The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-04-11


ing the neck and upper portion of the
back bare. He then pours little water
on the neck, and then for the only time
ashudder passes over the poor wretch's
flesh. The executioner then takes the
dipper and pours water along the blade
of the sword, also wetting the linen
wrapped around the handle so as to Sc
cure a firm grip. Then he quietly
moves to the left of the prisoner, who
is motionless as stone; two assistants
stand in front and two behind the kneel-
ing form. There is a silence of death
on the crowd. The executioner meas
ures his victim, lifts the sword with
both hands shoulder high-a lightning
stroke given apparently without effort
"a never-to-be-forgotten thud and the
head rolls off.
A very peculiar preliminary to
death sentence that deserves to be put
on record was that in vogue in Fran
coma in the fifteenth century-that is,
in the days of the ordeal, in which
| Heaven itself was supposed to take a
hand in the distribution of justice. In
case woman had been made to suffer
in reputation by man, she was at
liberty to challenge him to combat,
which took place in the following way:
A regular ring was formed for specta-
tors and chairs were placed for the
| judges. In the middle of the ring was
a hole about three feet deep, in which
the man, armed only with club, had
to defend himself against the woman,
| who was armed with stone weighing
a pound tied up in handkerchief and
attached to a slender willowy stick.
The lady had g. space measuring ten
feet in diameter in which to evolute
and to attack.
The rules were as follows: If the
man in attempting to strike the woman
touched the ground with arm or hand
he made one error. Ii he made three
such, or if the woman succeeded in dis
arming him, he was declared defeated
and was then delivered over to the
eXecutioner to be put to death, which
was by being buried in the same hole
in which he had vainlv attempted to
defend himself. But if the man sue
ceeded in thwarting the attacks of the
woman, or in disarming her, he was
declared the victor, and the woman
herself was then the victim and was
sentenced to death and buried alive.
The unpublicitY of the proposed
method of execution by electricity will
be deeply regretted by hardened crimi-
nails who have read up the last speeches
on the scaffold by the heroes of their
craft. Many black-hearted wretch
has died comparatively happy after
being allowed to address the world
just before being launched into eternity.
The darkest-dyed criminal loved dearly
to preach a sermon as a warning to the
rest of humanity prior to being taken
, off. Many a brute has left his friends
with the disgusting assurance that
after the fatal moose has done it's work
he has a first-class entrance ticket fol
the realms of eternal glory. And the
! great public enjoyed this kind of sacri
, iegious spectacle hugely. This speech
making on the scaffold appears to have
been a relic of still remoter times, whe1
the practice of chanting last dying
speeches in the vicinity of the place O
execution was a common thing.
Truly a desperate world was ours a.
one time in the search for cruelties t.
be meted out to malefactors, traitor:
and sinners in general. Modern crimi
nails may perhaps thank their stars that
7 they are spared unnecessary bodily
, torture and that the evident hope O
!, justice to-day is to get them out of tn,
world with as little noise and prelimi
nary suffering as possible. Y
World.