The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-05-15
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to become Monsieur de Paris when the
family Of the last incumbent died out
Correct" said Deibler, but they selected
me. then assistant guilIotinist In Alglers'
because I am an artist"
Again nearly lost the unheard of privi-
lege Of holding speech with Deibler be-
cause had the temerity to smile
impressive silence of some two or three
minutes. giving a whitening look. and
/ tell you right now that IL the Deibler
family withdraws, the guillotine goes too.
you cannot possibly have a patent on
that" protested the correspondent II
memory serves ME right, the machine was
invented by one Louis during the latter hair
OF the eighteenth century while DR.. Gull
lotin. In the Constituent Assembly OF lIS9,
proposed its adoption in place of an axe or
sword"
You refer to the rude engine with which
Marie Antoinette and the aristocrats were
decapitated, was the headman's dlsdain1ui
rejoinder. THAT was in 1892 or 1.93, II you
please. Take notice that the gulllotlne or
1904 is on entirely new machine, worked by
electricity; your own Thomas Edison never
invented anything prettier or more up to
date. Hence my claims as an artist.
The gentle reader" has already caught
on to the fact that NJ Deibler is not the
most modest Of men, in fact, he is some
to criticise his machine. of course. but my
scrapbook shows that in practice ne is
decided bungler. And again, remember
the 81. petersburg naDSnan Telling me III
the most convincing manner: mo one ever
made such bad breaks at cutting off heads
as Deibler, hence he lacks the respect OF
his fellows. No Texas cowboy, skilled In
stringing up horse thieves, need doH his
sombrero to- NJ. de Paris"
The town Of Versailles, some little While
ago. hired Deibler to cut Off a matrlcide's
Wizard of Menlo Park" might be proud,
was set up at the sound of trumpets and
curious multitude assembled. eager to see a
scientific exhibition. What they saw was a
series of surgical operations. First. M. de
Paris hacked off the scamp's right ear,
then chip off his shoulder Only the third
stroke accomplished the legal act.
Have you ever suffered from stage
seeing that he insisted upon being an
artist
''To tell the truth" replied Deibler. slow
ly and grudgingly. Il do get nervous before
every performance. not because L fear
something. may go wrong. but because Of
my scruples regarding the enormity OF
shedding human blood. AS had the honor
i am. by principle, opposed to capital pun
ishment."
One of the masters assistants tells me
that the stage fright accusation is we'll
is pitiable. and when he goes to touch the
button, his hands shake so that he is some
times unable to give the required impetus:
As result, the work is bunglingly done.
! In short, all accounts agree that, as
| headsman proper, NJ. Deibler is not a sue
| cess while, as theorist, he has few equals
IN his line. He brought the guillotine to
such a state of perfection that he can
guarantee to chop a head off in from ten
| TO fifteen seconds, no matter whether the
head goes whole or in sections. After three
| or four trials, it surely drops into the bas-
| ket to rejoin the parts belonging TO 1t.
Paris murderers being no longer subject to
monSieurs knife, the headsman has, of
| course, much free time on hand, and utii-