THE CRIMES OF PARIS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 150, 17 July 1903, Page 2

THE CRIMES OF PARIS.

A. GRUESOME CABARET. The great question of the horn- in Paris (says the Paris correspondent of the " Westminster Gazette ") is how to avoid the abominable crimes which are daily taking place in the capital and its suburbs. Incredible as it may seem, these crimes are committed on nearly every occasion with no apparent motive. Only a few days ago six young men were playing cards in a wineshop, and to make the last game the most exciting the group unanimously agreed that the loser should kill the first man he met on leaving the shop. The streets were deserted so they waited at the corner of the Boule- • yard Voltaire until someone passed, whioh happened to be a respectable employee who was brutally stabbed in the back' When the assassin was asksd why he had committed such an outrage, he said that as he had never broken, a 'vow the crime was inevitable. Such murders as this aro taking place diily, and sometime© twice and three times a day. The victims are frequently' old women, who are killed for the sake of a few francs. At Ivry an old woman who has kept a shop for. over 30 years has been killed. All the murderer took away was 4f 7oc and a Gruere cheese. At Neuillv an oldinarchande-de-vini was stabbed to death for 20f, while a great many wine shopkeepers have been killed for the price of a drink. This increase of murders is a painful symptom of demoralisation in young men of the lower classes, 'over influence* " *«* *° h^ ««* These Fronce "hooligans" are a race that is frequently heard of buT Wy seen by the majority of Parisians^ having a desire to see the kind of men and women who compose it, I went down with a .friend to one of the vilest apotsin the city of Paris. We donned blue blouses, corduroy trousers, and pekaed *p lfi ssen the risks. After having walked through innumerable alleys] we at last arrived at the spot We sought, over which were written the words '.' A la Bonne Flanquette," which practically means free and easy. What first impressed me on entering was the strong smell of frarlic and the comparative cleanliness of the room, in which were sitting men and women of all ages between 18 and 60 playing cards and drinking absinthe : ' | This room was not particulrly interesting, but the cabaret wheih leads out of it entitled "At the Sweling of the Chicken s Neck," was as gruesome as can be. imagined To get to it one has to traverse daik corridors, dimly lighted bY night lights, and occasionally one Saasea aggress* #d&feel comfortable. Fortunately, on accoant of our clothes, we passed unnoticed and, except when once asked for 'a cigarette, were not addressed. What they were alUalking about I really could not say, aa their French is something tin. fESLf***^* 1 * *<>*«** Strict S ™?t es to ordi nary Paris-slang. Further than making a noise at the end of ' :- sach song or grumbling' as to the quality 3f the drinks, they seemed faMy plaerl/, : ~ area; /jroupYwouS, ; father not meet when alone. ■ ■;■■