Show THE tire CATACOMBS OF panis parrs in accordance with annual custom some engineers cf of the municipality visited a few day days amo ago ago aro the cat lacombs which extend exteria to a considerable di distance beneath paris en on the left bank of the ri river or the ile object of the visit was to ascertain that the arches pillars ac which support the roof remain perfectly solid the engineers were accompanied by some gentlemen and ladies and it ia is only on the occasion of these annual inspections that the catacombs Cata combs can be visited at all ail the entrance is in the courtyard of what was waa formerly the office of the Barrie barriere rc denfer it is closed bk by a thick door and the Catacomb Cata combs 3 are deac reached ed by a long narrow staircase descending about 70 feet A man at the door counts the persons who enter and gives fives each a lighted 0 cani e which he ia is required constantly to carry at tho the bottom of 0 the staircase is a homr ion lon narrow gal gai gallery the sides and roof of which are galleck leri lerK supported by y masonry this tims gallery in which only two persons can walk abreast eads cads to a spacious vault beneath the plaine de mount souris and in which vault are collected d the bones formerly removed from the old cemeteries of paris near the entrance to the vault ia is the in inscription pas aux manes manea des morts about 0 0 minutes are occupied in reaching this spot and it is generally remarked that the visitors influenced by the strangeness of the situation and by the peculiar odor which prevails soo i become serious and silent in the vault the bones are piled up like wood in a timber yard and galleries are formed in them for visitors to pass along the bones are arranged in regular order to the height of 0 6 feet the larger bones being outside and the skulls being placed on ehe uie top here and thele are inscriptions indicating from what cemeteries the bones were brought and also scraps of verse from Ilif different ferent poets there is one er enormous heap of bones which has not yet been classified it ia is calculated that not fewer than persons must have been interred in the cemeteries from which the bones were removed in the vault are some subterranean springs spring which have been coller collected ted in a basin calleri the Fron taine de la Samari taine jn III this fountain some gold fish were placed in 1813 they lived for a ang t time but did not bleed breed in the other parts of the galleries teries are very numerous and one of them is s learly nearly e irly five miles long iong to prevent persons rom login losing their way a broad black line fine is drawn on le the wall from the entrance of the catacombs cata combs to the vault 1 messenger genger benger |