The sun., 1904-06-12
TEE PoLl6E oy sAxzs AND TEE
: So DEVIL.
A Anesee cepesaasefea DsssppessnS
d. ths Osvsuteeoth CeatuPy.

@ fs DEVIL.
An AlleseA 01pssnatarai DisappearaAes
in Ne 0svsatssatA Csatury.
PANS. June s--Ths police ef Paris. from
the time Of its creation In the sevsntssnth
century end during . greater part Of The
sishtssotA century, did not give lts attention
20 much 70 the suppression Of what wss IN
furious to the peace. health and morality OF
ths psopls Of the, town a. 70 the surveillance
Of individuals and famihes-apparently from
the love Of mere minutia or Of accommodating
written rSports. These briefs. giving minute
personal details, In time developed into
formidable ledSers containing records which.
he'd. they not been mainly destroyed. would
have bssn Of inestimable value to stud dents Of
the morals and manners prevailing ln Parls
at the period, from those Of the King to those
Of the most Insignificant dweller therein.
Every tTifnG event Affecting individuals and
families was noted In these reports Of ssents
Of police. The Do Con courts have availcd them
selves LARGELY Of the existins remnants Of these
documents In their pictures OF the eightsenth
century. notably In the telling Of certain
phase Of the lives Of Mile. Clairon and
sophie Arnousd. the dhtih sulshed actrseses.
Over four hundred volumes Of these police
records and caNsss ctitSres were In the library
Of King Louis Philippe and were destroyed
when the Palais Royal was partly burned
during the revolution Of is+S.
In the seventeenth and during the earlier
years Of the eighteen century alleged super.
natural events engaged to very large extent
the attention Of the police Of Paris The
reputed appearance Of ghosts. the brin ging
OF the dead to life and the personal inter-
position Of the Devil" In the affairs OF In
dlviduala were taken seriously and made
subjects Of oficial Investigation. Every
detail of these manifestations was red uced to
rt~ tO alnhnratA
description than what was called the '"afdirs
D.mas." q summary Of which 10 the subject
Of this letter. An example Of the minute
character Of police records Of the time will
be noted In transcript describing the duties
Of tho one maid employed by the Dumas.
In . house In the Rue de l'Hirondelle In
Paris there lived at the commencement OF
the eightsent th century n man named Dumas.
He was pa ex-barTsteE and reputed to be
son and adaughter But one servant was
shs sstssd as as cook. & did th. chamber vSrI.
Ss nsn &c
river all Of the water used n the house. In
addition, she groomed the mule, ridden IN
sea; s shs also accompanied Nile. Dumas
when she went abroad to shop. to mass or to
iss ss sas bnmas shs Of
common report credited him with possessing
q sh tss Ss Rsv Va. .Sa hs
a. ohSrch NOR did he attend ps
Souss @ ''d be had constrScted an observatory
stars r1 not Of % h mUoh in the Interest oi ASTRONOMY
a. for the purpose Of making astroicsscai
osnse .h whoss
composed according to the planetary con-
functions In eontiol at the moment
where hs barred himself against Intrusion.
on ths as 1e VT the IN
the street THE was a Rieantic mule. a 6eauti-
full specimen Of the species, mounteSd S oy a q
able personal beauty 4 he had not, not had b,oS on
ts sa.s 4Ssss
they been absent. would have inspired abound
tn: mule ss4 ;dsE sS.nss sss
sns 1HsE a1s sar
Of the Gsnetsry of ths Inpoeents; =. r....
"a: tes 1e 4Ss n h.aS
KIN W.. free Prom s sss
Saint Andre des- Arte felt compelled 70 Warh
tion against the aggressive tactics OF tnis
abont 10 ooioei. the Seayy rapid hoot beats
The rider was The man With the TN three na%'ns as
mounted noun rapidly the stair way leading TO The
%s: sseSs.y q bo,sa az 's
AZ sight OF the stranger the ex-barrister
uttered q piercing shrek 4 nerce 81 discus Gus
s!Gn aDd Sehemen sns Tse Devil for It
doubtless he, al last took hie departure. He
disappsa5ed With such rapidity that no eye
and daughter had difficulty In reco eniziny
the early morning. His skin was haccid and
wrinkled ne was cadaverous and tottsring:
n' s ssff iva s and
and when he wished to return to the obssrva-
tory the aid Of son and daughter Tas lSes %Ssn
and retain the key. AZ oclock in the after; r;
aDen ne oSssrvstorS sas was opened to admit
the room was empty Dumas had disappeared
~ oompletaly Is II the earth had swallowed
aSlSh s fes ss sHs
reon and had nSt visited It :nSe ocsnff ~
n: asas
in every part; but not the elightest trace
Of any mode OF egrees except by the door
and verbalixed without results. As usual
when doubt prevailed. the nearest relatives
the son and daughter in this Instance
L cost them q large sum to prove their inno. 70
cence. Nevermore from that day wete the
mule and It's rider seen. and the unexplained
disappearance Of Dumas was gradually for
gotten not entirely, however. for nifty years
later Louis Nv, to whose memory the Incl.
dent had always tenaeiously cluns. solved
= . iaot noted In many OF. the memoirs
Of tbs time that the Martchal Dc villerey:
youth. @ inssssd Of siimin stins from the mind
Of his charge all faint Of sIperstition. made
it point TO entertain him almost exclusively
With stories Of ghosts. These early impress
eions were never effaoed from the memory
OF the King, and when he came to the throne
h0 Was at the mercy OF any charlatan who
could arouse his interest through the medium
Of pretended supernatural manifestat ions.
Among thu stories that In his youth had the
pses %Sss 'bD1ass baa. fsy Years sA sttsr The as.p
81 that genius OF charlatanism, the, so-callsd
Count de st. Germain. determined. even II
II was necessary to demolsh the house, 70
discover the means by which Dumas had
vanished from the room where he was ao-
customed TO receive -the Devil" With this In
tAntion he summoIyed the lieutenant OF police,