The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-07-19

S..t.t.1 the site ~ the French metrop-
IN, 4. literally honeycombod. This may
,.....r a somewhat sensational state
c.'r, Uut It Is contained in tho re-
.,,-..,5,, report which Emile Geralds,
s.,to inspector Of Public Works in
! paris has Just presented to the Gov
eminent
II k, a report Of most timely interest,
T., CIV NJ the fact that on Sunday last
r,-,'ara NJ the roadway in front OF the
p,a-1 ComIguc. also in the Rue eau
martin and IN tho Place st. Augustin,
suddenly dropped out NJ sight. follow
IN. heavy thunderstorm. Other sub
fIdcr.ps took place on Wednesday last
~. the Boulevard Ncy and in the Rue du
v.llpurc So ITonore. In the immediate
,Hzri.rtood Of the Elysee Palace.
, ,,1ue niat a month ago in the middle OF
,tno fle~c wero a still larger number
~ such c6llapscs. n score of lives being
lsi and taVicabs and other vehicles
vanishing suddenly into crevasses sixty,
eighty and a hundred feet deep.
On that occasion the Boulevard press,
n ia customary superficial manner.
'urnpc4 ut the conclusion that these
c,vcins we're due TO the alleged faulty
construction OF tho sewers and of the
u,ferrround railroad system OF Paris
Uut while this may possibly have in
small measure contributed thereto. the
raal cause. NJ pointed out by Marcel
Deienney. tho stalwart and imposing
,,,',,ng Project Of the Seine and Civil
Governor Of tho Metropolis. IL that the
city has FOR centuries been like a si-
rsrrc molohll. undermined in every
direction.
INSPECTOR General Geralds. who has
made q special study OF underground
PAr.P. based on researches in the Ma
t,onal Library Of France and in the
State and municipal archives, declares.
IN tNe report 70 which I have alluded
Gbovs. that no ono knows the extent OF
these subterranean features of the
French metropolis. He estimates that
there ore considerably over a thousand
r1las " these tunnels, not moro than
$50 niles Of which are on record as
haNnS been explored since tho middle
Of the eighteenth century. New tun-
b neis and subways, the presence of
Which had been unsupported. are con-
tinually turning up.
They bear the name OF Catacombs, but
wers not originally intended az such.
Expert authority insists that they are
really former coal mines and subterra-
mean quarries, whence the stone was ex-
trSrted with which the ancient city
O. Paris and It's Roman predecessor,
Lutetta, were built. II was only at tho
close Of tho eighteenth century that
tho Revolutionary government OF the
day conceived the idea Of converting
& relatively small portion OF these tun-
nels 10 sepuchral uses, and from 1883
until the end OF the Revolution the bones
o, the dead were collected from all the
various churches and cemeteries OF
Paris, where they had been accumulat-
ing for centuries, and were deposited In
the tunnels.
1t Is calculated that the remains OF
over 100000 human beings were thus
disposed OF, the bones as rule being
hid closely IN order. with their ends
outward. while at regular intervals
skulls are interspersed in ranges, &C
as 10 present alternate rows OF the back
and front OF the head. The portion OF
underground Paris devoted to these
grim relics OF humanity is known Of
Acially as the Ossuaire Municipal
the Municipal Bonery-and strictly
speaking +; il only this part that should
30 known as tho Catacombs. But II
forms n relatively small part OF the en-
tire maze OF tunnellinB beneath the
surface O. Paris
Among the public buildings which
according to the report of Inspector
General Geralds. have been erected ovel
thsso ca,acombs. or former coal mines
and Stone uuarrics. without the tunnels
bc.ny ared in or shored I'D with con.
c-ete. stone or brick. IN first and fore
nos, the Trocadero, familiar to ever,
Amer,cap visitor 70 the French metrop
oil, aud ,,hlcb unless the Goyernmen,
tsor,, "a nro.sing recommendation,
a. 10 f,sroc,o--careral and of othe,
.vnar. ,,,,,,oo-s o,d ais IN these cota
c,rb, g.. ,aaia y. any r,onent =, n,
.,,,,s.5
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,nrerl,, ,,,onH,aa 10, A. ono
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~ caN.N,n 60 oohoc
n, pro-,,,o,. -. ,yo,,oioo
Iva. ~ Coi,a,o ~, -. Sa,natr,nr
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no, ~. G, ,,,,.a, ~ 81,
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