Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1891-02-07 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

TEE MURDER OF M. GOUFFE.  EXECUTION OF EYRAUD.  Michael Eyraud was executed in Paris on Tuesday for the murder of M. Gouffe in July, 1889, and met his death with fortitude. The news that the sentence would be carried out was known too late the previous night to be published in the newspapers, and consequently the number of persons who witnessed the execution was very small. As early as 2 o'clock, barriers were erected across the approaches to the Place de la Roquette, and two divisions of police, with 50 mounted men of the Republican Guard and 100 on foot, arrived to preserve order. The night was extremely cold and the, prison was enveloped in a, thick fog. The cafes round the square were filled with people drinking and carousing. At the corner of the Rue de la Roquette a knot of women collected, who sang, "Cat Eyraud qu'il nous feat!" "C'est sa tete qu'il nous feat!" At half-past 4 o'clock the waggon conveying the executioner reached the prison, when the executioner and his assistants at once set up the guillotine. The convict, when the governor of the prison and the chaplain appeared in his cell, was already dressed. lie declined the glass of cognac which was offered to him, and refused all religious ministrations. When the Abbe Faure embraced him at the last moment Eyraud refused to return the last kiss. The final act was over in an instant, and the usual mock funeral ensued. The body of the dead man was handed over afterwards to his relatives.  Another account states that "before -daybreak two conveyances appeared upon the scene. They contained the various parts of the instrument of death. One of them was larger than the other and both resembled the travelling caravans of strolling mountebanks, and from one of these was taken a large basket which was shortly to receive the headless body of the criminal. At this moment fiacre No. 3,568 brought upon the scene the Abbe Faure, chaplain of La Roquette. The abbe quickly disappeared within the prison, and the coachman, who appeared intoxicated, began to open negotiations for the lease of the roof of his vehicle to those of the spectators who were not sufficiently well placed already. Hit asked nine sous for each place, and apparently obtained his price, for some moments later nine persons were seen perched upon the square yard of elevated space. The public endured without too great impatience the long hours of expectation, the rowdy portion of spectators being kept at a respectful distance. At last the guillotine rose in its place under the superintendence of M. Diebler, the executioner, who, with his umbrella tucked under his arm, had the appearance of some respectable landlord superintending a work of an interesting nature on his property. Then the assistants tried the working of the triangularshaped knife several times to see that it glided properly, and the onlookers watched the instrument of death with almost breathless interest as it went swiftly up and down the groove. At 7 o'clock it was light, and the lamps at either side of the guillotine were extinguished. Shortly afterwards the gendarmes unsheathed their swords, the gates of La Grande Roquette opened, and the spectators caught sight of Ey-raud as he emerged. The condemned man had parted with his beard and the collar of his shirt was cut very low. He shuddered slightly under the sharp morning air, and his face was deathly pale. He took in the surroundings at a glance which had in it no trace of fear, and walked in the direction of the guillotine as fast as his bonds would allow. At two paces distant from the guillotine he paused, and the chaplain,believing that the supreme moment had arrived, approached the condemned man for the final embrace. But Eyraud with a significant shrug of the shoulders, repelled the well-meant attentions of the chaplain, and in a low vibrating voice cried: "Constant is an assassin. He is much more an assassin than I." At the first word the executioner's assistants had pushed the condemned man on to the bascule, and the last words were pronounced just as the knife descended, severing the head from the trunk. The execution was performed with almost incredible rapidity. Only 29 seconds passed from the time when the prison gates were opened until the moment when the headless body was hastily thrust into the basket.