The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-20

payment of few cents. one was shown a distinctly original collection of wom- en from all parts of France, wom- on of the most degraded type. who. after weeks. months, or years of tm- prisonment. had come to the Capital in the hope of finding among the crtm- inai class protectors or chums.
 The Thief's Hotel.
 Thence a move was made to Frodln's hotel" where the outcast, the thief, or the assassin could pass the night on payment of four sous. Of course the place was always exposed to the dan ger of being raided by the police, but the landlord of the den was a sharp fel- l low who had all his wits about him | and knew how to hustle down into the l cellars such gentry as might be wanted 1 by the police. Individuals who were 1 thus "protected'' by tho landlord were expected to reward him handsomely out | of the produce of their first successful l robbery.
 The Grand Dues with their escort, | said Nj. Jaume, were never molested in such places as these. At Frodin's no | tel" for instance SO numerous were the l Iodgers of night that people in rags were sleeping side by side on the floor. | and every step of the dIlapidated stair" case was a human being. Although the visitors in their passage necessarily dis | turbed some of the sleepers they were l neither sworn at nor cursed In the foul | language so common in the slums TO- wards daybreak the nocturnal ramblers were led by Detective Jaume In the dt- | rsction of the Central Markets where Q a number of infamous, horrible dens used to exist in the underground re- 1 gfons. which have now been swept away. After a brief stay at these dis reputable dens the nocturnal expedition was brought to a close by a halt at the l Monkeys Island" situated not far l from the Gobelins and just behind the Boulevard Arago.
 | Anarrow crooked lane leads down | to the borders of the Bievre, an un- | savory stream. on which the so-cailed | "T1e des Singes" is sltuated-a most l wretched place, as M. JauE1e recalls, I with oil lamps lighting up dlapidated | houses, windowiess. doorless, and in-
 habited by the very poorest of the | poor. There was, M. Jaume remarks. l nothing to retain the Brands Dues in i this melancholy spot, whther they had been brought merely on account | of the peculiar and almost sinister l impression 1t leaves on one's mind. Precautions Taken.
 Tn undertaking to pilot the Grands | Dues through the haunts of. misery.
 vice and crime all requisite precau- | tions were taken says M. Jaume, to l protect them not only from personal
 harm but from any too unpleasant
 adventure. Tn point of fact, he re-
 marks, In the dens frequented by | Apaches. prostitutes, nlght-prowaera
 and the like. 1t sufficed to let it be | known the police were escortlng the | visitors to ensure them being treated | with respect. Men and women with
 villainous scowling faces would surge | around the Grands Dues, but merely
 to beg for tobacco. cigarettes, or Q franc to spend on drink.
 In the present day, with modern
 changes and modern Improvements. l several of the haunts visited by "Duc
 Alexis" and his companions have been
 swept away or so completely trans
 formed as to have lost all their 1 former characteristics. The Pere l Lunette, for instance, is the very inc
 csrnation of desolations The foreign
 tourist of high degree no longer visits 1 t.
 Bristiing with mysteries Is the
 story of an accident, or crime, that
 has come into public notice at Toulon. 1 A woman, unmarried, eighty years of
 age. wealthy. but living as if on the 1 verge of starvation, owning a beauti-
 ful chateau and at the same time a
 small stand in the pubic market where
 she sold vegetables and counted the | pennies earned day by day like her
 poorest neighbor. was found one even- l ing drowned in the fountain Of her
 own garden. She had been for years
 one of the most orignial characters
 in Toulen. Until only few months l ago she could be seen leaving her l splendid chateau, which she had in-
 herlted from her brother, at five o.
 clock every morning, dressed in shabby
 old clothes. going to the market with l a basket full of fruit and vegetables l
 haggled as keenly over bargains with
 her customers as the other market
 women, though 1t was known that she
 was worth some SS00,000 which, in
 her surroundings, seemed to be a fabu-
 lous fortune.
 From her Brother.
 All this wealth had been accumu-
 lated by her brother, who, from being
 a gardener, had become a veterinary
 surgeon. and invented a number of I remedies for disease of horses and poultry, which were widely sold, and
 brought him in large profits. At his
 death few years ago he left all his | fortune, including a chateau near the | city. to his sister. the mark woman
 who took to live with her another
 sister, for whom no provision had been | made in the will.
 | The inheritance caused no change in her life, and she continued as pars4-
 moniousIy as before. She did not even 1 occuyp the whole of the chateau, but 1 leased out the most important wing i to strangers. Things continued In this
 way until a few months ago, when
 a most extraodinary change came over | the old marketwoman. She gave up
 selling vegetables purchased handsome
 toilettes. and suddenly became so fond | of finery and good appearance that she | had a hairdresser come to her house 1 every morning. The runner at once
 spread that she had found a lover at l last. and. though rather late In her l career she seemed determined to l make up for lost time. She had been | spending the afternoon with her sis l ter, her business manager, and several
 other persons In the garden on Sun
 day last. when. toward dusk, she went
 to look at the fountain and to see | if the basin around it was filled with
 water. It is Is not known exactly
 what happened Immediately after | wards. but about six o'clock persons l who were passing outside heard cries
 of murder and appeals for help. When
 the garden was searched the woman
 was found dead in the basin. The idea 1 of suicide or an accident, which was | at first current has been given up and l it is stated that all the evidence ! points to the woman having been | thrown Into the water ana drowned | by criminal hands. She had in her | possession at the time two drafts of 1 two separate wills. purporting to have | been written by herself, but which