Arizona weekly citizen., 1895-06-15
The Secret of the ScaH0ld.
 From Johu A. Spring.
INTRODUCTORY.

N
 ceived at Marseilles, France, lette
 from former school-mste whom an un |, fortunate love affair had driven acros
 the Atlantic and into the ranks of tn
 Union army. He described ID glowini terms the severe fighting in the Wilder . ness and kindly invited me to join hiu
 las to a picnic), knowing well my sd , veDturesome spirit.
 We'll, l was very young, hardly pas | 19, held good position in large i'm lportimg house at Msrseilles; still-be i
 that the old fighting spirits of my Swis:
 ancestors were stirred up by the smel
 of powder which seemed to exhsle iron
 the lines of my friends vivid description
 of the battlefelds; be it that my dutie: at the office had of late been made dis
 tasteful to me by the presence of oul
 senior partners very young nephew, 6
 conceited, ignorant coxcomb and spoiled
 puppy; be it that my inmate love of ad
 venture prompted my action, or per.
 haps all these circumstances continued
 l resigned my position, drew my back
 salary and prepared to join my friend
 in the wild woods of Virginia.
 However, my purse being we'll filled,
 l decided to see at least some of the
 large cities of France before leaving for
 America and having engaged by letter a
 second cabin passage in the steamer Washington which was to sail from Havre de Grace on the Doth of June, 1
 started leisurely Northwards, stopping
 few days at each of the principal cities
 and arrived at Paris in the last week of May. Here my attention was soon call
 ed away from the objects that generally
 attract all sight seers, from the new
 boulevards then in course of construc- ton under the management of Mir.
 Haussmsn and from the 'pomp and cir. cumstance" of the imperial court. at
 that time on the pinnacle of it's glory.
 Everybody's conversation turned upon the ''cas La Pommerais," as the trial was commonly called which was taking place before the assizes of the Seine, In the cafe de PEloile, frequented by goodIy number of lawyers of every de- gree, nothing else was heard and 1 was easily induced by friend who knew how to obtain tickets of admission, to accompany him to the ''cour d'assizes".
 The man on trial for his life was physician named M. de la Pommerais. If remember rightly the "acte d d'accusa- ton" consisted of three different counts: The first, comparatively insignificant, accused him of having assumed title of nobility without having any right thereto. In the second he was charged with having caused the death of his mother-in-law by poison (digitalis) ad- ministered to her while under his medical treatment; the third count accused him of poisoning his mistress, a madam de Psmo by administering to her surreptitiously sufficient quantity of the same poisor to cause her death. La Pom msTais had, g few months before the death of these two women taken out a large life insurance policy in bis favor was alleged to have been the motive for the crime.
 Le Pommerais was very ably defended Oy VhOuSicuI hdOuouo Wdc not guilty on the two flrst counts. His counsel could however not obtain the same result upon the third count: the accused was found guilty of having ad- i with criminal reconciliation, melted by cupidlty, mortal doses of digItslis to madam de Pamo from which | she died and the sentence of capital punishment was pronounced upon him in accordance with Art. 3O1, BOP of the | penal code.
 The execution of the capitol punish ment follows as d rule in France within | hours of the pronouncing | of the sentence. An appeal had how ever been made in this case before the | "cour de cassation," which was refused; the emperor also denied his pardon and | the Count de Ia Pommerais was guillo- | tined at dawn of day on the 9th of June | 1864.
 I witnessed the execution at dis | tance of about one hundred and fifty | yards from the fatal instrument of | death and remember distinctly to have | noticed upon the platform, besides MT. | HendreIch the executioner, his assistant | and priest, the form of tall gentle> man dressed in black, whose white hair, together with his solemn bearing gave | him an appearance of great dignity | Several of the bystanders recognized in | bim the celebrated doctor Velpeas and | when he, immediately after the fall of !! the knife, received from the hands of | the executioner the head of La Pam- mersis which he manipulated for per haps 8 minute or more, We all knew | that something unusual was taking | place, but no one could even guess what l a ghastly experiment was being made 1 with the head of the decapitated crim- insl.
 On the same evening I left for Havre | where I spent the last days of my stay | in Europe with some former college l friends in whose company l soon forgot | the bloody scene enacted upon the | place de Ia Rochelle at Paris; neither | did it recur to me at a later date until | recently when, after nearly 30 years, I | purchased the literary effects of de- l ceased old french farmer at public | auction in the Santa Cruz valley, Ari- zona. Among the books and pamph- lets which found upon examination of his reading matter 1 discovered in the No. 8, Vol. ?, 1SS8-of the "Bibliothique franchise" the following account of the execution of La Pommerais from the pen of A. M. Edmond de Concourt | which is here translated for your read CTS:
 THE SECRET OF THE sCAFFoLD.
 About o'clock on the evening of | June 5 1864 doctor Edmond Desire | Count de Ia Pommerais who had been | recently transferred from the Concier- gerie to the prison of la Roquette, was seated, clothed in the strong jackets in | the cell destined to receive the prisoners sentenced to suffer the death penalty.
 He was leaning against the back of his ..chair, gazing silently into vacancy. !! A candle placed upon table threw feeble light upon his pale, cold features. | Two steps from him, with arms crossed | over his chest quietly observing the prisoner, stood guard or keeper against the wall.