The Phoenix herald., 1879-06-07
Hairbreadth Escapes.

Among the Communists tried at Yer sailles was Jean Baptiste Pigerre
 charged with commanding the firing
 party who shot the hostages at La Ro
 quette. He protested he knew nothing
 of the dreadful business, and was not
 aware that the hostages had been shot
 until after his arrest. His denial went
 for naught. He had been denounced
 by members of his own party; three ot
 them on trial with him declared he was
 at La Roquette. M. Chevrieu. prisoner
 there at the time, said he saw Pigerre
 from his cell dressed as a National
 Guard, trailing a scabbard after him;
 his face was fixed in his memory, and
 Soisson. police officer, asserted em- phatically "That's the man.
 Only one voice was raised in Pigerre's s behalf, that of the Communist judge, Genton.
 You can shoot me, if you like" ex claimed he, ''but Pigerre is innocent. He had nothing to do with 1t.
 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 inter ruption. A 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.
 t'Ihdf'S not the man who command ed," 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. It was evident he had not long to live, but they carried him to Versailles to testify to Pigerre's- innocence and convince all the wit nesses, save the three Communists, that they had been misled by the extraor- dinary resemblance between the two men, The prosecutor at once de- handed that the accusation he had for mulated against Pigerre should be with drawn; and so terminated what might have proved fatal case of mistaken identity.
 Yet more singular was the escape of a young Shropshire lady from an igno- minious death. Staying in Paris dur ing the Reign of Terror, sine was dragged with other aristocrats" be- fore one of the tribunals. She pleaded that she was an Englishwoman; but was on the point of being hurried out to the waiting tumbril, when one of the judges asked her what province in England she was native of. In her fright she exclaimed '' Salop," reply greeted by a general shout and clapping of hands, followed by an order to let her go; and amid cries of '' Salope l Salope p the dazed girl was hustled into the street to ruu home, wondering that her head was still on her shoulders, little think ing that by uttering the word '' Salope" she had effectually rebutted the notion of her being one of the hated aristocrats thanks to ''Salope" being word then used to designate one of the most de- prayed of her sex.
 Another remarkable escape of that terrible time was that of M. de Chat eaubrun, 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 for ward to see what was going on, and as it began to grow dark, M. de Chateau brun found himself gradually thrust into the rear of the spectators; so he wisely slipped away, and meeting a man simple enough or charitable enough to take his word that wag had tied his hands and run off with his hat, had his hands set free, and managed to reach safe hiding place. few days later he put himself beyond the reach of the executioner.-Cham berS' Journal.