Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-10-03
THE GUILLOTINE.
A aosr BRUTAL munurHrn ruNisnE
snuy Meets His Death In Ncrssiiies-A
GhUuiIsh LcssCy to rr-sid~nt Gre'y
"A TcrtiDIs Usath scene.

aouy Meets ai- Dea,n In yorsa,lies-A
GhUuiIsh Lcg,cy to rr--,d~nt Gre'y
"A TcruDI, Usath scene
Tho mau iiuoy who was convicted, of
having murdered, with q revolver, AN old
lady aud her maid at DUurdau, France, last
April, aud OF having stolen her silver
plates aud clocks, was guillotincd Monday
morning at Versailles. NJ. Dicbler,
l. RrtrUtcur dtS HIutts H'TrcS--as the
public executioucr Is scalled-aruused lluuy
III his COLL at 1 o'clock IN tho morning,
saying
" lluoy, we have received some bad
news.
Houy shrugged his shoulders with in
difference aud observed
"What, is it to be this morning? Very
good"
The prisoner refused to cat his breakfast
and declined rudely the prOtlercd cOnsola
tiou Of u priest, NJ. Liable Charbet. IIuoy
asked for u pen, ink aud paper which were
given him. Tho Abbe Charbct, again ad.
vaucing to offer his services Houy again
roughly pushed him aside and proceeded
to write two letters. The first was To his
brother aud read a. follows
My DEAR BROruER Gather together
all my effects, with eight francs that you
will tiud tied up in ono of my stockings,
and make present Of thom to the first
really poor man that you may happen to
meet
The second letter was addressed to the
president of the republic, conceived as
follows
Eighteen dead bodies are buried in n
cellar at the corner Of the Rue Des Jour
ueaus aud the Porte De Versailles. He who
is about to die does not lic -
The condemned man, who is near sight
ed, then gave his silver spectacles aud q
pair of buCkled shoes to one of his jailcrs,
who, by a coincidence, is also near sighted.
At half past five the prisoner was put into
! the guillotlne cart aud driven to the Punt
Culbert, where the gurllotiue had been
erected He stepped out of the cart pale
but plucky.
The Abbe Charbet again offered his
mediation and held toward him a cruoltS,
but Houy persisted in his refusal to have
anything to do with the able, and do
cined to kiss the crucidx, making some
coarse remark about it, after which he
said "Adieu."
Houy was thick.set, robust man. fifty.
five years of age, with pepper aud salt
beard, wiry and bristly i'll fact, the typ
| ical beard Of bandit d6s Stipis francs.
He wore brown Corduroy suit aud
coat, and when the coat was removed on
the scaftold he stood in blue and white
striped shirt NJ. Dicber accompanied
HuOy to the blanche, aud, stepping ia
front of the condemned man. seized his
gray, bushy hair in both hands and pulled
with all his strength To compel the pris
oner to advance his head under the axe
There was a moment Of breathless hcsita
tion, then suddenly NJ. Diebler pressed
simultaneously the button of the lVHettc
and the button of the axe drop. Tn,
prisoners head rolled into the wooden
bucket half filed with sawdust and
the body fell into the basket. The opera
tion lasted exactly two minutes and thirty
seconds 1t was cold, cloudy, windy
day, aud only 500 spectators were present
the majority of whom were women and
young girls. One little boy, accompanied
| by his father, exclaimed all tho mechau
ism of the guIIotine, his father explaining
the details. A journalist demonstrated
but the father replied
1T is very necessary that children
should be taught"
Houy came of good criminal stock
| When eighteen years old be and his father
were both sentenced 70 the galleys to fiy,
years hard labor for coming false money
His grandfather was a highwayman.