Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-04-09
THE GAROTTE IN SPAIN.
Society Whose Members Attend Grim
 inals Under Sentence of Death.

lnals Under Sentence or Ueatn.
 Empress Eugenie's grandnepheW the Duke of Alba, whose name has been so often mentioned as 8 sutton for the hand of Mrs Mathilde Town send of Washington and his brother Don Hernando, Duke of Penaranda, Count of Montijo, are among the grandees of the oldest and most blue. blooded of Spain's aristocracy, who form part of the ancient Society of Hermandad de la Paz y Caridad- that is to say, the Fraternity of Peace and of Charity--which, found ed by Don Juan Manara y Mendoza the original of the hero of Lord By ron's Don Juan," takes charge ot during the last twenty four hours immediately preceding their execu- tion As there are about fifty capita. sentences imposed by the courts each year in Spain, the duties of the mem bers of this fraternity, which is ex- tremely exclusive and restricted en- tirely to the members of the oldest families of the Spanish patriciate, are far from being merely honorary.
 When on duty they wear black robe, reaching almost to the ground surmounted by a peaked hood of the same material, the features being wholly concealed by black cloth, in which two holes are cut for the eyes Twenty-four hours before the execu tion the condemned prisoner is brought into what is known as the capilla-that is to say, room or eel which, is draped entirely in black is arranged as a chapel, with an al- tar, crucifix and lighted candles As soon as he crosses it's threshold the black robed, black masked breth- ren of this society take charge o1 him. It is there that the sentence ot death is read to him, that the execu- tioner comes, first of all to measure the length of his spine and the size of his neck, so that there may be nc mistake about its fitting the garotte and then later on to kneel down be- fore him and to crave his pardon for being the instrument of his justly merited death, immediately before the man is led to the scaffold.
 The members of the fraternity read to the prisoner, they pray with him they write letters for him to his family and relatives, they take charge of the conveyance of his last ! messages and of the fulfillment of his last wishes, while a dozen of them arrayed in the garb which I have described above, and which wholly | conceals their identity, make house toulouse visits in various portions O. the city, begging for aims for the prisoner who is about to die. Their appeals are seldom spurned. They invariably manage to collect quite { large sum of money, which IS turned over in full to the unfortunate crimi nal. The latter usually, in defer. ence to the recommendations of tht brothers, assigns a portion of it tc the payment of masses for the repos' of his soul, while the remainder i! turned over sometimes to his family and sometimes, too, if he wishes it to the family of his victim.
 The brethren remain with hin throughout the night, and in spite 0 1 ly talk and sympathy serve in 2 measure to counteract the terribl, depressing effect created by the pres ence of the priests, who relay on' another at the altar throughout tn, entire time in reciting masses or tn, prayers for the dying. After making his confession and receiving the las sacraments the man is furnished wtif anything that he wants in the wa! of food and drink, and then the broth ers-that is to say these grandees O Spain-men, as l have mentioned above, of the loftiest rank, accom- pany him to the scaffold, support hi faltering steps, and, mounting th' scaffold, remain with him in the rol of friend and counsellor until th' executioner, standing behind hi victim, turns that crank of the gar otte which in one second crushes tn, vertebrae at the neck, causing in stant death. After that the breth ren assume charge of the burial 0 the corpse.
 There are several fraternities mod eled on that of the Spanish Herman dad de la Paz y Caridad in three O four of the Italian cities, all of then of Spanish origin. But inasmucl as capital punishment does not exis in Italy they are never called upoi to fulfil any such duties as thos
 which fall to the lot of the younl Duke of Alba and of his fellow gran dees. The grandezza has often beei made the subject of abuse, both in tn
 peninsula and abroad. But asid
 from it's traditions of chivalry an honor. which, in conjunction witl it's pride, constitute a powerful in centive to keep escutcheons free iron stain. this strange and unique worl of caring for prisoners under sen tenee of death and of soothing thei last moments rebounds to the credi of it's members who belong to tn
 fraternity. showing as it does a yer
 human sympathy for the sufferinI of their fellow creatures.
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