The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-06-27

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a. very old city, one Of which the
Romans had a considerable occupa-
ton. The ruins of an immense cir
Gus built by them still stands in the
midst Of modern houses and shops.
It's masonry Is so solid that q ton
Of dynamite would be required to
dislodge it.
Mummies Draw Soldiers.
At the time Of the French revolu-
ton it was practically intact, but Its
use as fortress and the pounding
Of cannon against it turned 1t into
the picturesque ruin 1t Is today. Our
soldiers are exploring that old cir
Gus and realizing the grandeur that
was Rome more keenly than II they
were examining Latin back home.
You positively mustn't miss the
mummies," I was told by my SOL
der friends in this same city. so
one day went with two boys to see
the mummies. There is an ancient
church. built centuries ago, outside
the city walls, when the town was
just beginning to outgroW its walls.
The excuse for the walls had not
disappeared, however, and local wars
and forays among the fuedal gem
try beat hard on that church. Sew
eral times during the years the
church was burned to the ground,
but Is was always rebuilt ACCORDING
to it's original plans.
The last time it was rebuilt was
about q hundred and fifty years
ago, and it was when the excava-
tions were being made that the ia
nous mummies were discovered.
They were dug up out Of one of the
oldest corners of the churchyard and
must have passed from life in the
fourteenth or the fifteenth century.
Something in the chalky nature OF
the soil preserved them from disin-
tegration, and they remain still rath-
er disagreeabIe and grewsome like
nesses Of their original selves.
To see them we descended a flight
of worn stone steps into the inky
darkness of a crypt. An old, old
crone of woman, herself half a
mummy, led the way, sort Of a
dark lantern in her hand. She has
told the story of the mummies sew
eral times a day for SO many years
that she could probably recdte it
without troubling herself to wake out
Of a nap. She can even recite it in
jargon which remotely resembles
English. 80
Visit NapoIeon's Tomb.
The mummies about twenty Of
them, are hung up like so many old
clothes, around the walls Of the
crypt. Some are mere parchment
shells of bodies, other retain rags Of
clothing, and even rings. The old,
old Crone turned her lantern on the
mummies, one by one. Here was a
priest, she said, you could tell by
his soutaine. Here was a woman
who had died in childbirth, her tiny
baby buried with her. Here was a
whole family, mother and four chill
dren, who had died Of poison, per-
haps mushrooms. This man was
hanged. You could tglI-"Ugh! Let's
look at the next one, ma mere" we
implored. The next one was worse,
a cataleptic, buried alive.
What in the world makes you want
to look at such things?" I asked
when we emerged, in time to meet
another group Of soldiers bent on the
same errand.
why" they said, don't you think
it is terribly interesting to look at
people who actually lived five hun
bred years ago? Those mummies
are worth a franc any day.
Two Sundays before I left France
spent the afternoon in the Hotel
des Invalides, where Napoleon lies in
his granite tomb, now completely
buried in sand bags. In spite of that
fact, however, the chapel was filled
with American soldiers gazing rapt-
ly at the tomb they could not see
but which they knew held the ashes
of the great conquerer.
~ II
courtyard, now a museum Of cap
tured German guns, cannon, min
MES" and shattered airplanes. There
are the burned and eharred skele-
tons Of several zeppelins, and in the
very center of the collection, as if
It's captor the remains, nearly in
tact, of Guynemer's favorite fighting
plane his "Old Charles" which
brought so many German fllers to
earth. This plane, white, with a
scarlet symbolic bird in flight paint
ed on it's body, is decorated like a
shrine with a constantly renewed
tribute of fresh flowers.
No Setback TO Education.
The American boys who wandered
through the courtyard and long gal
1eries OF the Invalides that, day were
on their way to the front, and were
spending every precious minute Oh
their stay in Paris storing up i'm
pressions. ] watched them studying
with intent faces the marvellous col
lection of armor some of it restora
ton work, but most Of 1t the actual
harness of kings and knights of old
Soldiers of all the ages, Greek, Ro-
man, Gaul, F'renchnen OF the age Of
clltvaIry are represented in the col
lection. The whole history of war
fare,