Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1877-10-20
Weakened TO Die.

Pierre Jean Welker, the odious as
sassin of little girl in the Rue Nation
ale, Paris-she was eight, and he
strangled her with her skipping-rope
and went to sleep, using her corpse as
his pillow-has been guillotined. The
warrant designated as the hour "about
$50 A. NJ" and somewhat after midnight
the machine arrived and was noiselessly
set up with wooden screws, only about
100 persons being attracted to the scene
beside the military and police. One of
them was a woman. 1t was 4 :4S when
Mr.. Roch had everything in working
order and tried the fall of the AK; then
he and his assistants, Jacob, the chief of
the detective service, and the Able
Crozes, who has accompanied so many
scores of murderers to the guillotine,
and whose hack, No. 14S, is as much a
part of the procession as NJ. Roch's van,
entered the prison. Welker was fear
full coward, who had wept and moaned
and torn his hair when sentence was
passed and when he was placed in the
condemned cell, but he believed the
merciful falsehood that forty days must
elapse before carrying out of sentence,
which jail attendants always tell to con-
tiding prisoners; and thinking he had
still some time left to him, and also
having faith that his petition for mercy
would be heard, he had gotten over his
terror, ate freely and slept soundly. So
soundly was he sleeping this morning
that neither the opening of his cell door
nor the light of the lanterns disturbed
him. Jacob shook him by the shoulder,
and the clerk said loudly: "Wake up,
Welker, your petition has been rejected;
you must prepare to die" A horrible
sound, half the cry of wild beast, half
death-rattle, issued from the mans
throat, and he fell back on his bed, con-
vulsively biting the coverlet. "Have
you anything to say? Do you want
some brandy?" asked Jacob; but We'll
.ker did not hear him, and lay racked by
convulsive shudders. He was lifted out
of bed and made vain effort to draw on
his trousers, but he could not stand and
tumbled again upon his couch. The
veins Of his forehead and temples stood
out like knotted cordage, his eyes were
tilmy, his jaw had fallen and cold
sweat was pouring down his ashy face.
The Able Crozes spoke to him earnest.
ly; Roch asked: do hurt you? ?" as
he bound his hands, but Welker made
no answer, heard nothing, was as one
dead. Indeed the attendants were
urged to make haste or he would die Of
fright in their hands. Two of them had
to carry him out with his arms arounG
their necks, his head hanging on the
right shoulder, and his legs trailing OF
the stones behind him. The prizes
walked backwards before him to shu
out the sight of the machine of death
but the merciful precaution was need
less. Welker knew nothing. His body
fell upon the plank like bag of sand
and moment later the ak fell. Owing
to the difficulty of placing the inert body
in position, the ak shored away the heat
diagonally, taking off q part of on,
shoulder, and leaving part of the jaw
attached to the other. So large was the
murderers skull that it got iammed il
the bucket into which it fell and coulC
only be shaken out by pounding on thu
inverted vessel. It was 4:49 when thu
officers entered the prison to take ou
their man; 1t was sos when the ak fell
the time occupied being three minutes
less than was taken in the case of Billoir
Roch thinks that with all circumstance
favoring him he can reduce the time t.
twelve minutes-that is to say, there viii
be for the criminal an interval of les
than zen minutes between sleep ant
death. But how many ages of menta
agony in those ten minutes