BONNOT THE BANDIT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12790, 15 June 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

BONNOT THE BANDIT.

FIVE HOURS' SIEGE. VOLLEYS BY TROOPS AND POLICE. PARIS, April 29. Bonnot, the motor-car bandit, is dead. The murder bf M. Jouin, deputy head of the Paris detective service, slain by the bandit at Petit Ivry on Wednesday, has been speedily and terribly avenged. I Run to earth this morning iv a little garage on the outskirts of Choisy-le-Roi, h.ome six miles south-east of Paris; the bandit, after withstanding a siege by police and Republican Guards for near' v rive hours, was found still alive after the garage had been partly destroyed by dynamite, atu was mortally Wounded on liis attempting a last resistance. The tenant of tho garage, . a man named Dubois, who had given Bonnot shelter, was killed m the siege. The ' police casualties are one detective seriously wounded and another slightly injured. I was present (writes a correspondent) at the awful termination, amid blood and flames, of Bonnot's long career of robbery and murder. I saw the dying man, shot almost to pieces : by the police, borne through a vast crowd of peasants fighting like wild beasts to get at him and rend him. I have never witnessed anything more terrible than the frantic surge of the mob, yelling v "Kill him !" about the quivering figure:' of; the dying murderer. A 'The garage, a little structure of wood and plaster, is situated at crossroads just outside Choisy-le-Roi. The back of ..the building, which is hardly more than a shed, is m the Rue des Jules Valles, and the side faces towards the Aventte r de la Republique, the main road running through Choisy into Paris. The garage stands detached on a fair-sized grass plot. In front is a small yard enclosed with barbed wire. . It was m this drab little shanty- that M.' Guichard, the head of the Paris detective force, suspected that Bdnnbjb or one or other of .his desperate comrades might be hiding, for papers m the name of Dubois were found m . the /roadmender's, hut iri the forest where the bandits spent the night before Stealing th,e car with .which they carried out' the Chantilly raid. ■'-,/• ■'■' CHIEF DETECTIVE'S STORY/ "We arrived at 7.35 m front of the garage," Mi Guichard said, "myself, i^egrand, my chief assistant, and sixteen detectives. We had our pistols -m hands. I opened the' door; of A the garage very carefully and found myself faoe to face with a man who was m the act of mounting a motor- bicycle. <_ .The instant the man saw us his hand/went like a flash to his pocket, arid at the same moment one. of my men fired, but missed. The riiaai replied, and wourided Detective Arlon m the arm. Another of our detectives levelled his weapon, .but it missed fire, and then I ordered "my men to stop firing, at the' same time crying out 'Hands up ! Come out .and we shan't hurt you.' The man withdrew further into the shop; a door slammed and ho was gone. We went out .bn to the grass plot m front of the house. Hardy had we emerged when a man appeared on the. balcony and taking Shelter behind a post opened fire on us. -.'Detective, Augerie fell, crying, 'He's got' me, sir.' He was shot, twice m the stomach. "A. fusillade then took place between our men and the bandits m the 'house, while I had Detective Augene -taken to a neighboring grocer's shop to A deceive first aid. ./'./..'" The man first seen by M. Guichard was Dubois.' The. man' on the/balcony was Bonnot; 7 / - * The sound of the firing alarmed' the whole', neighborhood. The local .police and gendarmes, armed' with rifles, carbines, and Revolvers, hastened to /the scene, accompanied by. numerous civilians with' shotguns, and even 'air guns! The bandits fired repeatedly on.theipolice from the balcony, and also through a hole they had . knocked m the- side of the garage. An urgent telephone'message announcing that the bandits had b.een run to earth was despatched to Paris, and soon the entire detective brigade of Paris and the provincial iriyesti.•atiou department, 400 Republican Guards, arid a strong force of,- loot and cyclist policemen were on the ;scehe, having been brought up m motorAears and taxi-cabs., , .' . A message was sent to Vincennes asking thatartilery might be sent tb batter down the house, but the guns '■ did ; not arrive m time. At nine o'clock.' the house was coriipletely surrounded. Until about ten. o'clock a brisk fussillade ; }vas exchanged between the bandits and the guards and police; but then the .firing ceased. . ; "- A The scene at the Car ref our/ Ada Fromentin, as the cross-roads on -which the garage stands are called, was extraordinary. A file .of Republican Guards on their knees was ranged along a hedge facing the garage, while ypolice and guards with levelled rifles Wetfe m the gardens of the houses at the back. Every 100 yards Or so along the Avenue de la Republique detectives and police armed with pistols were kneeling among 'groups of photographers and cinematograph' Operators. !. * 7 A It was a young lieutenant of !the Republican Guards named Fontajn !■ who made the best proposal for destroying the bandit's refuge. He asked; for a handcart '■. and mattresses, which were provided. He arranged .the mattresses over .one side of the handcart so, 'as to form a buttress, and then, carrying a dynamite cartridge and a length, of fuse, he crawled along between the wheels of the handcart, which was pushed ;by a detective, towards; . the garage,.- The jolting of the road knocked the .mattresses down and exposed the lieutenant to view. Instantly a volley rang out from the garage, fortunately hurting no one. Then M. Lepine ; procured a; large waggon piled high with hay and, drawn by a house. This was backed into! tne line of fire from Bonnot's loophole. The cart vvaa slowly backed up the road to the rear of the garage, where it pame to a halt. At the -horse's head- was a carter, a Choisy man named/ Puch. Sheltered behind the hay was .tjeut. Fontan, bearing m his hand /a : , dynamite' cartridge arid a length of 7 fuse. Neither of these men paid tne '/least attention td the bandits' fire. • The carter attended to the horse, thrusting the animal backwards with deep grunts, while the lieutenant seemed to be solely occupied m finding a suitable spot to lay his, mine. The cart stopped, the lieutenant crawled under the whe,ela and fixed the cartridge. The fuse lighted, the little procession returned unscathed, being received with/hearty cheers; TWO EXPLOSIONS. - i' But the fuse went out, A second attempt was made. This time the fuse burnt well, and amid breathless! silerice, broken Only by the click of the cinematograph we watched the thin, curling puff of . smoke blown hither '■; and thither by the breeze. A flashy a puff, a loud report— arid .when the smoko'had driven clear we saw a piece of the house had been torn out of the back neai- the ground. A couple of Republican Guards fired at' the front of the garage, . iheir bullets coming through the other side. Four muffled reports came from within. Had trip bandits committed suicide? No one marked the passage of their 'bullets if they fired at the encircling line, Some of the detectives rose ' and prepared to dash forward, thinking that the bandits had taken their lives. MTako care," was tho warning cry. ' "It may - be only a vuse." Tho fusillade' from road and field recommenced arid no reply came from the bandits. The bugles of the Republican Guard shrilly sounded "cease firing," - and amid deep silence the hay-cart Werit odt once more on its relentless mission; But this time {he plucky lieutenant Was going to make no mistake. Taking off 'his cap and tunic, ho knelt dOwii on the grass and with hia own hands"prepared a formidable infernal machine consisting of 51b of explosive sufficient to blast sixty tons of rock, and securely packed m a tin box. His bomb m ono hand, the lieutenant crawled along j, under the hay -cart towards the garage, We could sec the lieutenant's taji/lithe form bending down over ths T 6l^ hi the comer wal] pf \he garage/. Then, as tho hay-cart withdrew amid salvos/ 61 "applause, again we. saw a spiral of whitish smoke, this time, cuvl» ' ing round tho roof of the /d,o>med. house., r -■■:■■. ■•■ ' The cart was. back -jp shelter. / The smofee slowly mounted. Then there was

