Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-16
HAS CHOPPED OFF 500 HEADS.
A Chat With Monsieur de Paris, tn
Most Noted Of ExecutlOnsrs,

HAS CHOfPED OFF 500 HEADS.
A Chat With Monsieur de Paris. III.
Most Noted of ExecutlOnsrs.
From the Philadelphia Press.
Comparatively few Frenchmen are ac-
quainted-that is, personally acquainted
with their dreaded and mysterious oom-
patriot, Monsieur de Paris" and it is no
easy matter to come across him, for his
name Is omitted from the Paris directory,
and the police absolutely refuse to have
anything to say as to his wherea bouts.
However, being in Paris, not so very
long since, and having some, perhaps par
dcnable, curiosity concerning a ceremony
IN which the guillotine plays the most
prominent part, l Obtained letter of in
PRODUCTION to Monsieur de Paris, who is
the public executioner of France, known
IN private life as NJ. Deibler and who, his
acquaintance and mine said, though of a
most retiring disposition, with a perfect
dread OF notor1ety and avoiding contact
with fnQuisitive strangers, more especially
Journalists, as much as possible, would not
De found 1ndisposcd to give just few de-
tails of his by no means enviable profess
sion-a profession. by the by. from which
he Is shortly about to retire.
Just forty-one years ago." said he, Il
succeeded M Roche, who had been valet
to the famous. or notorious NJ. Heindrich,
and with whom I served my apprentice
snip in turn, in 1855. 1 assisted him alto
gether in eighty-two executions before I
&C mmenced business on my own account,
SO was no novice; yet my first indepen-
dent performance was not an easy matter.
l can assure you, for the criminal, a youth
named Laprade, who had murdered his
rather, mother and grandmother, resisted
so strenuously that l was compelled to re-
sort to methods the reverse of gentle How
ever, the story Of that execution got
noised abroad, and though the Paris jour
wv xuys$ av,I n
clared that l lost my head as well as the
wretch executed, since then 1 have found
my clients less recalcitrant. Until my ap-
pointmeat followed the trade of tailor
ana SO, from maker of garments in sec
ond-claSs emporiums 1 have worked my
way up, as you see, to be first-class cutter
IN the government establishment" And
NJ Deibler laughed heartily at his own
rather CHASTITY joke.
next ventIred to ask If I could be al
lowed private view of the guillctine
which its manipulation referred to as La
NJ. Deibler shook his head most decisive
!ly. Impossible! Quite impossible. But here
Is model which will show you how ii is
worked. 1t is all very simple. The culprit
Is strapped on to this seesaw plank. which,
topping over, brings his neck into this
semi-circular ring, called La lunette,
where 1t is secured, thus. Then l touch
this button, the knife, which is heavily
weighted to make it fall swiftly, descends
ceived in tin pan partially filled with
sawdust. Is 1t rot simple now? / may tell
you that l always keep La machine ready
for use, as l am liable to be summoned at
a mome nts notice. l am supposed to re-
ceiVe full days notice in Paris and two
days for the departments, but l always
hold myself in readiness to start at any
moment, as SO soon as the day and hour
of an execution are fixed by the authorities
there is a great deal to be done in a very
short time.
I'm Paris l make it rule to pass the
night preceding an execution at the Ro-
quette prison, SO as to be on the spot when
the two black vans-one containing the
woods of justice and the other destined
to convey the body of the culprit to Ivry
commemorative at daybreak. Then l per-
sonaily superintend the installation of la
machine, and give dress rehearsal as i;
were, of the performance with the gentle
man who is to take the leading role left
out. By this means 1 have always, with
one solitary exception, avoided any hitch
at the last critical moment. AS soon as the
hour decided upon strikes the culprit is
handed over to my assistant, who, together
with the prison chaplain, escorts him to
the depot-hiS last station earth being
tore reaching la machine-where his toilet
is performed This does not take long. for
his hair and beard have been kept close
cropped since his condemnation; he is pin
Toned, his shirt collar cut away, and he
goes forth to his death. AS soon as the
body is unstrapped from the plank it is
put into a coffin, with the head between
the feet, driven off to the cemetery and
buried"
And now, NJ. Diebler," 1 said, what is
your opinion as to the theory that life
actually endCres in the head for some
little time after it is severed from the
body?'
Well was the reply, given ref1ectively,
Il have certainly on more than one occa-
son seen the eyes in a decapitated head
open and close and the lips twitch con-
I11Sivplv for unite an mil
longer, after the fatal stroke has been
given. But, though this may give all the
semblance of lingering life, l do not fancy
that it is life, and for this reason: You
see, the knife is heavily weighted that
at the same instant that the neck is sev-
cred the occiput receives a blow that fire.
quently cracks the skull and would, in
my opinion, be quite sufficient to drive
out any ray of memory, reelection or real
sensibility that might otherwise linger in
the brain. Then, again, the great loss of
blood would produce syncope. Still, after
all, there may be exceptional cases. l
should not like to assert positively that
there are not"
And with regard to the proposed uni
versal abolition of capital puniSh ment are
you favorable toward it or otherwise?'
Nj. Deiblel gave d most expressive shrug
of his shoulders as he said: "One must
not quarrel with ones bread and butter,
you know. AS 1 am paid to carry out the
sentence of the law, l do not feel justified
law IS right or wrong. Still, by that you
must not imagine that 1 feel no RESPONSE
b;lity in shedding the blood of a fellow
creature, for do feel it most acutely, and
custom has not hardened me to it in the
least. But, then, capital punishment may
be said to be virtually abolished in France
already. for during the last year and half
nearly 300 men were tried for murder and
only five of them were executed"
rs it fair to ask your opinion as to the
respective merits of beheading and hang
ing?"
MY opinion is that the guillotne is the
most sure in its effects, and offers the least
objection: 1t does its work neatly and