Show the I art arst guillotine it is a curious and not generally known fact that the first guillotine was constructed ted after designs of a recorder ht at Stra strasburg iburg by a certain tobias manufacturer of what is today considered another instrument of torture the piano until 18 1873 1 the guillotine had not been much improved it resembled the scaffold that is need in america A flight of steps stepa led up to the platform which was surrounded by a railing rai ting the idea was to let everybody see the guillotine was called ailed c by criminals the abbaye abbage do de monte a regret signifying that it was an abbey which separated them from the world and that they aliey mounted its ita steps with regret Hein derich who alio was the headsman in 1872 had greatly improved the instrument instead of a monter monster machine that it took three or four hours to put together Hein derich reduced the guillotine to its simplest expression sad and such as it is today two upright iran iron beams containing 0 two gro grooves cives on each inner side one for the I lunette or socket and the other for the knife a perpendicular cular swinging plank rising to the level of the culprits cul prita breast against which he be is i thrown forward between the two beams at the right of the plink plank and leaning on to a willow basket painted black and partly filled with bran is a board over which they slide the body after decapitation to the left two pails of carbonated water in front a sort of zinc tube into which the head falls the guillotine was waa formerly painted in red and tho the knife so exposed that it was tho the first object seen by the condemned man on leaving the prison g gate ate now it is ii of a pale yellow color and tile knife is concealed paris cor the epoch |