The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1872-08-24

lispsfs Ntgal.ne Ftn tle hi
l1HIn a. luni W W. fiss aal Ifs.
gree ~ tbe drad maeline Whioh
has ha ams almost ths .ymhol n
that orHisal oi slaughter, ihs Fiensh
Revolution.
ifn generally ukca taf granted
that the bebrading iuslfument u.sd
Boz France aad .itne utlef countries
pt Europe, was iu,entesi. ar At least
perfected by The amlable and phil.
authropir physician whuse name Il
bcar.. but IN reality thl- doubtful
honor belohgs ~ sume earlier invent.
or whosc name ha. not been pre-.
served. An instrument OF this Kind
was used IN Germany early in the
thirteenth century, aud was known
~ The "l'ankc, or" "Dicle." IN 1893
il was mentioned IN the criminal
statues Of the Netherlands, aud H.
name appears ~ many accounts OF
executions IN Germany aud other
countries about the same period. Ia
Italy a similar instrument, called
the mannala, was used for the ex
o,ution OF persons of quality. Beat.
rice Cenei suffered death from this
instrument in 1899. In England u
similar machine was used, aud a iull
description OF il may be found IN the
British State Calendar tor l70S. The
maiden OF Scotland, which was
used tor the beheading OF Morton in
1881, was an instrument similar to
those already mentioned, aud it is
supposed TO have been brought over
from Germany by the very man who
suffered by it. 1t is still preserved
in the museum of the Antiquarian
Society at Edinburgh. Even France
possessed it as early as the fifteenth
century, under the name OF the
l"Doloire;' and two months later
the unfortunate Duke de Montmo
roncy was executed with this iustru>
meut, at the instigatiop Of Richelleu.
1t seems then to have passed out OF
use and to have been forgotten.
When, therefore, DIR. Joscph Ig.
mace Guillotin, on the 1st Of Decem-
Der, 1889, proposed in the French
Constituent Assembly to alleviate
the horrors Of capital punishment
by adopting a machine which would
dispense with the axe or sword, he
was merely reviving an old aoutri>
vance, which had been superseded
in Germany, France aud Italy by
the very instrument OF decapitation
which he was trying to abolish. DR..
Guillotin's motion was not formally y
acted on until the Goth OF March,
1892, when a resolution was passed
ordering decapitating machine Ct
the kind described by the doctor to
be adopted. The plan was submit
ted to tho carpenter employed by
the government, who demanded 5000
francs Tor making the machine, but
tiually alter much chailering, a bet,
ter bargain was made with young
German mechanic named Schmidt,
who agreed to furnish eighty-three
OF the new instruments---one for
each department--for the sum Of
500 francs each. 1t was tried on the
18th OF April, 1902, upon a number
Of corpses ut the Bicetre hospital,
aud was found to work with rapidity
and precision. A week later it was
employed for the decapitation Of q
convicted highway robber nam d
PelIeter. The dreadful use to VIII ch
it was aiterward put in the Wholesale
massacre of innocent men, women,
and even children, made its very
name a horror, and probably con-
tributed not little to its not being
adopted in England and the United
States, instead of the gallows, as a
means of mficting capital punish
ment 1t consists of block resting
between two upright grooyed posts,
between which slides a heavily
weighted knife with an oblique edge.
The sufferer is strapped firmly to a
plank, and thrust face down ward
between the posts, so that his neck
is directly under the knife. A
spring is touched, the heavy, keen
edged blade descends, and the head
is severed from the body as easily as
a sharp razor sewers q hair.
DR.. Guillotin himself narrowly es-
capped being victim OF the instru-
ment which bears his name. lIewa,
thrown into prison during the reign
Of terror, but was released on the
death OF Robespierre, resumed the
practice Of his profession in Paris,
and died quietly on his bed on the
26th OF March, 1914. The story
that he died broken hearted bccause
Of the infamy attached to his inyen-
ton is OF course untrue.