The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-04-04

execution. a prisoner in Sing Sing had
not confessed on his death-bed that he
had robbed the man of his watch, then
stabbed him and run off, afterwards
dropping the watch as he ran.
Among the communists tried at Yer
saiIles was Jean Baptiste Pigerre, eharg-
ed with commanding the firing-party
who shot the hostages at La Roquette.
He protested he knew nothing of the
dreadful business. and was not aware
that the hostages had been shot until af-
ter his arrest. His denial went for
nought He had been denounced by
members of his own party; three of them
on trial with him declared he was at La
/ ROquette. NJ. ChevTieu, a prisoner
there at the time, said he saw Pigerre
from his cell dressed asa National Guard,
trailing a scabbard after him his face
was fixed in his memory; and Scissor, a
police officer, asserted emphatically
THAT 5 the man." Only one voice was
raised in Pigerre's behalf, that of the
Communist Judge. Genton. You can
shoot me if You like" exclaimed he /;
>'but Pigerre is innocent he had moth
ing to do with it. - The prosecutor
summed up, insisting upon Pigerre's
conviction with the rest the advocates
for the accused said their Intellectual say;
and then came an interruption. y man
named JarraUd. whom everybody agreed
was implicated in the murder of the
hostages, and who was supposed to have
been killed by the soldiers, was brought
into court Pigerre was ordered to
stand forward ''That's not the man
who commanded, " said JarraUd. ''Oh.
no; the leader of the band was Sicard =
The proceedings were suspended, and
that same evening Sicard was found in
one Of the prisons. 1t was evident he
had not long to live but they carried
him to Versailles, to testify to Pigerre's
innocence, and convince all the witnesses
save the three communists that they had
been misled by the extraordinary resen-
blance between the two men. The pros
ecutor at once demanded that the accu-
sation he had formulated against Pigerre
should be withdrawn and so terminated
what might have proved a fatal case of
mistaken identity. Yet more singular
was the escape of young Shropshire
lady from an ignominious death. Stay
ing in Paris during the Reign of Terror.
she WAS dragged with other unfortunate
''aTistocrats'' before one Of the tribunals.
She pleaded that she was an EnglishwO-
man, but was on the point of being hur-
ried out to the waiting tumbril, when
one of the judges asked her what pro
vince in England she was a native of.
. In her fright she exclaimed 'Salop, = are
ply followed by an order to let her 90
and amid cries of "SalOp Salop!' the
daZed girl was hustled into the street, to
r run home, wondering that her head was
still on her shoulders. little thinking that
by uttering the word ''SalOp," she had
, effectually rebutted the notion of her be-
ing one of the hated aristocrats. thanks
, to ''SalOp'' being word then used to
designate one of the most depTaved of
her sex. Another remarkable escape of
that terrible time was that of NJ de
Chateaubrun. for he was not only con-
demned. but actually waited his turn at
, the guillOtine, standing sixteenth in a
line Of twenty The fifteenth head had
fallen, when the machine got out of or
der, and the five had to wait until it was
repaired. The crowd pressed forward to
see what was going on and as it began
to grow dark NJ de Chateaubrm found
himself gradually thrust into the rear of
r the spectators so he wisely slipped
away, and meeting man simple enough
OF charitable enough to take his word
that a wag had tied his hands and run
off with his hat, had his hands set free,
T and managed to reach a safe hiding
, place. \ few days later he put himself
, beyond the reach Of the eXecutioner.
r Major Duncan vouches for the truth
of the following tale. In 1877. the
, Christine General Escalera was murder
, ed at Miranda by the mutineering regi-
, ment of Segovia. About two months
later. EsparterO and his army arrived at
! Miranda; and on the Both of October.
the whole force was paraded outside the
, town, the regiment of Segovia being
fianked by artillery and other regiments
Accompanied by his staff. Espartero
rode up to it. and told the men he had
come to ask for his old friend and COM
mander, their chief Escalera. ''Where
is he ?" he cried. Then pointing to the
dead commanders resting place, went
on
He stheTe, foully murdered. and call
upon all of you who are true soldiers to
give up the name of his assassin = Twice
he made the appeal, and silence was the
answer. EspaTtero then ordered the re-
giment to be numbered off from the
right, and every twentieth man to be
brought to the front and be prepared for
immediate execution. At this a sergeant
stepped forward and named ten men as
the actual murderers Of Escalera. These
were marched off and placed in q line
with their backs to broken wall one
only protesting his innocence as he was
dragged 10 the end of the line Before
the fatal volley was fired he darted nimb-
Iy round the corner of the wall and ran
along the front of the troops but was
recaptured and taken back to his allot-
ted place. \ voice from the rank. cried
out that they had the wrong man, the
real criminal being a soldier of the same
name in hospital at Burgos. Espartero
70, no