The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-14
IN FRONT OF TIE crILLorIyE
A Account of the Shocking Spec
tacle Presented by n Paris Execution.

FroH he TAdtpendanee Beige.
In these rushing times we might take for our
motto Something New. Always Something
New" Consequently, l imagine that the i'm
pressions OF a woman at the foot u the Cuillo-
tine would not be commonplace. ] have Just
been present at the last performance In the
Place de la RoQuette, where NJ. de Paris and
his assistants oflciated in the name OF so-callcd
Justice. The horrible spectacle haunts and
racks the mind, and tends rather TO reinforce
the r~artisans Of the abolition Of capital punish
ment. The horror Of the punishment imposed
renders q guilty man almost worthy Of pity.
The sight Of a human being. dragged like a
beast TO the slaughter house. urcven to the sin
lister seesaw, is terrible. l know many people
may he astonishcd that anybody could be moved
to pity for the f]erocious brute. Carrara. who
transformed his mushroom establishment into
a crematory and had no mercy for the uufor-
tunaie young man, Larnarra. whom he threw
into the FIRE After having murdered him for the
purpose Of robbery. / know all that. and / do
not dispute the fact that the Italian was "A
monster, but that is no reason why we should
not be disguised at the spectacle which was
presented TO our eyes. and which / will now
endeavor 10 describe with the impartiality of a
simple spectator. without resentment or preju-
dice. but with a heart that revolts against a
scene that has neither the grandeur nor the
majesty OF n punishment inflicted. but rather
EXHIBITS the ,cpwardlcc and haseness of n VEN
geance which hides itself from the light of day.
The execution was fixed for / o'clock in the
morning, but, from the hour of midnight the
nelghb0rhood OF the Grande-Roqpette was
crowd. Jailbirds, murderers, tootpads and
women, Of the streets assembled there to see, as
they said, the Italian animal shortened"
Journalists were admitted into the narrow
space so often described. with its five sinister
stones and its legendary gas Jet which is never
lighted except Oh the evening before an eXecu-
ton.
OF that horrible machine which. according TO
the legend, Cagliostro showed in a glass Of
clear water to the terrified Marie Antoinette.
In the yellow, ana spectral light OF the gas jet
that hickered in the. wind these preparations
with the ground stands the scafold with its
two arms in the air brandishinG the sparkling
knife. And !. a woman. in the presence o. these
family Of the wretch whose head was soon to
fall into the basket. thought Of his little chill
dren who were at that ment~s Sleeping soundly
somewhere, and OF his wife, equally guilty with
him, and who. as il were. pushed her husband
sort TO save herself. What remorse will be hers
when they tell her abruptly. "Carrara has sut-
tered his punishment; you are d widow"
But the day was dawning and the lamps were
roofs numbers Of spectators were gathered as
heartrendlng; Mounted Eendarmes and sol,
diers gradually came, out OF, the darkness, and
one might be inclined to rail at such a display
Of force at the execution OF a wretch paralyzed
by fear. who in a few moments would appear
NANA AAAe SNNAAS wv AAbLN ALA ~
There was some little commotion among the
crowd when people began TO point AT a thin. old
man who hobbled about with the gestures of "a
dancing jack to see II the knife in the brass
runners was III good working order, This was
Deibler, the eIecutloner. a ghost with a white
beard. who adjusted the instrument with the
Indifference Of a grocer weighing his. goods.
Suddenly there was profound silence; the rain
was over, heads were uncovered and notion
less GREATNESS and almost in agony the crowd
followed with staring eyes the movement OF the
doors of the prison, which at last opened wide.
A suppressed All" came from many con-
tracted chests, while with pale faces all Gazed
upon the assassin. whose crime the mounte-
banks Of the fairs popularized. He was
simply frightful to look at, bowed down
as he was with terror. He did not
look like. q human being. He looked
like a beast, His intelligence was already dead
and his heart had lost an feeling The instinct
dreadfully sad. What followed beggars de-
scription. The executioner and his aids
seemed no longer to be men employed TO carry
out the ends Of justice; they looked like
butchers. They seized the condemned man.
some by the ears, some by the legs. while
others held down the centre of the body and
kept holding up to the very moment when,
with a sudden rumble, the knife fell. the head
r~ebounded into the basket and the abomina-
ton was at an end.
But one should he present and see the pave
ments covered with blood, the cory knife. the
blood squirting from the oecapitated trunk. the
ignominious washing at the nearby fountain,
and the cutters rolling TO the sewer d purple
colored mud. in order TO be able TO comprehend
all the horrors of an execution IL Paris.