The Alaska citizen., 1911-08-14

:. as 1910 Dead Have Been Ex- :.
:. posed There In a Single Day :.
:. Grim Joke With a Mummy :.
:. That Made All Paris Laugh :.
=. :.
:. :. :. :. :. : :. :. :. :. :. :. :. :. :. ::
Paris. June 26. The morGue
the most melancholy and morbid
monument OF Paris. is about to dis
appear forever. Such is the decree
of the city fathers and their decision
is based upon the progress of sci
ence A great mcdico-legal institute
is about to be built at cost of
5000. 600. end this establishment will
make the Morgue unnec 1ssary.
The morgue. APPLY called the mu-
scum of the assassin and the suicide.
is almost as we'll known to travellers
visiting Paris as the tomb Of Ma
poleon 1t is small building on the
Island OF Paris. behind the Cathedral
OF Notre Dame Here are exposed
for three days the bodies Of all I'M
known persons who die suddenly or
from accident. or homicide. Friends.
if they have any. may then come and
tltllll tItHl. he DOultS dle htD'
from decay by process Of refriger-
alton and the clothing worn at the
time of death is hung over each
body. Without entering one can tell
from the number and excitement OF
the curious at the entrance whether
or not there are any bodies ex-
posed
inc Supplies Exhibits.
The Seine supplies most of the eX-
hibits to the mGrgue, for the water
route is a favorite way among Paris
ans of shuffling off this mortal coil.
Terrible catastrophies. such as the
burning of the Opera Comique. the
awful fire of the Bazaar de la Charlie.
and the big accident in the under
ground railway have glutted this
gloomy repository with victims. Riots
and revolutions. too. have furnished
their quota.
Some days there are none to be
seen: bur there have been as many
as 100 in a single day. The average
number OF dead housed by the Morgue
annually is 500. most Of them sui
cides. of whom about One-seventh are
women.
1.-THE morgue reached its springtide
# suicides in the days when John
l.. Law. of Lauriston, Scotland. was
made controller of finances of France.
1t was the same Spectator who
founded the Mississippi company
which ended in the Mississippi Bulb
BILE. His financial system in France
wrought such ruin that suicide be-
A C. -
1870. also. there were many suicides,
mostly of young girls whose sweet
hearts had been killed in battle.
The present morgue has been in
existence since 1864. or course there
were previous morgues and before
ever such gloomy buildings were put
up the Catherinettes, or religious
members of the hospital of ST. Cath
crime looked after the burial of per
sons found dead in Paris.
Romance and crime are interviewer
in the history Of this mournful mon
ument. One ShrOve Tuesday two
young men had quarrel at the
masked ball of the Opera. A duel fCl'
killed His sweetheart snatched his
sword and tried u avenee her low
ers death. She, 100, was disnatchcd
The bodies of the ill-fatei Overs
VI ere taken to the morgue exactly
as the, were. in the costumes DOOM
Ell fer that frisky tall.
Iaris must have fin even cut of its
most melancholy monuments.
Partisan gentleman purchased an
Egyptian mummy and brought it to
Paris. The police were tipped on,
wrongly of course. about mysterl-
GUS suicide. The mummy was brought
to the morgue and all Paris sc!ehm-
ed with uproarious laughter a. the
e;pons. Of the project of police
The morgue Is immorthlizei i'll
literature and art Nedar calls it the
closet of the drowned. The acade-
micians in a solemnly stupid way de-
scribe it in their unfinished dictionary
as a place where bodies Of persons
found dead are taken and exposed
to public view for the purpose of
identification. Leopold Flameng has
painted beautiful watercolor OF
morgue. Even ballads have been
written about this nightmare-making
monument.
The progress of medico-legal sci
ence in Paris, particularly during
The past 80 years, under such lead
ers as Tardieu, Devergie and Brouar-
del. has sealed the fate Of the gloomy
little Grecian building. The new med
ico-legal institute will receive par
iah bodies, giving every opportunity
to recognize them and will conserve
them as long as is judged useful.
Students of the Faculty Of Medicine
will be given an opportunity OF ex-
amining these unfortunates who so
rashly 60 to their death.
Lovers of Paris will witness with
JOY the disappearance Of this lugu'
brious building, which has long been
black spot in the view of the lace
like cathedral OF Notre Dame, stand
ing out so magniticently from a back
ground of delicately-tinted sky at the
cottinu nf tho cun