Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-07-13

MIN thanks 10 General HaftranIt ana Otflcr
officers for kind attention, and then invok-
ed the mercy of God upon thelprisoner.
| THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXECUTION.
The preachers having ended, an order
inandible from below was given, and Payne
slowly walked forwardto the rope allotted
to him then stepped forth Mrs. Surratt,
aided by her reverend advisers, who had
read to her a portion of the Catholic ritual
prepared for such occasions Then, at the
other end of the platform, rose AtZerott,
quivering in every nerve, his knees knockr
ing together his arms trembling even in
their manacles; and last again came forth
| Harold, less .demonstrative of terror, but
only less pale than Mrs, Surratt, over whose
face there began to steal an expression of
resignation. sH'..... .... .....!
Then the arms of all four were tied above
| the elbows with strips of white muslin
Men have issued from Imprisonment OF
years with whitened locks and from ship
wreck with shattered reason ; but Atzerott
! apparently suffered more in those sixteen
minutes that elapsed from his entering
| the yard to the time of his being led for
ward to the rope than was ever endured III
/ the Bastile or in St Marks His eyes stood
out, his shoulders dropped, and no aspen
ever trembled as he did from toe to head.
1t was pitiful to look at him, and wlthal
sckening Paynes eyes still followed the
thinning white cloud. . Harold was express
sionless, while Mrs. Surratt seeming less
and less terrified, submitted to the tying
with no appearance of conscience. Then
other strips of muslin were brought forth
to tie the legs between ancle and knee
| THE FATAL MOOSE. ....
Then over the head of each was passed
the fatal moose. Payne bent gracefully to
it, as if he were assuming crown, and
when it circled his powerful threat he drew
himself up, and turning his head slightly,
addressed some quiet words to the officer
who still held the rope To all present it
murderer it evidently was the coronation
of martyrdom, and the moose an atre0ta of
glory. None resisted the rope.
THE CAP OF DOOM ..r
Then over the face and head of each was
placed a cap Of white muslin shaped some
what like Jockeys skull cap, but large
enough to enclose face and head, and long
enough to reach below the chin, and now
the pent up fear of Azerott breaks forth
in words and he exclaimed: ....
Gentlemen, bewarew And as Horolds
cap was pulled on last of all, Atzerott
again burst forth with
Good by, gentlemen!"
At half-past one o'clock, as the ministers
moved back, Atzerott again spoke -
MAY we meet in another world"
THE TRAP SPRUNG.
A moment after the officials drew back
and down fell the trap, and swaying to and
fro swung the four bodies.
HOW THEY DIED.
There was no struggle on the part of
Mrs. Surratt. She hangs and swings as if
within the dark folds of her pulled dress no
life had ever been A bag of old clothes it
might be but for that flesh we see between
the rope and the cap. Atzerott still shakes
as if the fear of death were to continue be-
yond it, and outlive consciousness itself
Harold struggles-his chest heaves.-
Payne slowly draws himself up till he as
sumes for a second the shape of man sit
ting in rather low chair, his thighs form
ing a right angle with his body, and the
former forming a similar angle with the
portion of his legs from the knee down
wards He straightens again, but the
broad chest heaves and swells, and there
is a sort Of writhing of the body on the
hips. 1t is twcnty-siX minutes and fifteen
seconds after one. Six minutes and a hall
have they swung there, and again spas
modic curving of the body and bending OF
the lower parts proves Payne still alive
but it is the last If death must, for the
safety of society, be inflicted on the assas
sin, for the sake of civilization let some
more summary means of inticting it be
devised. .....
SYMPATHY FOR MRS. sURRATT.
Until the drop fell, general belief ex
listed, shared in by the military, that Mrs
Surratt would be reprieved, and had a re
prieve come even when the rope had beel
adjusted around her neck, it would have
surprised no one. -..
THE BEARING OF PAYNE ...
did surprise many. The absence of al
his drapery, caused many to regret that
such man should have merited such a
doom. ...
THE FOUR BODIES
hung straight and motionless as plumb
lines, the red sun pouring his rays with
fierce intensity upon the dead and the liv
ing. Under the oppressive heat the spec,
tatOrs still fingered around the corpses, till
orders were issued to clear the court yard
having therein only few members of the
press and the soldiers and officers, together
with DR.. Otis, United States Volunteers,
and DR.. Woodward United Stated Army,
and DR.. Porter, United States Army. 1t
was then within five minutes of two
o'clock.
THE EXAMINATION OF THE BODIES
The doctors then examined the bodies
commencing with Mrs. Surratt and ending
with Atzerott. Having pronounced them
dead, Captain Roth then ordered his men
to prepare to take the bodies down. and
some ascended the scaffold with knives,
while others stood below to catch them.
They were cut down successively-frst
Atzerott, then Harold, next Payne, and last
Mrs Surratt
COFFINED AND BURIED.
The four boxes prepared for cofins were
then brought forward, and the corpses be-
ing laid upon them, another examination
was made, and it being perfectly evident