Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-10-09

prevail. The light increased, and the
masses of men became strangely quiet.
At half-past the daylight was clear and
the iron gates slowly turned A group
appeared advancing the central figure
was short man, clean shaven, with
hair cut short, his chest naked, his arms
DlnlOned, his shoulders covered by
tunic. This was Barre. The most mis-
cradle horror was never more striking
~ depicted In the face Of man than in
his at this moment. The removal of
his beard had given his cheeks a ghast-
ly whiteness. His mouth was hanging
open, and his lips were blue. His ewes
were rolling and red. He seemed al
most incapable Of walking, and his at
tendants supported him, land urged him
forward. Within few PAGES of the
gulllotine the Able Crozes. who was
walking before, paused, and turning
presented a crucifix. Barre kissed it
convulslvely and was hurried on. l had
expected an instants delay before the
fall Of the knife, but while [ turned to
see if the second murderer was within
view, and saw that he was not, Barre
disappeared in the group of attendants
at the spot of execution distant from
my standpoint perhaps twelve yards),
and IN the twinkling Of an eye I heard
the crunching hiss of the knife as it
Glove through the thick neck Of the muir
derer. shall not forget that noise 1t was
distinctly the rough cutting of tough
meat. Barre snrank from the deadly
knife, but was, of course, helpless. Still
he gave his executiOners some trouble.
His body did not roll into the box prepar-
ed for it according to calculation, and an
immense Jet Of blood spread brilliant
red over the rust-colored frame. and
deluged the first assistant, whose duty
1t IS to stand on the further side of the
knife and steady the head by holding
the ears until it drops into the basket.
The sight of the fountain Of blood caus-
ed low cry Of horror-a sort of hoarse
sob-and turning my glance again to
the prison i saw Lebiez advancing. He
vas In little better form than his pre-
decessOr, but did not seem to me heroic.
The French papers dwell upon his firm
ness, and contrast it with the hideous
collapse of his partner, but my own OBJ
servation was simply that he was only
less AFFECT than the other. II is said
that some one cried sbravo" and that
he answered 'adieu," but did not hear
either word. ! only witnessed with
amazementl the CELEBRITY with which he
vanished under the knife, and heard
the click of the spring catch holding up
the deadly blade, when the cord loosen
ing, twas jerked, and the rasping thud
Of the steel as it severved the neck,
placed for the final stroke. The spec
tators murmured for moment in a
shivering way, and looked into each
others faces, finding new horrors, and
las they turned away the heads and
trunks Of the executed were already in
the black vans, and the. guillotine was
being snatched to pieces. There was
no need Of police and soldiers to dis
perse the people, whow in such haste
that they seemed to. be in flight.
Io The execution by gualotine is certain
~ more impressive than that by hang
ing, and if it is the, purpose of the au-
liberties to make the spectacle Of the
death Of a felon awful, the French sue,
coed, and I am told that one execution
en- Roch ( Monseigneur de Paris, and
his assistants serve for the whole coun-
try The complete apparatus is ar
ranged TOR transportation by rail or
along the roads or streets. Il The salary
of the headsman is 5000 francs a year,
with a small sum for machinery, and
100 francs extra for each head cut off.