The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-08-01

eyes, brimming over with mirth. He
wore his uniform, also, quite elegantly
and daintily. and O smile shone over
his whole face. No murderer.ever
looked less o murderer. When his
counsels or magistrates spoke to him
he only smiled. He smiled also when
the witnesses bore witness against him.
Mislea's smile, in fact, soon became q
subject of discussion both in converse
ton and in the press? Was it imbecili-
ty or WAS it dash? Once, and once
only, did the smile disappear when he
was asked why he committed the afro
cious crime. Then his lips compressed
and his brow knit and his eyes shot
lightning, and he 'hissed out thesS.
words: "To SEQ if they had the eaoe.
tese!" ..,,ontese. Won
I All Calabrese hate Piaiat hatred suf-
must know. But 1SGli crime? No.
ficient to cayseroved that Misdea was
-Four doetoepileptic fits, during which
subjeoA not responsible for his own &C.
he's. Such O man should never be
left unguarded, or by himself; but he
could not be punished by death for : :
crime from which he would be the first
to shrink when in his right senses.
Nevertheless the court sentenced him
to death-to be shot in the back, tsthe
most cfdel death that could he inflicted
OH him." the president Of the court told
him when delivering the sentence; his
counsel appealed against the sentence,
but to no purpose; the doctors pub
lished letters in the papers, pleading
for mercy, but in vain; the king, who
pardons every crime, even when di.
rected against himself, was appealed to,
but in vain. The ministry was appealed
to, but in vain. Even the archbishop
of Naples begged for mercy, but IN
vain.
When the Chaplain De Luca brought
the tidings to tho cardinals defeat, Mis-
dea, and all the soldiers snd guardians
present, knelt to here the message:
The cardinals appeal to the king made
Q wonderful impression here, and the
walls were for several days placarded
with, ~. G.. s. Via Guglielmo Sanfe-
lice." Misdea's sentence was also pla-
carded on the walls, and on the fortifi-
cations, as also in all the barracks Of
the town, and throughout the country.
Up to the last hour almost Misdea con-
tinued to believe that the king would
pardon him., "He pardoned Passnn-
ante, he kept on saying. Passanante,
you know, was the man who attempted
to kill the king six years ago. Up to
the last he swore to the chaplain he did
not know what he did OIL the night Of
the crime; ; that he must have been drunk,
what he had 50 invoiuntarily
done. The chaplain, De Luca, remained
with Misdea from the moment thes SEN
tence was pronounced to the last.
Misdea, like most Italians, had an image
of the virgen Mary round his neck, and
lie kissed this necessarily. On thee
ing before his death he ate niacaroni
and fried fish. The execution was
fixed for 4:30 o'clock in the morning.
Misdes left prison at 2 80 o'clock in car
drawn by four horses, accompanied by
carbineers on horseback and o COM
pany of foot soldiers. The chaplain and
six soldiers sat with him in the car.
Misdea smoked all the way. he lis
tened to the chaplain, however, with
great respect. They arrived ct the
place of execution at 4 o'clock precisely.
The first thing Misdea saw on alighting
was the funeral car that was afterwards
to take his body to the battle-ground.
He alighted without assistance, and
stood erect oil the time the colonel Of
the regiment read the sentence to
him. After this Misdea was tied
to o chair with his back to the SOL
diers; his eyes were next bandaged, and
then the chaplain was led away by an.
officer. Fourteen OF the best shots in
the regiment were chosen for the execu.a
ton, eight of whom stood in front and
six at the back. At sign the forward
eight moved silently to about five steps
from Misdea, whilst the reserve stood
six times at 10 steps from the first
Then came moment of intense silence,
then at assign, the soldiers fired. Death
was instantaneous. Six balls had en-
tered the head, two the back. The body
fell forward, dragging the chair with it.
The chaplain tainted. It was impos-
sible to examine the skull, it being COM
pletely fractured. The night before his
execution Misdea wrote most affection
ate letter to his mother. In the opinion
of many this execution was as great q
CRIME as Misdea's. / understand that
this extreme rigor has been shown Mis-
dea because there has been so many
cases of crime and insubordination in
the army, and it is hoped that this ter
rible example may have salutary effect
on the army in general -Vedremo, as
Italians say.