The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-29
PAY TO SEE DEATH.
People Fond of Seeing the Guillotine's
Bloody Work.


the cry around La Roquette, Paris. Aye,
the widow" will in future do her dead
ly work in the st. jacques district
Long has she'queened it ut La Rouquette,
and many doughty knight has fallen Il
victim to her kisses; but now her time
has come, and those Parisians to whom
she was Il familiar sight will have to seek
her elsewhere. La Sante prison is to he
used for the reception of criminals con-
demned to penal servitude and DEATH and
outside OF it the guillotine is to be
erected.
Now, it cannot be denied that most of
the residents near La Roquettc are de-
lighted to hear that their unsavory neigh
Dor is about to leave them Somehow
her presence cast II gloom ut times over
that quarter of Paris and, presumably
at times, also affected the price of prop.
erty. There is not one SO evil, however,
who has not some friends, and there are
some who are sincerely sorry that the
widow is about to take her departure
These mournful ones are the shopkeep-
ers at La Roquette. Executions were II
bonanza to them, and they naturally
grieve ut the loss of the goose that laid
the golden egg.
a man in Paris who is condemned to
death by the gilotine becomes from that
| moment, an object of curiosity. 1t is
not alone his death that whets this cur.
iosity, but also all the other stirring in
cdcuts that ale wont to occur at the
| place of execution. On the day fixed for
his death the whole city is alert. The
news runs through Paris like train of
| powder. Then, from all sides come
groups of persons, loafers and brazen
women, vino have probably come to see
| an old comrade die; amateurs, who are
| curious to see how II fellow being will bear
himself when about to leave the world
honest folks, who are anxious to learn
Just how the "widow' does her irrepura-
bic work, and blase mer. of the world,
who 20 there rs careless and as unconcern-
ed rs though they were going to first
nights performance ut the opera house.
OF course many take ali this trouble
for nothing. After waiting for several
hours they sometimes see no more than
the backs of the gendarmes or the horses
OF the municipal guards. The police
| are very strict, and do their utmost to
see that the execution shall only he wit.
| messed hy certain privileged persons.
With certain rare exceptions, journalists
are the only persons.who have Il right 60
come near the widow when she is about
to perform her duty. Other persons,
then, who are resolved to see Il man die
have only one resource-they must hire
a window
ESSuch windows are for hire at the Rue
Servan, Rue Saint. Maur, Rue Merlin and
all the streets adjacent to the Place de
la Roquctte, and the prices range from %
| to 200 francs, according to the import
| ance of the person about to be executed
or the worldly means of the client. \
! tavcrn-keeper on the Rue Merlin. whose
| house is admirably adapted for the pur-
| pose of witnessing executions from begin
mig to end makes an interesting
statement on this subject.
THE best (sc) executions he says
| naivcly, were those of .Pranzini, Prado
| Eyraud Berland and DOre And yet
! alnos. lost money on Berland and Dore.
| thanks to the -infernal railroad accident
that took place at Saint Mande. You see,
it happened this way a lot of fellows
were drinking in my house, waiting for
the execution was already counting the
money would make, when, 10, the news
came of the smash-up on the railroad, in
| which several persons had been killed
| and wounded. That must be pretty
curious sight, said one of the crowd,
and with that fully half of them went off
and saw them no more.
''PranZni's execution was the best of
| ALL For fifteen days, or rather for fifteen
| nights, persons kept thronging in here
| Eight days the cry went out that the ex.
| ecution would take place on the follow
| ing morning ut sunrise And night
| after night the crowd took supper here
| and chatted about the doomed man. The
women were especially enthusiastic, and
| they all said that PranZini was mighty
| fine fellow. At last the day of execution
came, and, as | expected, all my win
dows were occupied. A handsome young
| girl had hired two of them and had
| picked them out eight days in advance
She said that she was a friend of Pran.
Zini and she came here every day with
| her maid. She even took her meals here.
| The curious thing about her case was
! that after all her trouble she saw moth
! ing of the execution. At the moment
when Pranzini left the prison and ap-
preached the guillotine she was seated at
one of the windows, but finding that she
| could not see as we'll rs she desired, she
decided to change places with her maid,
who occupied the other window. She
miScalculated, however, for while she
was moving from one window to another,
the widow did ~her work. Aye, Pran.
! zni's head had dropped before she had
seated herself and so she saw nothing of
the execution"
-: Many foreigners will miss the gullo-
tine. Englishmen are said to be remark
ably fond of seeing the pitless blade do
| it's work. a number of Bcloians, too,
| came by express train in order to witness
Naillant's execution.
No date has yet been fixed for the re-
I moval of the widow Some heads may
yet drop at la Roquette into the basket
of Nj. Dciber, the cXecutioner, and, as a
result some money may fall into--the
storekecpers pockets. But that the
widow will soon he evicted from La
Roquette seems certain. The minister
of Justice does not want her there any
| longer New York Herald.