The Monroe journal. [volume] (Monroe, N.C.) 189?-1965, 1910-08-30

Bower maintained reSo.u1e.y hat lie
dare not interfere. From Boyer the
wife went 70 the coucivrserie 20 tel
her husband 81 tie failure II her mis-
sion and 10 bid him roodby. She was
taken from the prison and carried
home In 4 swoon.
The next morning 4 number OF carts
were backed M 10 the door Of the con
ciergerie, and a soldier in the prison
called the names II twenty-one men
who were 10 60 forth 10 execution
Among them was Henri Chateaubrun
They all walked out 70 the carts. some
OF them dragging themselves. some
erect, all Of them showing In their pale
and hacgard features the mark OF
death. Standing in the carts, they were
driven toward the Seine and crossed
Il by a bridge entering the Place DC
Ia Revolution. since called the Place DC
Ia Concorde. There stood the gulllo-
tine with persons 10 work il ready 10
lop of twcnty-one heads. aud there
stood n crowd. kept back 10y soldiers
10 witness the grcwSome sight. Th'
carts stopped beside the machine. and
the victims descended from the carts.
And now began work that even an
implement 50 wen adapted 10 the pur-
pose found Il difficult 10 perform. Each
one Of the prisoners, hatleSS and with
his hands tied behind his hack. in turn
stepped up 10 ii. was laid upon II.
strapped TO 1t: the knife fell, his head
rolled into the basket. and his body
was removed TO make room for the
next victim. Fifteen Of the twenty
one had been executed when the
gulllotne refused 10 work. Whether
the knife got wedced In the grooves
or whether the machinery that raised
the AK or that which detached 1t after
1t had been raised got out OF order
doesn't matter. Something had gone
wrong. and those in charge of the exc
BUTTONS were unable 10 fix it,
The proceedings were stopped, and
messenger was sent for mechanics 10
put the guillotine in order. This re-
ouired time. Waiting is not conducive
to discipline. The soldiers who were
there to keep the crowd back grew lax,
and by the time Noskgsn had arrived
people had elbowed their wa? close
upon the remaining six men standing
In line waiting for the repairs on the
Machine that was to make corpses Of
them. sy,2S ~ 81, ~; IS, rig -.
"Ge. back cried the guards, shoy-
Ing the crowd with the butts OF their
muskets.
This was repeated so often and was
disobeyed so often that at last very
little attention was paid TO ii. Chateau
brun presently found himself in the
first line Of spectators. Then, Instead
of being in the line next the guillotinc,
he found himself in the second. In the
pushing that continued he was wedged
back into the third line and az last was
at the back OF the crowd that was there
to see his head cut or.
There was something radically
wrong with the guillotine. The men
fixing II hammered and pulled and
pushed and screwed and unscrewed
Meanwhile the day was ended, and 1t
was growing dark. Chateaubrun, con-
sidering the sight Of his execution not
worth so long wait, quietly walked
away.
The Place de la Concorde is at the
beginning of the Champs d'Elysees.
Chateaubrun. every moment expecting
to be missed. concealing as well as he
could his tied hands. his heart beat
ing wildly. passed into the Champs
d'Elysees eager to run, but forcing
himself to walk leisurely. There he
made his way onward in the shadow
Of the trees. Finally, when he had
gone far enough from the scene Of his
intended execution, meeting a man
coming toward him, he said:
"Msieur, friend Of mine Just now,
who is q great wag. tied my hands be-
hind my back and ran away with my
hat. Kindly unloosen me-"
Certainly. m'sieur; it will give me
great pleasure TO do So
Thanking the man who had relieved
him of the last mark of being an in
tended guillotine victim. Chateaubrun
went into a side street and was lost
The guillotine was fixed, but there
were twenty instead Of twenty-one
persons executed.
No word of Chateaubrun's escape
reached his wife during the day Of ex
ecution. nor the next. nor the next
Indeed II is questionable II his abb
sence from the number Of the con
demned was noticed by the authori
ties. Nine Chateaubrun was in the
condition Of one stunned. Boyer call
ed TO see her and found her heart
broken she told him she wished TO
die. He begged her to live for his
sake, confessing the love he had long
felt for her. she was too paralyzed
mentally and physically TO even con-
slider what he said. Not till some time
afterward did she realize that he might
have had her husband put out Of his