New-York tribune., 1905-02-02
THE PARIS MORGUE.
Building Used Forty Years No5o
Too SmaU-To Be Replaced.
Paris. January II.

Paris, January II.
1t is forty years since the little low.
story building standing behind the noble cathe-
dral Of Notre Dame, on the lie de la Cite was
first erected for the reception Of bodies recov-
cred from the Seine for the victims of crimes
committed within the precincts Of Paris The
nnorgue is the only building for this purpose in
the city. and it is now condemned as inadequate
for the calls made upon its accommodation.
Open every day in the year to all comers it has
become OF the sights OF the capital" and
hardly day passes that some OF the interna-
tional touring agencies do not personally conduct
thither American visitors TO gaze with morbid
curiosity on the cerpses exposed to view behind
is glass screens. The late sensational discovery
IF the charred body of a woman on the fortif-
cations at Ciignancourt and its removal to the
morgue have been the cause of a fresh recrudes-
cence Of interest in the place. So numerous
have been the visitors that the authorities have
removed the lugubrious object of curiosity to a
separate chamber. to which access is permitted
only on receipt of a signed declaration that the
visitor is seeking lost relative
OF course. the object of opening the morgue
without restriction TO visitors is to obtain clews
10 the Identity of the bodies. It has very seldom
happened. however. that such clews have been
obtained through chance visitors, case in point
being the recent exposure of the body of little
girl, which was inspected by no less than three
hundred thousand spectators, including large
contingents of Americans and yet her identity
was not discovered. One mystery brings many
others to light. In the few days that have
elapsed since the murder at Clignancourt. the
chief of police has received notifications of lost
relatives from two hundred families in the cap
itaI alone. Such persons as these form, however,
only very small proportion of the usual visit
ors to the morgue. Still, to close the doors to
the merely curious who flock thither at partic-
uIar moments might have the effect Of reducing
the percentage of identifcations. and such a
policy is not likely to be adopted. NJ. Lepine,
prefect Of police has however. taken measures
10 prevent the admission OF children and young
people.
The popularity OF the morgue a place in
which to while away an odd half hour, among
employees OF both sexes in the luncheon recess
and among tourists renders the choice of new
site so much the more difficult. Proximity TO
the Seine is a necessity, since the majority OF
the bodies requiring Identification are taken
from its stream In none Of the residential
quarters would its presence be tolerated, and
there are few available sites for such a building
in the business quarters. 1t is not probable.
therefore that the promised demolition Of the
present building will take place in the near
future. IN the mean time the morgue renders
good service to the medical profession, furnish
ing object lessons in putrefaction by the action
Of water ssphyXiation, stTangulation and con-
eelation. So well are the ice chambers arranged
that bodies can be preserved in them for three
months, If necessary. Large demonstration
classes in post-mortem examinations are held
there and the place is a valuable adjunct TO the
hospitals All the Improvements that science
can suggest for the preservation of dead bodies
have been introduced into the morgue since
it's installation on the Pont Saint Louis under
the Third Empire in 1864. and IT is on the
ground Of insUf1ciency alone that the Municipal
Council has now decreed It's removal
The morgue is not without its memoirs. 1t
would appear from old documents that Parisians
have always taken deep interest in the victims
Of crimes perpetrated in the streets. 1t is re-
corded In the diary Of one Buvat. under date
of January, 1717 that all Paris went 10 the
C-hatelet the site of the mortuary OF that time.
70 see rfae body Of a young man who fell in a
duel fought at the end of a masked ball at the
opera. A woman who accompanied him and
witnessed the duel took a sword TO avenge his
death and herself met the same fate Both
bodies were exposed at the ChAtelet- Another
Find of sensation was caused fifty years later.
u,ben the police exhibited the dried hgure or
,,o,I,g man, supposed to have been the victim
- . murder Upon inquiry the body proved TO
no an T.gyutian mummy. brought from Cairo by
travsller and left By mistake in the fontaine-