Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-02-07
HEAD IN THE BASKET.
Death Apparently Had No Terr0rS fer Vail
Iant. the Bomb thrOWer

utIeS, was executed at nalf-paSJ clOC'
this morning. His last words were
death to society; long live Anarchy"
AS late as Saturday afternoon it was re-
ported that Premier Casimir- Perier and
NJ. Dupuy, president Of the Chamber of
Deputies, favored q Communication of the
Anarchists sentence, but late last even
ing throughout Paris in some mys-
terious manner it became known
that Valiant was to be killed.
People soon after began to gather about
the neIghbOrhoOd of the famous prison
Of La RoQuette, and at , O'Clock this
morning in spite of the fact that it was
raining, quite a large crowd had gath
cred about the prison and watched the
workmen erecting barbados across all
the streets leading to the square
from which the people were
soon afterwards driven by the police.
| Shortly before o'clock a detachment
] Of the Garde Republicans arrived upon
! the spot and the center of the Place dc
| la Roquette was cleared. Later squad
| ron of mounted Gardes Republicans ar
rived on the spot. The arrival of the
military caused the crowds to increase,
! and there was such rush OF men and
women up the Rue la Roquette which
caused the police to make determined
crowds backward until order was COM
| pletely restol ed.
BY this time fully 1000 policemen of
various descriptions and Gardes Repub
! Gcane We're upon the spot and every
thing was ready for the arrival of the
! guillotine. This familiar death machine
| arrived in two large vans at about $50
A. NJ, accompanied by Monsieur de
! Paris (M. Diebler), the public eXecu-
toner, dressed in a frock coat and Il
| high hat. II. Diebler attended every
! little detail of the work of his several
assistants who, piece by piece, and in
deep silence only broken by the sounds
OF heavy mal!ets which they used,
familiar to the general public
While the work of erecting the guillo-
tine was in progress, NJ. Diebler in
| formed the police officers in charge of
| the place that there seemed to be less
space than usual in the square, but that
a bomb might be thrown from the bar
riers The police took the execution
er's hint and the barriers at the differ
ent streets and about the various por-
! tons of the square were ordered to be
moved backward
BY this time the rain had stopped
and every point of vantage about the
Place de la Roquette had been occupied.
The judicial authorities arrived at the
| prison at Clio \. NJ, and entering the
cell occupied by Valiant, they
woke him and informed him that
his last hour had arrived. Valiant
turned deadly pale while dressing.
While Valiant was attiring himself, one
Of the officers noticing the Anarchist S
hands tremble slightly as he put on his
clothes, said: "1lave courage, Valiant"
To this Valiant smiled in a sickly man
ner and throwing his head up, replied
Never fear; / will know how to die y
! At this point Of the toilet one of the
! prison officials offered valiant large
| glass of some strong cordial intended to
! brace'up the condemned mans nerves;
but Valiant gently put it on one side
saying: Il have no need OF artificial
| strength and deSplse man who needs
brandy TO nerve him to meet his fate. "
In reply to a question as to whether he
had any statement to make, Valiant be-
gan making strong profession OF
Anarchy, defending it in burning
| ing words until it was suggested to him
that such remarks were useless and
out Of place. Valiant twice refused to
see the prison chaplain.
At exactly 7:20 A. NJ. the officer in
command of the Gardes Republican,
! gave the order to draw swords u
Very soon afterwards the black gates OF
the prison were swung open and Vail
liant appeared, head erect and defiant
between NJ. Diebler and his assistants
Here and there were heard a few faint
cries of ''Nive PAnarchie." Wher
Valiant neared the guillotine he shout
ed give PAnarchie." A moment
later, as he was ascending the steps
reading to the platform of the guillo-
| h.0 Il 10 oh Il
"A mort los bourgeois" As he uttered
this cry, Valiant reached the foot o.
the sliding plank which leads the body
Of the criminal when strapped on to il
beneath the knife. After one quick
push, he cried: death to society,""
Valiant had hardly uttered these
words when he was seized by NJ. deb
ler's assistants and thrown upon the
sliding flank, to which he was strapped
and his body was thrust through the
lunette or hole in the end of the
scaffold upon which half circle or lock
ing piece falls after the head is through
spring was touched and the
shining knife above the Anarchist
neck sped downward with a swift and
noiseless movement. There was ter
rible squirt Of blood and the head O
Valiant. separated from it's trunk, fel
into the basket Of sawdust, and all wa
over. With the greatest rapidity tho
head and body of the Anarchist were
gathered up, placed in separate baskets
ana were escorted away from the scene
Of the execution at a gallCp.
If the body of the Anarchist is un
claimed, it will 90 to the Academy 6
Medicine; but it is understood that rep
resentatives Of some Of the Socialist SO
cieties have announced their intention
of asking for permission to bury the re
mains of the executed man.
AS the body was being carried away
the crowds made tremendous rusI
forward for the guillotine, but were re
strained by the troops, and the police
compelled the spectators to remain il
place until the guilIotine had been en-
tirely removed.