The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-10-31

i, J
People OF fashion symranhzed with
! their pct actress. fetel her In jail. filed
| her cell with flowers and got glorlusly
| drunk at ailc .s,ibpe- She gave.
| The Temple, where Louis XVI and his
family were conl.ried, was n very old
| building, having been the monastery OF
! the Knights Templar III the thirteenth
| century. For tn coplc OF centuries il
! was the residence of the grand priors OF
! France and sheltered 1000 people under
hts pcof 1t was rirloccupieq when King
| Louis was there. From It's gloomy cham
! hcrs he was taken to the scafrOid. After
/ hS death his wife was conveyed to the
| Conclergcr!c. One distinguished pris-
cner whom 1t housed under the republic
can regime wis Sir Sydney Smith. the
! defender Of Acre, who was locked up by
order Of RarraS. One evening at dusk,
! In 1898. three officers IN iFrcrlch uniform
| presented themselves ri the door of the
/ T:1np" with an order purporiing to be
! signed by the Minister of War, for the
rcmHyIl OF the GnsollshEan ITO another
! prison. the iailcr surrendered his pris-
on"r, and did not discover till next day
/ that The three officers were Englishmen
/ in disguise, who by that.t.me were on
I their way to London with the: general
they had rescued. Under the directory
4 things wcre l,SasCy managed.
y chateau ofsthe Bishop Of Winchester
afterwards Il plsllsure house of the
Duke of4Berry- then a Carthuslln
monastery. became In the sixteenth cen
Jury Il prison FOR tramDS. lunatlcS beg
Ea!s and young men worn out by de-
tauchcry." and went by the Eamc Of Bi-
I cotrc There were men who were crly
half mad and when they went I'm became
alt0gcthcr mad before they got out
The treatment was simple The tramp
wlri starved, The lunatic was whipped.
The sinner WIS confined in an under
ground t'nnel, where he was chained to
thc Waf til he was put to DEATH More
prisoners were killed ut Biccrte during
the awful days days of September. 1892,
when Paris went mad. Than in any other
prison. II Was 1T iSicctre that Victor
Hugo laid the scene Of his "Dernicr
Jour dun Condarne."
ste. Pcagic was "a prison for women
Here Mime. ROLAND spend her last days.
Her poor DlrDmry, crying. calling on
heaven to save her, shufling and cut
ting her cards and r;,iIrtinE when her
tamc was called. declared that she
should not be guiEo>fncd-lhcrc must
DE some mistake. Here Joscphtfle dc
t5dAuharnas scratched her initials on
the wall. In course OF time the runc-
| Tons which Ste. Pelagie had fulfilled
We're transferred to the Salpetrierc, and
nfterward TO st. Lazare The latter is
stu in use for the incarceration of un-
| fortunate women.
y touching story Is told by young
| girl. Marie NJ. who was committed to
| ST LaHarc for stealing roses. Her story
| was that the rose trees would dptaCh
themselves from their roots. follow her
| wherever She went and tempt her to
pluck their blossoms. The unfortunate
| women in the prison, who had little
sweetness in their lives. warmed to the
pocr, crazy child. They plotted to re-
| store her to reason and fen to making
artificial roses for her Of silk and paper.
| ~ director of the prison aibctlcd their
| kindly ltdud. ~ room was set apart for
| the manufacture OF artificial roses.
Marie was admitted as an nprrertice
and was taught the business The oc-
| cupatiIn restored her mind to It's bal
| ancc. When the time came for her.rp-
lease she was quite cured, and by the
help of friends who heard her story She
opened IL shop on the boulevard and be-
| came one Of the most successful florists
| in Paris.
After traveller has visited the famous
| prisons OF France he wants to see tho
Euliloline alld its operator, the eXecu-
hloner or botrrealI. lie cannot crafty
his wish first. During the terror the
gulllotlnc stood permanently on the
race dc In revolution. Ever since then
IL has been taken dow after each exc
ciltion and set up again when II was re-
quired. For nearly half a century the
l'ncc of execution was the Place de In
fopuette There the supreme penal I Y
was inflicted CCl Dlcenairc, the parricide,
licnoit; the regicides. Ficschi, Alorey and
lepin, Orsini, l'ieri, La Pommeraas.
IIoppman. Moreau. Campi, Pranzini,
Noiilam, Ernie Henry and n score Of
others. Now the place Is La Slntc, In
the i'Iace st. Jacques. There four slabs
| OF stone sunk in the soil mark the spot
where. at S O'clock i'm the summer and
somewhat latter in winter, the "r>i tim
| beis Of justice" are set up by the heads
mans nsS.Stants and the knife is adj
juStcd in its groove.
| The culprit never knows the day set
| Tor his execution. On some uncypect ed
morning he is roughly awakened and
hurricdly dressed by the bourreau's men
! An order for the execution is read TO
nm, priest offers n prayer and n gla IS
OF coenac or coffee Ia given him to drink
| lie is then hurried by two women TO ;hc
ScaiIold. helped UP the stairs, pushed on
| the basculc, the knife falls and his life
ends within eighteen minutes OF the
time he WAS awakened. II is the aim of
the bourrcau to he as expeditions; rs pos
slDle, 50 as not to protHlcI the wrct S
| agony.
Most readers arc familiar with the
! story Of Samson. who was cXccutloncr
under the revolution. The picture which
| Sarras gives Of him, blowing and scrap
ing ohscuuiously, hat III nand, to inquire
| where he shall bury the body of Robes
| pierre Is not easily forgotten. Few
! frcnchmcn have been cursed as he was
! Many years after his time. the Office of
bourreau dcvolvcd upon "a man named
| Koch. who lived in one OF the suburbs
OF fiaris made u name for himself as a
grower of rare flowers and enjoyed quite
Il circle OF acquaintance. not one of
whom suspected his dreadful avOcation.
Twenty-Five years ago Roch got an as