The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1908-06-18

ms singular "dH So"eu Nv ~~S
Make by His Remarkable Manner Of
Death a Name For Himself That
Would Live For Years.
In all the annals of suicides the
world over it is not recorded that any
man prepared for death and stared
the grim reaper in the face with more
fiendish composure than did James
Moon in planning and working month
after month on the most remarkable
method of ending his life, which he
adopted and put Into execution in the
old Lair hotel at Lafayette Ind. many
years ago.
After strapping his body securely t"
the floor I've then chloroformed himself
50 that he would remain perfectly mo-
uopless until q candle. bn''ia:, through
cord, would release the blade of Il
guillotine of his own Invention to sew
er his head from his body.
II will make for myself a name that
will live for years and years after m,
DEATH" boosted Moon when first h'
began to work On his plan, months be
fore he actually carried it out. 1t was
not an idle boast. His name is still
remembered beyond the confines o.
Tippecanoe county, for the diabolic;l
cunning employed in his grewsonl'
deed insures the perpetuation of til.
story for years to come.
The crude but effective guillotine b..
which Moon chopped off his head j..
now one of the most interesting reli
in the museum Of Purdue university
The sanity of Moon had been que:
toned before the startling act of sci
destruction, for he was continuousi.
talking of revolutionizing the world by
various remarkable inventions upoi
which he was working. One of hi
hobbies was 4 sewing machine thu
he promised would far exec! anything.
yet invented In that line, and he would
spend days working on it i'll a little
shed in the rear of his home. Moon
was known throughout the county. and
there were some who believed that he
was really Il genius and some day
would succeed i'll the one great inven-
ton on which his heart and mind We're
set. Though none Of his machines
was ever successful, there is no deny
ing that his guiilotiue was a master
piece of amateur mechanical art. After
his death it was learned that he had
spent months in perfecting the instru-
ment which was once the terror of
France
Every detail In the construction OF
the death dealing device was perfect
Could one have watched the man al
work in his little shop in the lonesome
hours of the night he would have seen
remarkable spectacle. Moon mus,
have stretched his body on the floor
again and again. marking the distance
with perfect accuracy and then spring
ing the huge blade to see If it would
! descend just at the spot where his
neck had been. Every calculation ha(
to be perfect, every joint in the instru
ment had to work perfectly, to insure
| such a perfect success as was attained
in the final test to which it was put.
| The big blade was sharpened to thu
keenness of q raZors edge. Those
who saw Moons body afterward sa!
that the neck was cut through 81
smoothly that not even bone was
4 splintered -.
Bidding his family happy farewell
Moon left his home in the section Of
| Tippecanoe county known as the 1--WE;
Plains and went to the old Hote
Lair, in Lafayette, one Saturday after
noon in June, 1876. His only baggage
was a trunk. in which the pieces Of
his guillotine, the straps. bottle o.
chloroform and other materials neces
sary in the preparation for his suicide
| were stored.
The afternoon and evening Moor
spent chatting with friends about thu
hotel, and he was the gayest of all O
them. He gave no indication that thu
into execution the plans he had mad,
to make his name famous
The hour must have been late before
Moon began his work of setting W
the guillotine, for the men in the sd
| joining room told that the light in hi
room was burning when they retired
but no sounds came from the silen
chamber. 1t is presumed, however, tina
he employed the early part of the even
ing in putting the different parts o
the guillotine together The arm prop
er was six feet three inches long ant
was in three separate pieces and wa
constructed out of hard oak Eacl
part was put together with screws, 81
that there would be no noise neces
sary in erecting 1t.
The work OF putting this arm togeth
er must have taken considerable time
as each piece was thoroughly braced t
/ prevent play in any direction. Tn
arm connected with broad hinge tina
fastened on one side to the floor of tn
room and on the other to the base
boarding to make 1t secure. The broad
ak, which no doubt was the last to b
attached to the guillotine, weighed six
ty-four pounds and was made secur
with five heavy screws. Moon mad
the broadaX ut one of the principal
foundries Of the city and to throw OF
suspicion said that he was making
special kind Of chopper for the che
Of the Lair hotel"
All of the parts of the guillotine i
place, Moon began his painstaking al
engagements for the end At meas