Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-21

| er in 1863. still executioner at Rennes-until
the law of 1871 suppressed all such pro-
vincial posts. Then Louis Debler was call
| ed 10 Paris first assistant to Nj. Roch
| In 1879 the latter died: and Louis Deibler.
succeeding him. exercised from Paris
during twenty long years.
| At the moment of his death 1t was cabled
| to America that the total number of his
victims amounted to 35I-an evident eXag
geration. which l pointed out to his son.
| 1t would make an average of seventeen
year.
You forgot to count the many years my
| father served in Agiers-where executions
| were formerly quite frequent: was his
answer.
Lifting the Veil.
Again and again l was astonshed at his
outspokenness; and. as you shall see, the
| already practical abolition of his office per
| mitted him to lift the veil from the mercl-
| full dope secrets of the condemned mans
| last morning of late years in France; but
| there We're other things which he could
not. of course. tell about his father.
The old mans timid. nervous fussiness at
! executions was well known. He was weak
| ly, and he limped from birth. Again and
| again in the early part OF his career he
| was Knocked down, throttled, bitten and
| gouged by tricky and desperate criminals
! refractory to the last teilette: while with
| the milder and repenting type of victims,
| his panic-stricken lack of tact led him to
| illdht palmetto breaks as WIN the as
| sassin Lenard. who during all his prepare
| ton. for the gullotinc, never uttered
word. During the ten minutes drive from
prison TO the public square of Arras he con-
| tinued silent
The tension became intense. NJ Deibler
| cleared his throat. He hesitated. He merry
| ed himself Then. pointing to the eastern
| sky as it lighted with pink and gold. he
| observed to the man he was about to be-
| head:
| Il think we shall have a fine day
| Lenard received the communication with
| eNcusabe Indifference; but he had not the
| insouciance of Pattyu the young stranger
of Paris. M. Deibler, always devout, tried
| to comfort him.
| The priest tells your repentance is
| sincere he said. BE of good cheer. To-
| night You will sit at the table of our Lord!'
Just then the driver whipped up and the
| horses broke into gallop.
Eth ben, Monsieur Deibler," laughed the
| incorrigibie young tough, at this rate l
| shall probably arrive in time for lunch
| The legend that the weakly, embarrassed
little old man had strange hypnotic power
| over his victims reposes therefore, rather
on the dope" secret-revealed openly now
! for the first time by Anatole Deibler. Why
| should he not reveal it? The game is up.
Probably no more assassns will be guillo-
| tined in France There is no need to con-
ceal from the corporation how merciful the
proceeding had become!
A Royal Victim.
| The most illustrous of all the victims
! of the guillotine struggled they strapped
| him to the fitting board" said AnatOle
Deiber. Il refer to King Louis XVI. Not
| only did he struggle. but he screamed-San-
| terre masking his cry by a roll Of drums;
! and only who are responsible for scan
dals at the last moment know what firm
ness and quiCkness are necessary to deal
| with it's instructive pancs.
My father always dreaded Scandals he
continued. Much was saved him in later
years by my two present faithful aids, Hugo
and Alcide: but he never really got over
the terrible Scene made by that young
rascal Meneselou-whose mother went hope
lessly crazy in the audience
Here is a fact the Paris public never
knew. SELLER. the ghou. bit off a corner
of my fathers left carat the very last
instant. with his arms strapped beside him.
Evidently he tried for the cheek and missed.
Laprade made such sudden resistance that
father was publicly reprimanded in the
Paris papers. Pranzni spit in fathers
face And so on. But 1T was the desper-
ate case of Gaspard that caused my father
to make his first appeal to the prison doc
tor. Together with one Mayer. he has as
sassinated a Paris jeweler. That morning
his first question was. Does Mayer die with
me?'
But It's an infamyr he beloved, when
| he learned that Mayer was committed.
| Mayors guiltier than 1 am. I won't die
| without him..
win lHlS he kllOckeu GOWN the dlu
Alcide, tore half the beard off the prison
| director, throtted father, banged his head
| against the cell door, and was only over
powered-still believing and cursing-by
the giant Hugo and a prison guard.
Given an Opiate.
- Send for the prison DOCTOR father
| finally insisted. To him he represented the
| inevitable scandal. begging that some tran
QUILTING drug be given Gaspard. Whatever
it was-hyocine. / thnk-the effect was
magical. One prick of the hypodermic
needle, and the ruffian became seepiy
good-natured and dOcile. You understand?
He did not at all lose consciousness He
just became gentleman. Even the prison
aumOnier made Objection-So that the
system was repeated thenceforth in cases
where public scandal would have been the
alternative You, in America, do not have
public executions, monsieur"
| told him
There may be something in the presence
of the crowd to tempt the victim. unused
the last of the guilotinerS. In any case, it
was my fathers bette noir. At no time of
his life did the poor man have the coldly
ferocous aspect when the Imagination of
romantic writer's has lent to the execu-
toner. He walked with cane umbrella,
like a lame man, one leg being shorter than
the other. He was timid and self-effaclng.
Yet all France Shrunk from him.
The bad notoriety poisoned fathers life
continued Anatole Il have travelled much
and have enjoyed nothing. was his fire.
quent complaint. Once he said to me:
Il have been refused in so many hotels.
My ears have heard so many insults. Ana
tole, / give you counsel-to you and to all
future eXecutioners. 30 not have an origi-
nal physiognomy Change your style OF
dress costantly. My invariable black frock
coat and high silk hat have spelled disaster
for me-
1 think NJ Anatole Debler scarcely
grets that France is on the point of abolish
ing his office. He owns an automobile a
charming vila-and a siX-story apartment
house bringing in rents.
The Executioner's Salary.
For twenty years his father touched"
81 600 annual fixed salary plus $500 an
nual allowance for the gullotine machine,
all practically profit: while expense of
executions was calculated in the annual
budget at supplementary $3.50 for France
and $50 for Algiers. AS the executioner
regularly drew all these sums, together with
81 500 annual allowance for his aids, the
infrequency of executions of late years
brought up the cost of a guillotining to