Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-10-18
THE GUILLOTINE.
A Paris Execution In 1S76-A Minute and
Startling Description of the Closing Act
of the Quill tine.
Paris Cor Nau OrIaaps p;oox,,no

Paris Execution In 1S76-A Minute and
Startling Description of the Closing Act
of the GuflIOtine.
Paris Cor. New Orleans Picayune.
The executioner looked at his watch.
This gesture. which all of us under
stood, was made with the air of man
who waits for the hour of business
meeting, The moment drew nign. To
quote the phrase of another execu-
toner, "the doomed man was fast grow
ing old" Gervais was doome- to die
at o'clock A. M, by that watch. Men
commonly die at Gods appointed time.
Gervais was to die at the executioner's
appointed time. The executioner, fol-
lowed by his assistants, entered the
prison. Three great incidents add ter
ror to the doomed mans agony of
death: His awakening by the jail
authorities, the appearance of the exc
cutioner in the ante-chamber of the
prison clerks Office, sight of the guillo-
tine. The vertical arms of the guillo-
tine probably appear to him as tall as
the towers of Notre Dame. This spec
trail evocation takes place on the path
which lies between the prison and the
scafold. It is at most fifteen PAGES;
nevertheless it is the longest path to be
found on earth. The doomed man
goes from the prison gate to the gate
of eternity. Time and space are es-
sentially relative things. I could See
the doomed man was in less than one
minute sensible of ten different
incidents and twenty different
sensations. Each second which fell
on that unhappy mans head is sep
arate shovelful Of earth thrown on the
coffin of a man who is buried alive.
Victor Hugo has not written in The
Last Days Of Man Under Sentence of
Death" the long history of these fifty
five seconds. l took my stand at four
PAGES from the guillotine. saw three
quarters of it and the whole space be-
tween it and the jail, The great door
of the prison swung open. A lamp
hanging from the ceiling of the pas
sage shone with the dull red light of
gas burning in daytime. A group of
men in black came out. Then came
the chaplain and executioner. A
grayish silhouette appeared on the
black background. Twas the doomed
man. He was tall and slim. He is
SIlu III LIS OOt1AAAS3 cAIA WnAAo VC1y
slowly. He has on his shoulders
jacket whose sleeves are empty and
vacillating. His hair is cropped close.
His face is long, wan, scrawny. He is
in the prime of life. His arms are
pinioned behind his back. Suddenly
he stopped as if knocked over. His
haggard eye is fixed on the guillotine,
which he sees for the first time. His
face seems to reflect some object of an
earthly yellow color. If the famous ex-
periments be true, the image of the
gaillotine must be photographed on the
pupils of the doomed mans eyes, and
remain ever after death. The chaplain
held out his arms to the doomed man.
The latter bent forward and kissed the
chaplain on the left cheek. | could dis
timely see the motion eff the doomed
mans lips. Ore Of the executioner's
assistants removed the jacket from
Gervais' shoulder. The upper part of
his shirt had been cut off, and his bare
breast and shoulders were visible. The
executioner seized him by the left arm
pit. An assistant executioner seized