Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-03-08
'Maistellaneaus &eaMug.
FRIoF, THE EExRCUTI0NER.


view which NJ. Victor TissOt, a Frenchman,
had at Moscow with Frolof, the Russian ex-
ecutioner of all the Russians Frolof is an
ex-murderer retired from business, con-
demned todeath by the tribunals, but whose
sentence has been committed to perpetual
Imprisonment on condition that he should
continue to carry on for the state the little
business which he formerly carried on for
himself: L...,.....5. s.... ........ii
,Frolof has been locked up for the last fif-
teen years in the central prison at Moscow.
If a hanging is to take place at Kiew, Odes-
sa or St. Petersburg, FrOlOf is sent thither
under escort. l had been promised an inter-
view with Frolof. 1t was even proposed to
send him to my hotel, escorted by gendar-
mes. But cared too much for my reputa
ton to accede to such proposition. Besides,
thatwould be taking Frolof out of hissphere;
an executioner who is a prisoner must be
seen in prison.
One evening on returning home 1 found
the following dispatch, which l have care
fully preserved among my archives of tray
ell:
"The executioner has arrived. I called
to take you with me to the prison. Did not
time may call for you tomorrow"
l answered that l would be free from II
o'clock. At 3o'clock the next day Mr.. x.
called for me with his carriage. Frolofs
hands must have been warm from the last
execution. He had Just returned from st.
Petersburg, where he had hung two Nihil-
ists-Pressniakof and KiwiatkOwski.
The central prison where the eXecutioner
resides is situated in the suburbs. Its exte-
rior aspect isnOt very romantic. Imagine
vast Enclosure, surrounded by palisade
twelve feet high, and guarded by sentries
in long gray coats with fixed bayonets. In
the first courtyard was small ,hovel, in the
baseme1ft7o of which Frolof resided in kind
of underground cave. We descended dir
ty stairway and reached dark room, which
was more like den for wild beasts than
anything else. A woman dragging a dirty
urchin came to meet us.
My friend said to her, "Where is Frolof?"
"He is not at home," she answered. che
has gone out to make few purchases. But
he will be back in five minutes. Perhaps
you have come to buy some rope ?"
"Nor'
ooh! it never was in such demand as it is
now. Be seated, my husband will be in
presently"
This was the executioner's wife. She had
complexion was heavy and cOlorless. She
wore the costume of the country people
the chemise with large puffed sleeves, the
red sarafan and the apron fastened upon her
shoulders.
Upon the table samover, with a breast
Of a shining copper color, was singing.
Some worn-Out tooloops were hanging on
the wall. They looked as if they werespoils
taken from the men who had been executed.
A sound of footsteps was heard in the
"Here is Frolof now," said his wife; "the
gendarmes who accompanied him have
just returned"
In few minutes he appeared, entirely
filling the doorway with his massive frame,
his broad shoulders and his immense head,
with it's shaggy name of black hair. He
was dressed like man of the people. He
wore a small hat, a red shirt under his
toOlOOp and pantaloOns of dark cloth, which
were tucked into his boots. Contrary to
the expectation of sentimentallists, there
was nothing terrifying in the aspect of this
indefatigable slayer Of men. The only
noticeable difference between him and any
other moujik was the brute strength shown
in his thick neck and his immense muscu-
lar arms.
Frolof is as good as twenty gendarmes.
out among the prisoners, it is only nee
essary for Frolof to show himself at the
door armed with whip or club, and
order and silence are Immediately re-
stored. He once killed two rebellious pris-
oners with a single blow of his fist. The
memory of this exploit is preserved among
the prisoners. -- =
Frolof asked us to be seated then, at our
request, he told us about the execution
which he had just performed at St. Peters
burg. Everything went off smoothly. The
scaffold was erected early in the morning,
at distance of 25O meters from the prison.
The condemned men, clothed in long white
robes, their hands tied behind them and
carrying upon their breasts card bearing
the inscription, CONDEMNED for political
crimes" were brought to the place Of exc
cutiOn in a carriage between two rows of
gendarmes on foot and on horseback. They
ascend small staircase four steps high !;
in the tWinkling of an eye the knot is Slip
ped around the neck, then the stairs are
Suddenly jerked away, the body falls into
space, the limbs twitch convulsively few
moments, and then all is over.
Frolof said that when Pressniakroff saw
the two gibbets from his carriage, he smiled
defiantly at his escort; KiwiatkoWski, on
the contrary, was terribly detected, his head
hung down on his breast, and he was as
pale as death. When they were about to
be led to the scaffold Pressniakof was heard
to say to his companion: Courage, BROTH
er, fear mott" Both kissed the crucifiX and
made the sign of the cross before dying.
Kiwiatkowski was thirty years old; Press
niakoff twenty-five.
Frolof told US all this with the simplicity
and carelessness of mOujik relating fairy
tale at an evening" gathering. 1t was evi-
dent that hanging was an everyday affair
with him. He told us that this was his
twenty-fifth hanging, and that he looked
forward for still better times.
Then he offered each of us bit of genuine
rope !; for he freely acknowledged that if he
did not sometimes substitute bogus rope
for the genuine, he could not make it last.
For gamblers-and what Russian will not
gamble? will spend their rubles freely for
those bits of rope, which are supposed to
bring good luck to their possessor. Frolof
derives a considerable revenue from the
hangman's rope.
FrOlOf accompanied us as far as the foot of
the steps of his cave, and when he went
back gendarme closed upon him the mas
sive door which makes the eXecutioner's
residence true prison.
HOME CONVERSATION.-Child hunger
perpetually for new ideas. They will learn
with pleasure from the lips of parents what
they deem drudgery to study in books; and
if they have the misfortune to bedeprived
of many educational advantages, they will
grow up intelligent if they enjoy in child
hood the privilege of listening daily to the
conversation of intelligent people. We
sometimes see parents who are the life of
every company which they enter, dull, 81