New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-04-18
4 PARTISAN TR1GEDT.
4 Rric-d-Brac Collector Buried and
Killed bg His Treasures.

Paris, April L
It vas believed among NJ. Gentiness neigh
bors, and in particular by his concierge. or jan
itor that as young man he had occupied some
public office At any rate. over seventy and
vre1l-to-do he devoted himself TO his pet hobby,
2 very harmless and very fascinating one. and
by no means uncommon in Paris. NJ. Confines
had a passion for collecting bric-a-brac Of any
kind articles that belonged 10 a past period OF
art be it old silver. old worries, old china. old
books etc He knew the contents Of every an
tiuuity shop in the city, and never went out
without making some purchase. The better TO
pursue his hobby he had established his vast
collection of miscellaneous objects in a single
large room in house in the very centre Of the
district occupied by the antiquity dealers Of
Paris, not far from the site OF the great Rag
Fair that until recently was one of the features
Of the city.
Two or three times a day he would pass his
concierges window. radiant and triumphant,
with some odd shaped bundle under his arm.
No one however. knew what his collection was
like for none had ever passed his threshold He
was as well known on the quays where the old
book boxes are as he was in the Temple quar-
ter and the antiquity dealers on the Left Bank
had as much of his patronage those on the
Right. He was rather like piece of bric-a- brac
himself--snlaIl. little withered little faded
and worn, with timid almost plaintive air as
if not quite in harmony with his generation and
surroundings
NJ Geutiness concierge took good deal of
interest in this unusual tenant. who never called
on her for small. tiresome services. whose cor
respondence- was so slight that it entailed very
few Journeys up the stairs. and whose frequent
fittings in and out of the house furnished her
with much interesting gossip. Last Saturday
NJ. Confines, for the first time since he had lived
, in the Rue QuinCampoix, did not go outside the
door once. and on Sunday the concierge noticed
that he did not appear On the third day she
decided that something must be wrong. and like
a prudent Parisienne she went around to the
police station and requested that constable
might accompany her the invisible tenants
apartment. The visit was made at once.
AT first sight the policeman thought the room
was empty, as far as NJ. Gentines was con-
cerned. Otherwise it fuller than any room
any had ever seen. All around the walls
and the floor were piled up, without the
least attempt at arrangement a heterogeneous
+ accumulation of pottery, statuary. pictures,
cravings, brass candlesticks. pewter tankards.
Sevres porcelain, Chinese jades, rosaries of
amber, ivory or onyx; rare editions of Voltaire
and Montesquieu. canoes. Renaissance enamels
!. Louis XIII riding boots Louis XIV mirrors and
brass MISUNDERSTANDING in variety and in
exhaustibe in quantity. The puzzled concierge
and the constable looked in the confusion for
the spot on which the tenant could have made
his bed.
Then they noticed that one narrow path was
left clear to the corner Of the room opposite the
door Walking through lane formed by the
old csllector's treasures, they found at ITS end
| traces of a fresh upheaval, or perhaps q sudden
downfall The high piled wall Of precious OBJ
jects had fallen, and an indescribable confusion
was ell that could be seen. Clearing quickly
away the books. broken china, heavy pieces of
brass and carved wood, low bed became Wis
ible and on it, buried beneath his beloved coll
lection. lay the old collector. killed by his hobby
| Over his breast a delicate Pompadour cane with
/ elegantly carved ivory handle had helped 10 re-
tain in position upon the body the immense
weight of old papers and books that had fallen
Upon and sti1ed hipo e. L B.