The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-07-10
TEE ASSASSIN OF sEcRzfAR1 SEWARD.

very low, showed the tremendous muscu-
larity of his neck, and the breadth of his
breast was more conspicuous by the man
ner in which his pinioned arms thrust 1t
forward. His height, his vigor, his glare
made him the strong central figure of this
inter-elementary tsblesuL He said no
word; his eyes were red, as with the peni-
tentiaI weeping Of q courageous man, and
the smooth hardness of his skin seemed
like a polished muscle. He did not look
abroad inquisitively, nor within ntuitively.
BE had no accusation, no despair, ne dream
iness. He wss only looking at death Is for
one long expected, and not a tremor or .
shock stirred his long stately limbs; withal,
his blue eye was milder than when / last
saw him, IS If some bitterness, or stolid-
ness, or obstinste pride had been exercised,
perhsps BY the csndor Of confession. Now
and then he looked half pityingly at the
woman, and only ono moved his lips, As II
in supplication. Few who looked at him,
forgetful of his crime, did not respect him.
He seemed to feel that no man was more
than mis- peer, and his last command Wsss
word of regret to Mr.. Seward. rt~
I have q doubt that this man is entirely
8 member of our nervous race. ] believe
that q fiber of the aboriginal runs through
his tough sinews. At times he looked en-
tirely an Indian. His hair is tuftsd, and
will not lie smooth. his cheek bones are
large and high set. There Is 8 tint in his
complexion. Perhaps the Seminole blood
of his sWanpy stste left q trace OF its COM
bative nsture there. s3E ri
Payne was q preachers son, and not the
worst graduate of his class. His real name
is Lewis Thornton Powell.
He died without taking the hand Of any
friend.
BOOTHS COMPANION.
The third condemned, although within.
pering, had far more grit than anticipated;
be was ineuisitive and fippsnt-fsced,. and
looked at the moose Haunting before him,
and the people gathered below, andzthe
hsgard face of Atzerott, IS if entirely
conscious and incapable of Abstraction.
Harold would have enjoyed this execu-
ton vastly as a spectator. He wss, 1 think,
capable Of 8 greater degree Of deprsvity
thsn any of his sccomplices. Atzerott
might have made 8 sneak thief Booth q
forger, but Harold was not far from 8 pro
fessional pickpocket He was keen-eyed,
insolent, idle, and, by q small experience
in Houston street, would have been quail
fed for q first class "kuuck." He had not,
like the rest any political suggestion for
the murder of the heads of the nation Z;
and upon the galIowa, in his dirty felt hat,
soiled cloth coat, light %Pantaloons and
stockings, he seemed Unworthy Of the
manacles. H. .r- .r3 L
A very fussy Dutehmsn tied him up,
famed him, and ne wept forgetfully, but
did not make a halt or absurd spectacle.
The INTENDED ASSASSIN OF VICE fRBsI-
DENT JOHNSON.
Atzsrost was nv ideal of a man about
70 he hpng-a dilution of Wsllacks rem
deTlng OF Cn5 Tzsg v~--cHans1 fha Iau:
q sort of siek men, quite gsrrnlous anu
smitten, with his head thrown forward,
mutteriug to the ali, and 8 psllidness
t~ransparens through his dirt, as he jabbered
prayers and pleas confusedly, and looked
in q complaining sort of a way at the
moose, as if not quite certsin that it might
not have designs upon him.
THE DRAMATIs PERsoNk.
They were, altogether, a motley and
miserable set. Rsvaillsc might have look
ed well swinging in chains; Charlotte
Oordsy is said TO have died like an actress;
Beale hung not without dignity but these
people, aspiring to overturn . nation, bore
the appearance of 3 troupe of ignorant
folks, expiAting the blood-shed Of q brswl.
The remarks of the officiating clergy
men, who addressed those present in behalf
of the condemned were given in substance,
by the telegrepL. yw5--rg
ADJUSTING THEPARAPHERNALIA oFDEATH.
The stage was still filed with people ;
the crisis Of the occasion had come; the
chairs were all withdrawn, and the con-
demned stood upon their feet.
The proessssfs tying the limbs began.
It was with 8 shudder, almost . blush,
th&t 1 saw an officer gather the ropes tight.
IL three times sb5ut the robes Of Mrs. Cur
raft, and bind her ankles with cords. She
half tainted, and sank backward upon the
attendants, her limbs yielding to the ex-
tremity of her terror, but uttering no cry,
only a kind of sick groaning, like one in
this weakness of fever when q wry medi.
cine must be taken. .1t z.tN
Payne, with his feet firmly laced togeth-
or, stood straight as one of the scaffold
beams, and braced himself up 80 stoutly
that this doubtless prevented the breaking
of his neck. ~
Harold stood well beneath the-drop, still
wbimpering at the lips, but tsuh and short,
and boyish. .
Atzerott, in his grovelling attitude,
while they tied him began to indulge
kis old vice of Cabling. he evidently
wished 70 MAKE Liz n--Ia mora effeciiva
than his previously cowardly role, snd per-
hsps was strengthening his fortitude with
q speech IS we sometimes do. Of q dark
night with a whistle. Zeal ri e
ATzERoTTs SPEECH.
HGentlemen,n he said, with a sort of
choke and gasp, stake ware" He evident
ly meant "bewsre," or stake care" and
cOnfounded them. -saafg-r
Again, when the white destb cap. was
drawn over his face, he continued to cry
u under it, once saying, Goodbye, shen-
tlemens, VINO are before me now" and
again, INLAY we meet in the other world"
Finsllyhe drifted away with the low, half
intelligible ebulitions, HGod help me !"
aohl OH" and the like. If l-af7 =
The rest said nothing, except Mrs. Sur
raft, who asked to be supported, that she
might not fall, but Harold protested against
the knot with which he was to be dislo-
catedJ It being rs huge 10 ones double
fist. -3 IeF.B BIS co.
THE PREPARATIONS. 1881 a7Hr..
In fact all the mechanical preparations
were clumsy and inartistic, and the final
scenes of the execution, therefore revolving
in the extreme. When the .death-cspa
were all drawn over the faces of the pris-
oners, and they stood in line In the awful
suspense between absolute life and imms-
date death, q man st the neck Of each sd-
justing the cord, the knot beneath the ears
of each protruded five or six inches, and
the cord was SO thick thst It could not be
made to press tightly against the flesh. $3.50
$50 tbez- stondLWbilA IpesIKlq thnusand
housetop, gszed, the seaffod behind them
still densely packed with the assistants,
and the four executioners beneath, standing
at their swinging beams. The priests con-
tinued to murmur prayers. The people
were dumb as if each Witness stood alone
with none near by TO talk to him.
q SIGNAL
An instant this continued, while an OIL
Ger on the plot before motioned back the
assistants, and then with 8 forward thrust
of his hand, signsled the executioners.
."