Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-12-09
THE DEATH PENALTY.
Capital PuniShment-A Talk with g PruSSian
ExerutiOner-IloW Criminals are Beheaded.
LOrdstown, Nov y

THE DEATH PENALTY.
D Capital PuniShment-A Talk With E PrusSia
ExecutiOner-iloW Criminals are Beheaded.
Translated from the Illustrate ChronilSl
r / stood, then, in the headsman'
,, house. The hall, as usual in tn,
/, North German farmhouse, was Il spa
ciOus one, but nothing was there I,
be seen indicative of the terrible Voca
: ton of its owner. a few cheap litho
, graphs of religious subjects, framed
; in narrow black moulding, hung OF
the walls; the antlers of very larg,
] deer surmounted the door on the left
and a very wide and long deal table
stood against the wall in the back part
of the hall. | had waited there but /;
few minutes when | heard the sounC
of footsteps approaching the back dOOl
and the young girl re-entered the
I house, accompanied by rather a tall
man, who held an infant in his arms
/ 1t was Mr.. Reindel, the ''public exc
cutiOner of Prussia" He gave The
child to his daughter and then turned
! to me. When he saw me he seemed
somewhat surprised, and he seized
with considerable eagerness the letter
from Mr.. ST., which l handed to him
with the remark that very good
friend of his had advised me to pay
/ him visit. While he read the letter,
l had an excellent opportunity of eX-
amining the man whose hands had
already put an end 10 so many human
lives. As l said before, he is rather
tall and slender, but large-boned, and
evidently endowed with eXtraOrdin-
ary strength. To all appearance, he
was about forty-five years of age. His
hair is of a Iight-red color, slightly
curled, and somewhat thin. He wears
whiskers, which impart a rather more
determined expression to his decidedly
mild and even weak-lOOking face
His eyes are remarkably small, but
bright and sparkling, and his imper-
fectly developed chin, and thin,
slightly-curved nose, added 10 the fec
bile air of his countensnce. He was
dressed in Il loose suit of blue cloth,
with yellow brass buttons and it be-
ing Il warm day, he had taken off his
cravat and unbUttOned his waistcOat.
After reading the letter through he
said to me, with an expression of kind
pOliteness, that he was very glad to
see me, and that, in compliance with
the wishes of Mr.. St, whom he es-
teemed very highly, he would try to
give me such information rs was at
his command. He then invited me
TO enter the sitting-rOom on the left, a
square, low apartment, plainly fur
nished with cane chairs, a black leath
er covered sofa, a fine mahogany see
retary, SurmOunted by Il bookshelf
containing perhaps fifty or sixty vol
umeS. two tables and a small bureau.
The floor was clean and white, and,
after the fashion prevailing in the
houses Of the North German 6Our-
gcOisie, sprinkIed with fine white
sand. Over the sofa hung q square
lOOking-glass, framed in gilt moulding
and several steel engravings framed
in the same material adorned the walls.
which were hung with light green
paper.
At his request I seated myself on
the sofa, and he opened Il cupboard i'm
the wall, and took from ii q bottle of
wine, and two glasses, which he pla-
ced on the table in front of the sofa.
Free as ] was from the foolish preju-
dice to which have alluded above,
must confess that / did not feel en-
tirely at ease mt what i saw was now
coming. The eXecutioner sat down
on a chair opposite To me, and said he
supposed | would do him the honor of
taking a glass of wine with him. /
was the eXecutiOner's guest, and could
not well refuse his hospitality without
offending him. 80 L said, immedi-
ately, that it would afford me great
pleasure to do so. He poured out the
wine, we clinBed glasses, and drank.
After a few preliminary remarks we
commenced speaking of the manner
in which capital punishment was in
fiicted in the various countries of Eu-i
rope, and / inquired Of my host if,
suppOsing that continuance of capital
punishment should be deemed neces-
sary, he thought that the mode Of exc
cutiOn now prevailing in Prussia was
the most unObjectionable. He hesita-
ted moment, but replied then, with
an air of great frankness:
mo, sir, do not. If the decision
rested with me alone, / should as
suredly substitute hanging and the
gallOws in place of the axe and block.
/ have found that all the culprits whom
/ have had to execute, in the peTfOr-
nance of my duties, looked upon the
terrible fate that awaited them with
more trepidatiOn than that with which
the mere prospect of speedy death
would have filed them, owing to the
bloody character of the execution, and
in great part also for fear that intense
physical suffering was combined with
beheading. l could tell YOU strange
stories on this subject. l have seldom
entered the cell of a man or woman
whose head / was to cut of, but who,
in their anguish and distress, pestercd
me with questions such as these =
''Does it hurt much? Is your axe
keen-edged? VIII one stroke of the
axe be enough ?r Others implored
me to dispatch them with as little pain
as possible; and every one of them
shuddeT at the mere thought of the
cutting that would have to be done.n
''Do you think executions by the
sword prcferable?n / asked.
"Oh, no. The eXecutioner is ten
times surer of dispatching the culprit
quicker with the axe than with the
sword. / have witnessed executions
by the sword, and what l saw on these
occasions caused me to determine that
/ never would consent to execute =
criminal in that manner. You have
doubtless heard of mems heads being
struck of with the sword like flash
of lightning. Nothing can be more
untrue. The eXecutiOneF, on the con-
trary, no matter how sharp his sword
may be, has literally TO saw Off the
culprit's head; and, even under the
most favorable circumstances, the act
of beheading will last between two
and three seconds. Men of ordinary
nerves who witness such 4 sword exc
cutiOn are generally overcome by the
kissing sound with which the sword
cuts through the flesh, and the shock