Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-04-06

stoutly protested his innocence. and
! denied his identity, calling himself one
Sean Bourguignon, 4 countryman.
Meanwhile he was we'll cared for.
he received crowds of distinguished
visitors. and fashionable ladies' atten-
ded his levees. The most distin.
guished of these was the Marechale de
Bouffiers, widow of the gallant general
who lost the battle of Nlalplaquet.
One warm summer night in July. l72l.
just as the lady had retired to bed.
leaving her window Il little open for
air, she drew the curtain aside. and to
her horror saw Il mans face close to
her own. She made snatch, for the
bell-cortls, but the intruder seized her
hands. opened his blouse, displaying Il
rich but faded costume. with COM
plete armory of silver-mounted pistols
and knives. and introduced himself us
Louis Dominique Cartouche. lie had
narrowly escaped the watchful eyes
of the police. then III hot pursuit of
him. by climbing the balcony: no one,
he said, would dream of looking for
him there, and he proposed to remain.
He was hungry and tired, however. and
wanted supper and bed. Quaking
with fear. the Mareclale rang the bell.
ordered her astoniShed servants to
bring her Il hearty supper and Il bottle
of champagne. and when it came locked
her door and watched the voracious
robber as he disposed Of I'LL that was
set before him. His repast ended.
he apologized for incommoding her,
stretched himself out on the sofa in
her dressing-rOom and went to sleep.
At 3, 4. NJ. he rose, babe her good-day
and vanished. She sprang out of bed,
closed the windows, and alarmed the
house. Search was made among the
valuaDles. but not al article was miss
ing; even the costly silver used for the
supper had been spared by the eccen-
trio thief. Some days later the Mare
clale received Il basket of excellent
cllampagne(s tolen from Partisan wine
merchant) with the compliments of NJ.
Cartuche.
The robDer chief had been placed in
one Of those horrible subterranean dun
geons destroyed in 1850 by the humane
command of Louis XVI. He had i,
companion in trouble who had former
~ worked Us stone mason; together
they succeeded in making Il breach in
the wall of their cell. thence following
Il ditch connected with the sewerage
of the prison they broke into the cellar
of neighboring house. Here howev-
er. fortune ceased to befriend them.
Cartouche was rearresteu while ell
deavoring to leave the house and
placed in closer custody than before.
His trial went forward with unex-
ampled rapidity. and on Nov. 26. l72l.
CartOuche and four Of his companions
were ordered to be broken on the
wheel. after having been previously
submitted to the question ordinary and
extraordinary, with the view OF cx-
torting confession. The records relat-
ing to Cartouche reports the applica-
ton of the question i'll the form OF the
brodequins or boots. These were
wooden frames fitted to the legs. into
which wedges of increasing size were
forcibly driven until the legs of the
sufferer were reduced to Il pulp. 'On
the application of the first. second. and
innocent. ut the fourth he answered
that he knew not what they were
speaking Of. At the fifth that he was
innocent; was dying. At the sixth
that he had done I'LL that was required
of him; had done no wrong; was
dying. vt the seventh. was innocent:
no accomplices. At the eighth and
last. was innocent.
Although he thus refused to confess
under torture. he became comm,mica-
tive enough when he reached the scat
fold. protesting. however. much to his
credit. that he had never robbed /,
church. although often melted so to do
by Ducllatelet. lie absolved his own
family with especial carnestness from
any share in his misdoings. He re-
Trained from denunciations. even of
those who had deserted or BETRAYED
him. excepting only Duchatelet, to.
wards who he evinced intense scorn
and hatred. But in revenge he WIS
msparing in respect to the spies and
receivers of the gang, whom he de-
nounced by the score. lie avowed him.
self the head and chief OF the numer-
GUS band. so long the terror of the cap
ital, All assertion amply confirmed by
the confusion and indiscipline. which
on his decease became suddenly per-
ceptible in the ranks of crime. To
the last two questions addressed to
him, whether any person Of condition
belonged to his band, and whether he
had ever accepted brides to murder,
he replied emphatically in the neg
alive.
Cartouche's was the first of Il long
series Of executions. For several
months the Place de Greve saw some
unfortunate wretch hanged or broken.
His name and memory seemed to Ell
gender robbers. and it was il long time
before the effects Of that powerful inn
pulse which. by carefully organizing
it, he had given to crime had passed
away.
ELOPEMENT EXTRAORDINARY.
The Liverpool Mercury, Of March +.
says: 1.-The denouement Of All extra