Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1874-05-21
cHOPplNc OFF HEADS.
4 Lack Of Necks to Sever Sends PruS-
sln's lIeadsMcs to this Country.

/ Among the passengers recently arrived
from Germany, was Mr.. William Francis
Charles Sharflenberg, formerly hcadsman
Of His Majesty the King Of Prussia. This
renowned ex-official is now 55 years of age,
and during his career as executioner in
Prussia he cut of 4G heads.
To reporter OF thaINew York Sunday
Mercury, who callcd4,pon him the other
day, he said. "Hard times and ridiculous
ohloquy, caused me and my three daughters
to leave the old country. By hard times !
mean the new criminal code of Germany
Nothing could be more ill-advised than
that. and my four colleagues [of the
head-cutting- -off fraternityr,-REr. thought
so a. soon as the German Parliament was
foolish enough to pass it. What have been
the consequences? Why, sir. in the past
twelve months there has been more muir
ders committed 10 Berlin alone than form.
erTy were perpetrated in the whole monar-
chy. Bnt, sir,' he added sorrowfnly, "al-
this is principally the fault of His Majesty
the Emperor. Old William dislikes to sign
death warrants. He studies over them
long, and worst Of all, he never wants q
woman to be beheaded. Two years ago l
had an old girl who had poisoned her hus-
band, just where wanted her. went
with my 'impliments' to Cullen to dispatch
her, and just when arrived there tele-
gram arrived from Berlin committing her
sentence to penal servitudc for life; and !
had already cut off her hair ~
The reporter ventured to question how
many heads Mr.. Scharffenberg had cut off
altogether.
"Lst me see" said the ex-headman, count
ing his victims off on his fingers; ''forty-
6ve-no forty-six."
"How many Of them were women ?" ask.
cd the reporter.
k"About . dozn, and wish there had
been less Of them. They gave me more
trouble than all the men. The first person
I had of that kind was old lady and her
son. They had poisoned the father. !
thought the mother ought to have her head
cut off first; but the clerk Of the court di-
rected me otherwise, and 40 I had to cut
(shneiden) the young man first. His
mother took it very badly. l could hardly
get her in good shape on the block"
"What were your emoluments in Prus-
sia ~
"Three hundred thaiers for every head,
and, besides, I had in my district all the
skinning of fallen cattle. I had, however,
money Of my own, both my grandfather
and father having been in the business.-
Oh, they had good time of it; my grand
father alone had two hundred executions"
1.-TWO hundred executions!"
'Yes, and the half Of them he broke on
the wheel'
"Did you ever brake anybody on the
wheel 2"
"No; the worst did was cutting with
the sword, and little did I like it for it is an
ancertain way of doing it. Give the axe,
and the head flies off like nothing"
The reporter asked him if his victims
were generally afraid of him.
II had but two that died game, and they
were old soldiera. In 1S47 I'cut' nine fell
lows in the Norien Werder district, and We
never had murder since. They do better
Poland. They whip fellows there so bad
that they do not know where they are."
"But they do not kill them?"
ado not kill them - exclaimed the old
headsman, scornfully; ''few OF them do
survive, indeed The Russian lash is as
good as an axe. But hardly anybody hears
of the culnrit's death ~