AN EXECUTION IN NOUMEA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7391, 1 May 1902, Page 2

AN EXECUTION IN NOUMEA.

CONVICT AND EXECUTIONER. ' A convict named Arthur Louis Joseph Thaise (writes the Noumea correspondent of the "Sydney Telegraph ") was sentenced to death for a series of thefts and murder. After the robberies he managed to escape, but was «aught at Dumbia, carrying a loaded gun, and was placed in charge of two Kanakas to be conveyed to prison. On the way he stabbed one of his captors several times with a knife, and took ro flight, but was again apprehended. The wounded man died shortly afterwards. The condemned man, after his conviction, displayed the utmost calmness and indifference, refusing the services of a minister of religion. He slept well the night before his execution, and in the morning, stating he was hungry, was supplied with a breakfast of sardines, chickens and trine and rum, making a. hearty meal. Whilst his final toilet was being attended to, and the barber was, as usual, shaving the back of his neck, Thaise talked in a familiar strain, and, addressing the executioner, said: "It is not because your business is to cut off heads that you should .not drink a glass of wine with me," and thereupon they drank together. On the scaffold he admitted killing the man, but said he had not intended doing so. An improved guillotine was used on the occasion. ' After the knife had done its work the executioner, before throwing the head into the basket, seized it with both hands by the ears, and asked, 'Thaise, dfv you hear me?" Two or three movements of the jßivs followed, from which it was inferred that what was said had been heard. The execution was witnessed by a number of soldiers and convicts.