The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1872-07-03


many accounts Of executions IN Ger
many and other countries about th'
same period
In Italy a similar instrument. call
cd the mGaaoia, was used for the cx
ecution Of persons Of quality Bea
trice Ccnci suffered death by this IN
strumcnt in 1899 In Engianda a sim
liar machine was used, and a fall De
scriptiOn Of it NAV be found in the
British State Calendar for 1908 The
maiden" Of Scotland, which was
I used for the behcading Of Morton in
/ 1881, was an instrument similar o.
those already mentioned, and is sup
posed to have been brought over from
Germany by the very man who suf-
fered by it. It is still preserved in
the museum Of the Antiquarian Soci-
ETY. at Edinburg. Even France pos
sessed it as carly as the fifteenth cen
tury, under the name Of "Doloire -
and two centuries later the unfortun-
ate Duke de Montmorency was exc
cuted with this instrument. at the in
stigation Of Richelieu. 1t tseems then
to have passed out of use and 10 have
been forgotten.
When, therefore, DR. Joseph Ignace
Guillotin, on the lst Of December.
1889, proposed in the French Consti-
tuent Assembly to alleviate the hor-
rors Of capital punishment bv adopt
ing machine which would dispense
with the axe or sword, he was mere
ly reviving an old contrivance, which
had been superseded in Germany.
France, and Italy by the very instru-
ments Of decapitation which he was
trying to abolish.
DR.. GuillOtin;s motion was not for
mally acted on until the 10th Of March.
1892, when a resolution was passed
ordering a deeapitating machine Of
the kind described by the doctor to De
adopted The plan was submitted to
the carpenter employed BY the gov
ernment, who demanded 5000 francs
for making the machine, but finally.
after much chafering, a better bar
gain was made with a young German
mechanic named Schmidt, whoaereed
to furnish eighty-three Of the new in
struments-One for each department
for the sum Of 500 francs each. 1t
was first tried on the 18th Of April.
1892, upon a number Of corpses at
the Bicctre hospital, and was found
to work with rapidity and precision.
A week later it was employed for the
lecapitatiOn Of a convicted highway
'obber named Pelletier. The dread
al use 10 which IL was afterwards put
n the wholesale massacre Of innocent
men, women, and even children. made
Is very name horror, and probably
contributed not a little to its not be
ng adopted in England and the Uni
ed States, instead Of the gallows, as
means Of inficting capital punish
lent. 1t consists Of a Block resting
etween two upright grooved posts.
etween which slides heavily-weight-
4 knife with an oblique edge. The
1fferer IS strapped firmly to a plank.
nd thrust face downward between
ct posts, so that his neck is directly
nder the knife A spring is touched.
le heavy, keen-edged blade descends.
nd the head is severed from the body
easily as a sharp razor sewers q
air.
DR.. Guillotin himself narrowly es-
lped being a victim Of the instru-
ent which bears his name. lie was
irown into prison during the reign
terror. but was released on the
'ath of Robespierre, resumed the
'actice Of his professian in Paris.
I'd died quietly in his bed on the
'th of March, 1914. The story that
I-nac'-Sie4c.-tiOfi s'-lictlfc4 ttcts III, -tl7F
is comparatively painless
a. raised in France soon after the
Of the instrument. In
'95, DR.. Sommering, in the H0Hfeur
It as too rapid in its opera
on. and maintained that sensation
d not cease Immediately after decap-
alton. Many experiments We're tried
test the truth Of his theory. Emil
mt physicians assiduously attended
and by striking at the So
,red head, shouting in its ear. and
vers other wavs, endeavOred to as
rtain whether sensation survived
Ie shock Of decapitatiOn. Sommer-
g's book was followed by Gedillot's
Historial and Philosophical Refec-
ons upon Execution by the Guilo-
ne, and the next year the same au-
!or continued the discussion in a
ork entitled Anecdotes Of Decapi-
ted Persons" But the question re-
aims unanswered.-S. 5. CoNANT. in
'Grper's NagaziHe for July