San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-11-30
A CHAT WITH THE MAN WHO
WORKS THE GUILLOTiNE.
Retiring Disposition Of the Public Execu-
tioner-How He Does His Work-The
Fatal Knife-A Method Superior to
Hanging or Electricity.

tiohci-"oN no LUCE LIS
Fatal Knife-A Method Superior to
Hanging or Electricity.
Few people have ever seen the public exc
cutioner Of France, and it is no easy matter
to find him, for the police refuse to give his
address, and his name is carefully omitted
from the directory. The dreaded Monsieur
de Paris, -" as he is called by the lower classes,
is, however, NJ. Deibler and he rents a fat
on the second floor in a squalid little street,
half an hours walk away from the Roquette
prison. This man, who conducts the cere-
monies in which the guillotine plays the
most important part, is very quiet person,
Of retiring disposition, who breads notoriety,
and avoids contact with his neighbors as
much as possible. There is nothing In the
headsman's appearance nor in his home to
denote his CHASTITY office
Aftsr some difficulty your correspondent
secured the address Of NJ. Deibler and found
that the beadsman was not indisposed to tell
the details Of his unenviable profession. He
could not, however, be induced to exhibit,
even privately, the guillotine, which he re-
ferred to as ''the machine" He said:
THE TERRIBLE MACHINE
1.-THE machine is ready mounted for use,
and may be summoned off at any moment.
| usually get twenty-four hours notice in
Paris, and more than double that time for
the departments, but must hold myself con-
stantly in readiness to start off at a moments
notice AS a rule. have to spend at La
Roquette the whole night preceding an exc.
cution. A great deal has to be done in a very
short time. Soon as the two black vans ar
rive-one containing the woods of Justice
and the other destined to convey the body of
the culprit to lvry cemetery-I have to SUI
perintend the installation of the machine,
which takes upward of an hour The fixing
of the knife and of the apparatus itself is an
intricate job. There must be no hitch at the
last moment. The instrument is invariably
placed on five stones just outside the central
door of the Roquette prison. l accepted the
post | now hold ON the resignation of NJ.
Heindrich, whose valet had been for several
years. Until my appointment was a tailor
by trade, and many workingman in the
Roquette quarter where | live bas had his
clothes mended by me- But you see, | lave
risen in the world. From member of old
clothes on my own hook have got to be a
first class cutter in the government establish
ment," and NJ Deibler smiled at his rather
CHASTITY joke.
While | am fixing the machine,n con-
tinued the headsman, ''the Able Faure
arrives. The Able Faure enters La Ro-
quette and gives spiritual comfort to the
doomed man. After being left alone with
the chaplain for a short time the culprit is
handed over to my assistant, who brings him
from his cell down the stone stairway which
leads to the depot-the prisoners last station
on earth before reaching the machine
where he is seated ON wooden stool, and hir
toilet begins This doesn't take much time,
for his hair and beard were clipped on enter
ing the prison.
THE FATAL KNIFE.
THE man is pinioned, his shirt stripped of
its collar, and he then goes forth to his death |
by the central door, when he is strapped to !
the fatal plank, which, topping over, brings |
his neck into the half circular portion of a |
ring that / secure before springing the knife
Soon as touch button in one Of the up
right posts the knife falls and the head is re-
ceived in a tin vessel containing sawdust
The body is unstrapped, put into a coffin,
with the culprit's head between his legs, and
the remains are then driven off to Ivry Gene
terry, where they are buried"
docs life endure any time after the head
s severedT'
mo, l think not" the executioner replied,
OaaartiyelS- ''ESe.GreSt loss of blood pro
Ito b COntiaEed