Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-06-02
According to History 1t Was Invent
ed by DR.. Louis. Not by DIR.
GGillOtin.
On the 25th of April Last it Had Been
Used One Hundred
Years.
The Last Execution Was that of
Lieut.. Anastay ON April
9th Last.

the thing that might have beer honored
| In some way was creditable invention,
although 1t has discreditable history
1t Is the guillotine. On April Is, 1892,
| the highwayman Pelletier was executed
on the Place de Greve, in Paris, and the
humanitarian invention of DR.. louis was
| put IN use for the first time.
1t Is common and natural impression
| that this instrument was designed by DR..
Gulllotln, whose name it bears. But it is
now pretty well established that that is not
so. DIR. Louis, the permanent secretary
| OF the Academy OF Medicine, was the in
ventor OF it. There was a general desire
for more merciful way of inficting the
death penalty. DR.. Louis was filled with
this desire as much as any one and de-
signed the first model of the euiIlotine
after rough Italian contrivance Il was
made by one Schmidt, manufacturer of
musical instruments to Queen Marie An
tolnette. Two years afterward the guillo-
tine made from this model was used to cut
oil the. heads Of his royal patroness and
her husband Marie Antoinette was inter
| ested In the condition of prisoners and
was also III favor of reforming the meth
DDS of capital punishment. Mobiles were
usually decapltated with the axe and COM
1
DR.. Guillotin wrote a pamphlete urping
| the adoption of the invention of his
friend, DR.. Louis. He was elected mem
Der OF the national assembly in conse
querce of the attention he drew to himself
through his advocacy of this instrument.
lt was at first called the Louison or Louis.
| cite, but the name of its warmest adyo-
eaate was soon given to it. Dr. GuiIotin
| always protested against this use Of his
name. He did not die on the guillotine.
as has been fre quently stated. He passed
away 10 1914 al good 0 dage.
At the time of TIE introduction and
| adoption Of the guillotine the wheel was
still used IN some of the southern prov.
| lnces. twenty years before Damiens had
been broken on The wheel, with MANY hor-
| rlble details OF torture, for his attempt on
the life Of Louis XIV. The invention WAS
therefor, entlrely due to humane motives.
Inc tact that noble persons we're dacapi-
tated and others banged by the neck was
also repugnant to growing democratic sem
timent.
During debate on law intoduced by DR..
Gulllotin, the Able Maury opposed decap-
| ltatlon on the ground that it would make
the people familiar with the sigt of blood
| and you'd have degrading effect on
them. Perhaps the Able was right. DR..
Gulllotin's law contained some very curl
Gus clauses. One was to the effect that
the execution of criminal should cast no
dlscred1t ON the criminals family, and
another was that the executioner should
not be summed by society. This law was
not passed at the time.
Pelletler, not the man who first demon-
strated the value of the guillotine, but the
editor of Toyalist'j ournel called Les Actes
aes Apotres made DR.. Gullotin and his
godchild the subject of a song. This is
what probably fixed the unfortunate doc
tors name on the instrument,
On Jan. "A Pelletier was condemned to
death by the provisional tribunal of Paris
for robbery and violence in the streets.
There was some uncertainty as to whether
the new instrument should be used. The
question was referred to the minister of
justice, M. Duport de Terre, who replied
that he should have to refer the matter to
the national asse nbIy. In his letter he
said: Il approach this subject with hor-
ror, for feel that am myself doomed to
suffer some day under this new law As
matter of fact be was put to death on
Nov. %, 1898, by the tribunal.
. The assembly consulted DR.. Louis, and
ne made this interesting report: ''To obey
strictly the law the execution should be
performed in single moment and by enc
blow. All experience proves how hard to
accomplish this is. Remember the execu-
ton of M. Lally. He was on his knees
and his eyes were covered When the
neck his head was not severed; he fell on
hi uuh la ho Low hot
the executioner, by repeated blows,
hacked his head off People were
very justly Mortified at such hackerie.
In Germany the victim is tied to a chair,
and even though the executioners there are
expert because they have experience in ex-
ecutlng women who, Of all ranks, suffer
the penalty in this fashion, accidents are
frequent. In Denmark the condemned are
placed in two positions, ard two different
instruments are used. The more bonor-
able method is by the sword the victim
kneeling, with eyes covered and hands
free. Tho other mode carries with it grea-
ter infamy. The victim is bound, laid
upon his face, and his head hacked asun-
der with a Ratchet. For successful re-
suit there is no certainly but an invariable
mechanism OF which the force and effect
can be regulated and directed This the
mode adopted in England. The body of
the Criminal is laid upon it's stomach be-
tween to posts connected at the top by a
cross beam, whence 2 convex Ratchet IL
made TO fall suddenly on the patient by
the removal of a peg. The back Of the
Ratchet should be strong and heavy enough
to perform the object, Ike the weight with
which piles are driven The force, of
course, will be in proportion to the height
from which it may fall. It would be bet
ter to experiment first upon dead bodies
or upon a living sheep. Thon see If the
circle just where it joins the hinder bone
Of the skull. This addition could be secure
ly fastened between the upright posts of
the machine, and would scarcely be per
ceiva Bile. " Louis Perpetual Secretary
Academy OF Surgery. Given in oonsulta-
lion at Paris this 7th of March, 1892.
On March "a, 1892, the national assem-
bly, passed resolution recommending the
adoption Of the guillotine throughout the
country.
The inaccurate statement in the repoI
of DR.. Louis conserving the method of
execution in England is due TO the fact
that the writer had heard OF the Halifax
gibbet, a rough instrument resembling
the guillotine, which was only used in one
part of England and was not used after
1850. In Scotland there had been kind
Of a guillotine called the Maiden, b.
which the Earl of Argyle was executed In
| 1856. It is believed that of he many
models available for the purpose Dr.. Louis
made use of one called the NJ, nalt. which