Year: 1871

| A HORRIBLE STORY.


A MuRDERoUs FRENCH coUNr-DEscRIPTIoN OF HIS
DEN OF DEATH IN THE HEART OF PARIS
| PARIS July Is, l871.-The trials of the Com
munlsts develop some startling phases of hn-
man depravity in this gay centre of the world
of mode. In one OF the most fashionable streets
Of the arist0cratic Quarter st. German dwelt
noble marquis, in whose veins the same blood.
| blue as terrestrial torquoise or cerulean cloud,
flowed. as once danced merrily through the
veins of the first Bourbon King of France.
| But French bullets find their way through
the cutlcle of the King descended as easily as
| if it covered the carcass of the unwashed
canalle of st. Antoine. So one fine July
morning Government bullet from Chasseput's
deadly tube found its fated home in the breast
Of the noble Gaul-and the useless mouths in
Paris, the beseged, were less by one, and the
Academy lost one of its most gifted members.


His house was of course searched for evil
dence to convict others, and the police discov-
cred that here. under their own protection,
had lived for years being who had made of
death study, and who had treated murder as
one of the fine arts. His house was small
one for the locality, and detached from all 9TH
ers He occupied two rooms on the second
floor as 4 bed chamber and library, and be-
tween the two was a double wall the space
between which was utilized as closets, with
doors opening into each room. Any one pass
ing from one room to the other necessarily
went through one of these closets. On the
ground floor, and directly underneath the bed
room, was a room communicating with the
main street by an alley. This room was kept
constantly under lock and key by its custodian.
While the officers of the law were searching
the upper rooms. gendarme stepped into one
of these closets, and at once found himself
rapidly descending, and finally safely landed on
the ground floor, room or dungeon We copy
the following from the process verbal made by
the Sergeant in charge of the party to the In
spector of the district:


The windows of the lower room were built
up with brick and by an ingenious contrivance
the door leading into the alley was made to
open from the outside into passdge-way lead
ing to another suit OF rooms. while the real
entrance from the alley consisted of a swing
ing door cut of the solid wall the bricks of
which were held together by bands of iron en-
circling the whole mass, which swung upon a
pivot. So ingrniously contrived, and so skill
fully executed was this work. that only by
chance was it discovered at ALL


The door leading from the house into this





the outside, but was in reality double, and of
extraordinary thickness, and filled with saw
dust tightly packed. This room was used by
the Count ostenslbly as lumber room, for
storing disused property. On sounding the
walls of this dungeon, large and deep closet
was discovered, constructed on the same plan
as the outside door, OF solid brick, and it would
have escaped detection had not the door given
our party the hint. The contents of this closet
consisted of variety of tools used in the con-
struction and arrangement of the rooms it be-
ing evident that the occupant had performed
all this labor by his own unaided efforts. (Here
follows schedule or list of the TOOLS among
which are surgical instruments of every de.
scrption, jars Of chloroform, and narcotics of
all kinds. and all the paraphernalia of the
chemists labratory). A powerful battery, and
other instruments apparently for electrical or
galvanlc purposes, was found.


The room was lighted by gas, to effect which
be had actually tunneled into the street, and
tapped one of the main gaspipes, and then laid
pipe of smaller caGbre into the dungeon. BY
means of flexible tubing he was enabled to con-
duct the gas wherever be chose. These tubes
and their burners were hidden in the closet.


But the most important and hideous inter-
esting object in the collection is n quantity of
manuscript purporting to be record kept by
the Count for several years, of experiments
made by himself in electricity and galvanism.
1t is well known that he has, during the past
four years, read several lectures on these and
kindred subjects before the Academy, and has
advanced some startling theories relative there
to. One of these papers, entitled "The Mech
anism of Life, procured for him private and
confidential interview with the Emperor


These manuscripts prove conclusively that
their writer decOyed persons into his house on
pretext of business entertainment or some
other sufficient excuse, and at convenient
the fatal step was taken, the trap was
sprung, which consigned the victim to certain
death. Most of the experiments seem to have
been made with view of restoring suspended
T. G., raising from the dead.


Such is a brief aud unadorned statement of
the fact, and since the divulgement. the gos-
sips call to mind numerous cases of mysterious
but not breath of suspicion
has ever attached to the Count. The neigh
borhood of the house is now thronged with
those who delight to "sup on horrors multi
Piled" and those retail to new comers and to
one another exaggerated statements of facts.
The above have obtained from Police head
quarters and from a visit to the house itself in
company with the Prefect.- Correspondence of
The ST. Louis Republican.





IT has been ascertained from the statistics
Of the General Life Insurance Company of
o,,J,,, tbof ;f 1o0 nnn