I saw the guillotine

Warning : the following story does contain subject matter that could upset some people. Please proceed with caution. This is a true story.

Instrument of murder or humane method of execution ? My aunt once told me she had touched THE guillotine, we listened in awe. We had read about it, saw drawings and pictures in our history books. The revolution was bathed in the blood of this dark machine.

My grade 8 teacher told us a story about the modern birth of this infamous machine. It seems doctor Guillotin was a politician who requested the use of such a machine in the French Parliament. He had the priviledge of demonstrating his brainchild to the king of France LOUIS XVI. The latter being more a tinkerer than a politician, suggested the machine be modified. Louis suggested a slanted blade instead of a straight one, making the instrument more efficient. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin obliged. A few years later Louis XVI got a chance to appreciate this modification up close an early day in January 1793. His head then fell into a basket of sawdust. The machine became the favorite means of execution in France until the execution of Hamida Djandoubi in 1977.

In 1889, a terrible murder had been commited on the little island of Isle aux Chiens, a Normand village near the Island of Saint-Pierre off the south coast of Newfoundland. The murderer one Joseph Auguste Néel and his accomplice Louis Ollivier were both capured and after the trial, only Néel was condemned to death. But he had to wait since there was no Guillotine in the islands, and no executioner !

After many months, the machine finally came from the French Antillies and was set up in the main square. But nobody would volunteer to be the executioner, it was only after some time that a soon to be released criminal accepted to do the job. The day before the execution, they tested the machine on a calf, but the machine didn't work properly and only severed part of the animal's head.

On August 24th, Néel was awakened by the prison guard, the prosecutor and priest. They then took him to see Docteur Calmette to get him ready for the execution. Around 4:30 PM the cortège of gendarmes and the prisoner start their 20 minute walk through town. Néel was very calm during the whole proceeding. But the executioner froze, for many tense minutes there was total silence. Then the executioner let the blade drop but it didn't work any better than the day before. Horrified, the thousands of people present left in silence. This execution had a traumatic effect on the entire population. The prosecutor himself cried quietly after witnessing this horrific scene. The executioner eventually had to leave the colony since no-one in town would take his money...

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