Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-01-03
THE FRENCH HEADsMAN.
An Interesting Chat with the King
OF the Guillotine.


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" On he is called by the lower
classes is. however, NJ. Deibler.
and he rents fiat on the second floor
Mt No. 5 Rue Vicq d. AIR, II squalid
Little street, half All hour walk away
from the Roquette Prison. This man,
who conducts the ceremonies in which
the guillotine plays the most promln-
ext part. is very quiet person, of re-
firing disposition, who breads notoriety
and avoids contact with his neighbors
as much as possible. There is moth ng
In the headsman s appearance nor in
his home to denote his ghastly Office.
After some difficulty the New York
World Paris correspondent secured the
address of Nj. Deibler and found that
the head man was not indisposed to
tell the details of his unenv able pro-
fession. He could not, however, be
induced to exhibit even privately the
guillotne, which he referred TO as
hhO hhoShihOs AAO odihs
1.-The machine is ready mounted
for use, and l may be summoned off
at any moment l usually get twen-
ty-four hours notice in Paris and more
than double that time for the depart
ments. but | must hold myself COLI
stantly in readiness TO start off at a
moments notice. AS rule have to
spend at La Roquette the night pre-
ceeding an execution. A great deal has
TO be done in very short time. Soon
as the two black vans arrive-one con-
tanning the woods of justice and the
other destined TO convey the body of
the cTlprit TO the lvry Cemetery-I
have to superintend 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 ut the
last moment. The instrument is in
variably placed on five stones just
outside the central door of the Ro-
quette Prison. L accepted the post /
now hold on the resignation of Mr..
Hcindrich, whose valet had been for
several years. Until my appointment
was q tailor by trade. and many a
WI bhO lNtNittlt
where L live, has had his clothes mend
cd by me. But, you see. have risen
in tine world. From Il member of old
clothes on my own hook. have got to
be a first class cutter IN the government
establishment and M. Deibler
smiled at his rather ghastly joke.
'While l am liking the mach me-"
continued the headsman, '1he Able
Faure arrives. The Able Faure enters
La Roquette and gives spiritual COM
fort 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 prisoner last station
on earth before reaching the machine
where he is seated on wooden stool.
and his toilet begins. This doesn' t
take much time. for his hair and beard
were clipped on entering the prison.
Tho man is pinioned, his shirt stripped
of its collar, nd lie 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 ring that
secure before springing the knife.
Soon as | touch button in one of the
upright posts the knife falls and the
head is received in "A tin vessel contain
ing sawdust. The bod is unstrapped,
put into coffin. with the culprit' $
head between his legs, and the remains
are then driven off to Ivry cemetery,
where they are buried"
"Does life endure any time after the
head Is severedp'
mo, / think not" the exeeutioner
replied. rehectlvely. THE great loss
of blood produces syncope. Be-
sides
Here NJ Deibler went out of the
room and brought In largo black
leather box. which he placed on the
table. On raising the lid there appear
ed the bright steel knife of oblique
shape which is fixed to the cross beam
of the guillotine at each execution, and
VIII ch M. Deibler carefully watches
over and cleans at home He took it
out of its soft red lining the other
afternoon. stroked it with his hand as
IL to brush the dust off its highly-pol-
ished surface. and. turning it over.
said:
uOIct lOOh ~ tue DoCk OI lulb
knife. 1t is heavily weighed. you see,
TO make it fall swiftly and with tre-
mendous forco when 1 touch the
spring Now, this is the reason why
think that all consciousness departs
from the brain of man after the fall
of the head. At the same instant that
the neck is severed by the blade. the
weighty portion strikes so fearful a
blow on the occiput that the cheek is
often bruised from the fall of tho head
into the tin vessel containing the saw
dust. Yet the head Is only raised q
few inches above the tin vessel which
receives il. Such blow is, in my
opinion. sufficient to drive out any ray
of memory, reflection or real scnsibil-
ity that may linger. after the decapta-
ton, in the brain of the most obduratc,
bull headed criminal"
'.Are !, on in favor of capital pun
ishmentp"
"Such question should not be put
to me. My business is 10 carry out
the sentence of tho law. without in
curing whether the law is right or
wrong Custom has not hardened me
to such an extent that am unable to
distinguish. however, between one