THE GUILLOTINE AGAIN AT WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 50, 27 February 1909, Page 15

THE GUILLOTINE AGAIN AT WORK.

FOUR EXECUTIONS. On the morning of January 11 at dawn the guillotine appeared again In France, after a lapse of more than three yean, and the four men whose death warrant woe signed by President Fallleres on the previous Saturday were led out to execution. It was a gloomy morning, but a crowd of some 30,000 people had assembled in the square outside the gaol where the execution took place. The law of France lays It down that executions must be public. All night long the people had been gatherIng. At midnight there 'were 2000 watchers in the square, and the main street of the town was crowded as on the eve of a fete. Soon after midnight men brought ladders and benches to the square and mounted them to obtain uninterrupted view. Others climbed Into the branches of trees, where their presence was revealed by the glow of cigarettes and pipes in the dark among the branches. As the hours went by the crowd Increased steadily. Trains bringing spectators arrived from all the large towns in the neighbourhood, ana even from Paris. All the hotels were crowded, and In the cafes people passed the night drinking and discussing the exploits of the four doomed men, the leaders of "the bandits 'of the north." At four o'clock In the morning Deibler, the public executioner, and his four assistants erected the guillotine on the prearranged site. The troops hed trouble in keeping back the crowd, who wished to examine the instrument at close quarters. Meanwhile the four victims, Abel Pollet and his three accomplices, Augusts Pollet (his brother), Canut-Vroman, and Theophlle Deroo, were still Ignorant of their approaching end. Bach man had been found guilty or three murders. Abel Pollet had confessed of his own accord to participation In no fewer than 260 crimes, including several murders. Hie accomplices, to judge from their confessions, were scarcely his inferiors In crime. At twenty-flve minutes to six the Public Prosecutor entered the condemned men's cells and said to them in the traditional formula, "I regret to have to Inform you that the President of the Republic has rejected your appeal for mercy. Tou must prepare for the extreme penalty. Have courage." "Courage I have always had," replied Abel Pollet. He and his brother accepted the ministrations ef a priest, their two comrades having previously received religious consolation. In bidding farewell to the priest who officiated Abel Pollet thanked him and begged him to take care of hi* wife and children. "If I had listened to my wife's advice," he said, "I should not be here now." This wag the only Indication ef remorse that he displayed. The prison barber was then summoned, and, in accordance with Deibler's Instructions, shaved the prisoners' necks and ripped off their collars. Canut-Vroman asked for a cordial, and was given a large glass of brandy, bnt, on the whole, all four men maintained their courage. At twenty-five minutes past seven Deroo was led out to execution. He was dressed only In shirt and trousers, and was bareheaded. I was standing scarcely ten feet from the guillotine (writes a correspondent). As Deroo appeared his face was livid, and he walked feebly with short step*, being shackled round the ankles. There was a painful silence, and then an outbreak of hoots and curses from the crowd. For a moment Deroo hesitated, but he was quickly hurried forward and flung face downwards on the plank of the guillotine. Deibler released the knife, there was a flash, a sudden jarring sound, and all was over. The head fell into a basket In front of the knife, while the trunk was hastily ftung into another basket at the side. All the savage Instincts of the crowd appeared to be aroused. There were frantic shouts of "Death!" "Death!" mingled with curses. The officers of the troops shouted to their men to stand firm against the threatened rush. The guillotine wes quickly cleaned, and Canut-Vroman was brought forward. He showed no sign of flinching. A moment liter his head lay in the sawdust and the crowd was giving vent to fierce cries ot exultation. Auguste Pollet came next. He fought and screamed. Last of the four came Abel Pollet, the loader of. the gang. The crowd's excitement now reached its climax. The people yelled, hissed, and shouted abuse. Pollet was unmoved. His last words were, "Down with the priests!" Long live the Republic!" His head fell, and there was a savage rush on the part of the crowd, which seemed bent on tearing the corpse to pieces. The , troops had all they could do to restrain the public frenzy. Immediately after the execution the subprefect of the towff said that Abel Pollet had thanked him for the consideration shown to htm in gaol. Just before leaving his cell Pollet wrote a letter of thanks to the governor of the prison, his handwriting being firm and regular. The whole terrible scene was completed in eight minutes. A BETHUNE INCIDENT. The "Journal" publishes the following telegram from Lille:—The brother of Deroo, one of the men executed at Bethuue, on Monday, succeeded in gaining an entrance to the medical school here yesterday by passing In with some students, and reached the lecture room, where the head of the murderer Is exposed. Before he was noticed, shaking hVfi fist at the head, the man exclaimed, 'Scoundrel, this lg how I find you! You have brought disaster on the whole of our family! He then rushed forward to seize the head, but, overcome by excitement, he staggered and fell to the floor, and had to be removed to his home." ] One of the Paris papers grimly observes that M. Anatole Deibler is "the man of the hour" (says the "Dally News" correspondent). It Is certain that the public executioner arouses enormous interest wherever he goes. Only a few weeks ago he was living in homely retirement. Then, immediately on his arrival at Bethune on Sunday, he was greeted with cries of "Vive Deibler!" while large crowds followed him about the town. Although the Press and public are , stronely In favour of capital punishment, every humane person demands the suppression of public executions. "In future, they- must take place osly in the presence of the State officials, who are bound to see them carried out," saye the "Figaro," "and the Government ■ may be expected to Introduce a law to that effect without delay," The greatest indignation has been expressed at the disgraceful manifestations witnessed at Bethune on the eve and the morning of the executions.