start until the day following our ar
rival, we had been obliged to pass the
night in Rotterdam. 4 loafer conduct
ed us to a miserable tavern in SUM
off the BompjeS, where we paid for the
best room.
"a; the time for retiring came our
yilIainous looking landlord conducted
us to a dark closet and told US TO
sleep there we have fallen into
trap l said to my brother, ana SO II
seemed when later we heard i stealthy
step on the staircase Then we began
TO talk in German, and the Gist OF our
conversation was: What would become
CT us the next day if the money eS-
pected from our parents did not arrive.
We co!orcd the story of distress, and
probably our being awake saved us IN
stead of the tale overheard. We heard
the step retreating, and. remaining
awake till morning, we Were not mo-
Tested.
..Ero1n what 1 have since heard OF
this class OF house in Rotterdam and
Amsterdam I have no doubt that we
had q narrow escape
France too is dotted with houses
where murder and theft Turk Dehlnc
the mask of treachery. In the forest
of Chatenay. three miles from Macon,
Won may see the ruins of a church con-
Secrated to st. John. Not far from
this writes Raoul Glabert, "a scoun-
drel had built Il house for the accom-
mediation Of travellers. In this house
he murdered all who came to lodge.
The monster used the flesh of his vic
tins for nourishnent.
~ man came there with his wife ana
asked shelter. Having rested. his VIE,
prying into q closet. discovered a heap
of human remains. At this the tray
elers grew pale and made for'the road
The innkeeDer tried to stop them. but
terror lent speed. SO they Were able to
escape to the town. where they inform
ed Prince OtllOn of the discovery. a
great number of men set out, the mon
Ster was found in his den, and no less
than forty-cicht human heads were dis
COY cred. remains of travellers whom he
had murdered and devoured. lie was
dra eyed back to town, tied to bea1n
in a cellar and burned to death
ct myself" says Glabert. was pres
ent at his execution"
From other chronicles of this perlod
cannibalism seems to have been looked
upon by innkeapers as prerequisite or
their profession. This story is in its
wav more horrible than Hamilton
Aides fiction, for in his evil inn only
the teeth and hair Of the victims were
coveted by the two sisters of Cologne.
r,,o,oI Inn Of most sinister rpDu-