The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-08-02
The GuiIloiine.

fected, by the amiable and philan
thropic physician whose name it bears
but In reality this doubtful honor be
longs to some earlier inventor whost
name has not been preserved. An in
strument of this kind was used in Ger
many early in the thirteenth century
and was known as the "Panke" OF
"Diele." In 1888 it was mentioned ir
the criminal statutes of the Neither
lands, and its name appears in many
accounts of executions in Germany ant
other countries about the same period
In italy similar instrument, called
the MAMMA, was used for the execution
of persons of quality. Beatrice Gene
suffered death by this instrument il
1899. In England similar machine
was used, and full description of il
may be found in the British State Cal
endar for 170S. The "maiden" Of Scot
land, which was used for the beheadine
of Morton in 1881, was an instrument
similar to those already mentioned, and
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 Edinburg. Even France possessed
it as early as the fifteenth century, un'
der the name of "Doloire - and two
centuries later the unfortunate Duke
de Montmorency was executed with
this instrument, at the instigation OF
Richelieu. 1t seems then to have pass.
ed out of use and to have been for.
gotten.
When, therefore, DR.. Joseph Ignace
Guillotin, on the 1st of December, 1889,
proposed in the French Constituent
Assembly to alleviate the horrors OF
capital punishment by adopting a ma
chine which would dispense with the
axe or sword, he was merely reviving
an old contrivance, which had been
suspended in Germany, France, and
Italy by the very instruments of decap.
itation which he was trying to abolish.
DR.. Guillotin's motion was not form
ally acted on until the Goth of March,
1892, when a resolution was passed
ordering decapitating machine of the
kind described by the doctor to be
adopted. The plan was submitted to
the carpenter employed by the govern
ment, who demanded 5000 francs for
making the machine, but finally, after
much chaffering, better bargain was
made with German mechanic named
Schmidt, who agreed to furnish eighty
three of the new instruments--one for
each Experimentation the sum of 500
francs each. 1t was first tried on the
18th of April, 1892, upon number OF
corpses at the Bicetre hospital, and was
found to work with rapidity and pre-.
cision. A week later it was employed
for the decapitation of a convicted high
way robber named Pelletier. The
dreadful use to which it was afterward
put in the wholesale massacre of inno-
cent men, women, and even children,
made its very name horror, and pro.
baby contributed not little to its not
being adopted in England and the Uni
ted States, instead of the gallows, as a
means of inflicting capital punishment.
1t consists of block resting between
two upright grooved posts, between
which slides heavily-weighted knife
with an oblique edge. The sufferer is
strapped firmly to plank, and thrust
face downward between the posts, so
that his neck is directly under the knife.
A spring is touched, the heavy, keen
edge blade descends, and the head Is
severed from the body as easily as a
sharp razor sewers hair.
DR.. Guillotin himself narrowly escap.
ed being victim of the instrument
which bears his name. He was thrown
into prison during the reign of terror,
but was released on the death of Robes
pierre, resumed the practice of his pro-
fession in Paris, and died quietly in his
bed on the Goth of March, 1914. The
story that he died broken-hearted
because of the infamy attached to his
invention is, of course, untrue.
The question whether death by the
guillotine is comparatively painless
was raised in France soon after the re-
introduction of the instrument. In
1895 DR.. Sommering, in the Monaiteur,
denounced it as too rapid in its opera
tion, and maintained that sensation
did not cease immediate after deeapita
ton. Many experiments were tried to
test the truth of his theory. Eminent
physicians assiduously attended execu.
tions, and by striking at the severed
head, shouting in its ear, and divers
other ways, endeavored to ascertain
whether sensation survived the shock
of decapitation. Sommering's book was
by Gedillot's "Historical and Philo
followed sophical Reflections upon Exc
cution by the Guillotine,' and the next
year the same author continued the dis
cussion in work entitled "Anecdotes O
Decapitated Persons" But the question
remains unanswered. S. CoNANT
in Harper'S Magazine for July.
The NEW HOG CAR.-The CLEVELAND
Leader thus describes the Bergh palac,
hog car: When the swine wish to slum
ber, they blow whistle made from th'
tail of brother who has gone before
the conductors enter and conduct then
to hot Russian bath in the rear end o
the car, after which they are rubbed
down with rough towels, and lunch o
old boots and ice cream furnished. Not
squeal is ever heard in these cars, moth
ing but grunts Dissatisfaction, ,andaskille'
musician puts in from eight to twenty