an appalling lurid flash ef erange flame. An immense column of smoke asoended — and the rear half of the houie rose into the air amid a deafening report. The walls had been swept away, revealing the interior, but there was no sign of a human form. At the explosion all had risen to their feet m wild excitement, and it required all the efforts of t-he police to keep the onlookers from ' dashing forward to the ashes of the garage. Again the rifles rang out, but still the bandits remained dumb. The bugle sounded the ceasefire, and once more tho hay-cart advanced. This time it sheltered M. Lepine, M. Guichard, and 'his brother M. . Paul Guichard, commissioner of police i.t the Cent ittl Market m Paris, and a swarm of detectives. Lieut. Fontan was behind a mattress. As t-he cart reached the wrecked garage the group halted and the officials took counsel. If the bandits were still alive they could only be m the little front room of the first floor. Then three men detached themselves from the group. Lieutenant Fontan, - holding "a long pink mattress, m. front of him; M. Guichard, and M. Paul Guichard iqpunted the wooden • stair leading to the balcony whence Bonnot •had fired on the' police, early m the morning. At the top they paused peering cau- , tiously through the shattered window{tanes into the rooms. The door was ocked. M. Guichard burst it m, and the three men were lost to sight. Suddenly we were thrilled to hear a muffled shout, a shot, -and then another shot. There was a wild dash for. the • house. Police, Republican' Guards, jour- y nalists, and photographers made one mad charge. Before we could reach the wooden stair detectives, who had mounted before us, descended carrying some- - thing horribly limp.' THE DEATH OF BONNOT. '"" It was Bonnot, riddled with bullets and on the point of .death,. Bonnot the bandit. He had vainly attempted a final crime before his miserable end. While Lieutenant Fontan ahd M. Guichard, stifled by the Bmoke at the back of the garage, which the. explosion had ' set on fire, were groping m the room M. Paul Guichard recklessly opened the door leading into the inner room and ; went m. : There m the wretched garret, thick with the fumes of gunpowder ' and with A , smoke, he saw two mattresses leaning against the wall. As he entered they moved. He pulled one down and m- * stantly a sliot , rang out-. Three shots , answered it, and Bonnot, a Browning . pistol m bis quivering hand, rolled to the floor. His face, was riddled with' bullets and clotted with blood, but he was still living. The detectives took him up and bore him down the stair/ meaning to convey him to a taxicab. 7 But they had reckoned without the crowd, r When the detectives, twoAaup- ; porting the bandit's head attd two ms legs,"* reached, the ground the crowd made a determined rush for the prisoner. The police and Republican Guards closed about the group, keeping the infuriated people at bay with the butts pf their rifles. Women screamed, "Give us the bandit! Tear him to pieces !" arid the detectives carrying the body were tossed viither- and thither by the crush. At. last tfiey reached the taxicab. The ' dying man was hoisted m and driven to Paris at full speed; He. was taken to the Hotel Dieu, but 20 minutes after his arrival he breathed* Wb last. The police foririd the dead body of the . second mah, Dubois, on the ground floor of the/garagei He was lying with outstretched arms on the floor, a revolver with five spent cartridges , grasped m . his hand. .-,...-! In the - pockets of ' Bonnot's clothing was found his; will, written oh * four ■ sheets of paper and addressed to M. Guichard. It is a document which throws a curious light on the character, of this extraordinary man. It is practically an apology for t-he bandit's life. < He says he never knew a mother ?s love, and makes society responsible for the crimes he committed. '. A