Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1888-12-01
THE FRENCH EXECUTIONER
AN INTERESTING CHAT WITH THE
HEADSMAN OF FRANCE.
Living in Strict Ret irement-The
CHASTITY Implement< OF His Pro
fession-HOW He Does His Work

Living in Strict Ret irement-The
CHASTITY Implement& OF His Prof
fession-How He Does His Work. \
Few people have ever seen the public
execurloner of France. says iarls let
ter to the New York WORT and it is no
easy matter to find him, for the police
refuse 10 give his address, and his name
is carefully omitted from the directory.
l he dreaded "Monsicur de Paris, as he
Is called hy the lower classes, is, how
ever, NJ. Diebler. and he rents a fat at
No. j Rue Vic q AZur, a squalld little
street half an hours walk away from
Eoquette Prison. This man, who con-
dues the ceremonies in which the
gul'otlne plays the most prominent part,
is very quiet person OF a retiring dis
position, who breads notor;etS and avoids
| contact with MS neighbors as much as
possible. There is nothing IN the
headsman's appearance Eor in his home
to denote his gha,tly o. ce.
After some dl., culty the World cor
respondent secured tile address Of NJ.
| Debler and found that the headsman
was not ind disposed to tell the details of
his unenvlab'e profession. lie could
not, however, e induced to exhibit even
privately the guilotine, which he re-
| ferred to as '',he machine He sa i'd
The machine is ready mounted for
! use, and may lie summoned off at any
| moment. | usually get twentyfou
| hours notice in Paris and more than
double that time for the departments,
but hold myself constantly In read mess
| to start OIL al moments notice. AS
rule have to spend at La Roquette the
whole night preceding the execution. A
great deal has to be done IN a very short
| time. Soon as the two b ack vans arrive
one conta ming the woods Of u tice'
and the other destined TO convey the
| body Of the culprit TO lvry Cemetery
have to super intend 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. The
instrument is invariably placed on five
stones Just outside the central door of
the Ropuettc Prison.
while / am fixing the machine"
continued the headsman, The Able
Faure arrives. The Able Faure enters
La koquette and gives spiritual comfort
to the doomed man. After being left
alone with the chaplain for short time
the cul prit is handed over to my assist-
ant, 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 a wooden stool,
and his toilet begins. This doesn't take
much time, for his nair and beard were
clipped on entering the prison. 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, top
pling over, brings his neck into the half
circular portion Of ring that | secure be-
fore springing the knife Soon as touch
button in one of the upright posts the
knife falls and the head is received in tin
vessel containing sawdust The body is
unstrapped, put into coffin, with the
culprit's head between his legs, and the
remains are then driven off to lvry Gene
terry, where they are buried y
''Does life endure any time after the
bead is severed"
No, | think not" the execution re-
Piled, rehectively. The great loss OF
blood produces syncope. iiesidcs--'
Here NJ. Deiber went out Of the room
aud brought in large black leather
DOH, WHlCH lie dctd Oh Tue ldolt, oh
raising the lid there appeared the night
steel knife of obliqnc shay be which IS
fixed to the cross beam Of the guiIIotine
at each execution, and which NJ Deibier
carefully watches over and cleans at
home He took it out Of IT'S soft red
lining the other afternoon, stroked II
with his hand as if to brush the dust OF
its highly polished surface, and, turning
it over said:
, There look at the back Of thi'
knife. 1t is heavily weighted. you see
, to make it fall swiftly aud with tremen
dous force when | touch the spring
Now, this is the reason Why | think tha
1 all consciousness departs from the BRAN
! Of man after the fall of the head. A
the same instant that the neck i severed
by the blade the eighty portion strike
: so fearful a blow on tie occiput that th
: cheek is often bruised from the fa V
I. the head into the tn vessel coLtalnln:
the sawdust ! ct the head is onl
. raised a few inches aiovc the tin ves.e
:, which receives it. such blow is. il
q nv opinion, sufficient to drive out an
raw of memory, reelection or real sensi
4 bility that may lnger, after the decapl
= tatlon. in the brain OF the most obdurate
: bull headed CT mlnal.