Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-01-05
GRUESOME CEREMONIES
FOR LANDRU'S BEHEADlNG

duced during the revolution by the
convention. 1t was named after its
supposed inventor, DR.. Joseph lgnace
Guillotin, physician, who was seek
| ing a more humane method OF execu-
ton than that by the ok, because
sometimes the aXman was nervous
I or careless or devilish and took two
strokes to his victim. AS a matter
of fact, DR.. Guillotin merely sug-
gested the use Of the device known
as "the Maiden" but afterward
dubbed with his name in it's feminine
| termination. The invention Of the
device is ascribed to the Persians,
and as early as the thirteenth centu-
ry Italian mobiles were privileged to
| request execution by machine OF
this kind.
The device consists of two upright
posts rising to a height Of about
| thirteen feet, surmounted by cross
beam and grooved so as to guide an
oblique-edged knife, the back OF
which is weighted with 120 pounds
Of lead to make it fall swiftly. The
blade is held in place at the cross
| beam and released by pressure OF
the little button on the side of one
of the uprights.
Has Many Pretty Names
After experimentation upon sew
eral cadavers at the hospital of BIZ
cetre, the guillotine was first used
in France on April Is, 1892, for the
execution of the notorious highway
man, Pelletier, in the Place de Greve,
Paris. When first used the appa-
ratus was christened the Parisian's
'Louisette," or la Petite Louison,"
but as the mind Of the people gradu-
ally reverted to DR.. Guillotin it was
called guillotine, both popularity and
later officially.
A debate arose in 1895 as to wheth-
err or not death by the device was
instantaneous, and in support of the
negative side of the discussion the
case Of Charlotte Corday, the assas
sin Of Marat, was cited. 1t was
claimed that her cheeks blushed as
with indignation when the execu.
toner, holding her head aloft for the
| benefit of the crowd, struck it with
| his fist.
Frequently it has been stated that
DIR. Guillotin persisted by the device
which bears his name, but it has now
been established beyond any doubt
that he survived the French Revo-
luton and died in bed in 1914. The
! French government tried, about fif-
teen years ago, to have the guillotine
| done away with and another form of
execution substituted. What was &C
complished was the adjustment of
the death penalty in 1907, but it
was revived in 1909 and the guillo-
tine came back with it.
The Modus Operandi
The preparation Of a murderer for
the guillotine has, undoubtedly, its
moments Of exquisite narrowing.
They begin for him when a func'
tionary enters his cell and after a
few preliminaries says, Your last
hour is at hand" There was a time
when the state demanded that the
victim should go to his death in the
clothing he wore at the time he COM
mitted his crime. Whether this will
be done in Landru's case is prob
lematical, since he is charged with
killing ten women at ten different
times.
If the victim desires to have a
mass said for him this is granted
him, and after that he is asked what
he desires to eat or drunk. Food
wines, cigarettes are alike available.
and he may have what he wishes
within reason. Next he is shaved
not on the face, however, but or
the back of the skull and the neck
it being held that a single hair car
interrupt the progress of the weight
ed knife.
Next he is marched to the guillo
tine, painted a gruesome red, ir
order that the blood of its victim
may not show too readily upon it
; In front Of the apparatus is stout
plank held vertical, but affixed a.
} its center after the manner of a see
) saw. 1t reaches from the murderer's
! breast to his feet as he is tightly
strapped to it,
Between the two upright posts, a.
their base, is thick piece of wood
} with narrow semicircle cut out O!
1t. This is the ''lunette," the half.
moon in which the throat of the
prisoner is to rest. It has been care.
fully computed to the size of his
neck beforehand, to his collar size.
one might say.
With the prisoner bound, all is In
readiness to tip him forward in the
see-saw, his neck comes into the lu-
nette, he lies at full length, face
down. Monsieur de Paris" stands
at the side Of the upright. He looks
at the victim, presses the button and
all is over.
The knife blade has dropped, the
head tumbles off into a metal box,
out of sight. On the other side of
the machine is wicker basket fill
ed with bran. In this the body is
placed after it has been unbound.
The execution is complete. Now
come forward the men in blue cotton
blouses, with their scrubbing