The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-01-28
had from yoy, except the suilen denial Of hts Rus
! Did HIN goodby accepting slowly aud with 3

JOnn Armstrong, 6tepped out OF MIA den
10 speak to me. He was st0uter and an older
man than Jolly, but Infinitely more forbddlng in
appearance. He was square-shouldered, rather
heavily butt. and might be about thirty ak yeara
old II one could disco, any index OF age youth In
the mass OF squalor and brutishness which the man
iorlorn- looking than bis comrade A broad, nat
battered nose-not unlike an organ sometimes seen
he wore q tattered suit OF Confederate gray.
short cloak, hanging loosely on him, OF the same
color, without collar was rolled up ugnt about his
a taItered, greasy brOadleafed military hat, drawn
down over his right eye, which soon discovered
was
TOTALLY BLIND.
But the most disgusting feature about him was
and at which he kept constantly picking ana drag
ging during the interview, until my nerves almost
Ii Nebuchadnezzar, when he was turned out t.
grass was only furnished with similar weapons no
would have made brave havoc on his clover patch
He told the same story az his companion In crime.
There was hardly ANYTHING TO be got out OF him ex-
cept the same continual
eve DIDN'T DO Tw
he admitted being at Potosi on the Saturday Of
the murder aud getting whiskey He said he was
not drunk. bur that Charley was tight He denied
gOing TO Lepine's cabin all; knew nothing aDOuk
having a pistol and said that the first he heard OF
the murder was when he was at supper In house.
county. where he had gene to see "his nephew"
and a crowd rushed at him and Knockea hin on hts
chair with club.
'.Armstrong do you ~ expect any respite or pardon
answered nervousiy. cluiching the ratings or the
gallery. .They arc all against us. They want 70
hang us and suppose they WILL we got lawyer
you any quarrel with Lepfne or hs famlyr mo-
sir; never had no quarrel. We were cousins 1
riedY' "No, sir; have u wife somewhere but she
Is with other men; but have mother and tive
little sisters no bigger than my knee" Here he
hDed some emotion twisting and writing a good
deal and finishing the sentence with
SOMETHING LIKE A SOB.
COZ IN
sodier y, u WAS In the INV war; "oor WIN the
not the rebels the federals." On which,
ever side he fought there could be no
those terrible gangs OF bushwhacNers who COM
ntted such fearful depredations In southeastern
are a creole.u 81 believe so; / don Know "Wno
do you suppose committed this dreadful murderf"
There were plenty besides Charley and me 70 DO
1t was no better than - house. Anyhow,
wenj there that Saturday. went from Poios 10
Jefferson county. know nothing about the muir
dern
FAREWELL.
Not wishing to tell this poor wretch the mean pur-
pose then IN my mad 10 go all the way Potos To
see him stranged, said-"Well. Armstrong, good
that memorable professional duty compelled me to
be visitor IN the horrld human shambes when the
deed was being done.
THE INDIFFERENCE OF THE CRIMINALS
as to their fate was remarkable They did not seem
10 possess any conscionsness rs 10 the difference
than In that Of their Victims Possibly tho ministry
or their spiritual comor,ers had created some leei-
incs OF devotion under this cal Gus surface 1t waS
evident to me, however that they had the impur
dent effrontery OF so many OF our
GALLONS MARTYRS,
who were taught to believe that they had stronger
claim upon the mercy and pardon OF Jesus because
their hands were red with crime. ! thought that
lIgntened up their dismal cells, had impaired any
conception OF the Saviour they would possibly, ul.
like SO many other sacrIcal lanbs-as they belIeved
themselves-who perisned by the rOpc--that they
would not defy Him to refuse them place In His
BOSOM but that these uncouth creatures might die
with q cOnlre confession OF their sins upon their
lips, and a prayer-a very meek and humble
prayer-in their hearts for mercy In that unathom-
able hereafter which lies beyond the galIows thu
noOse the STROUD and the hangmanl
TO THE SCENE OF EXECUTION.
The morning train at eight O'Clock on the Iron
Mountain Railroad took the murderers Jolly and
Armstrong, from ST. Louis TO Potosi and death. A
priests, Fathers GREELEY and Bennan; the Sheriff
Of Washington county. John r Clark Captain +. P.
Mann and posse OF deputies. armed with revolverS
Father Orrmy visited the Governor at Jefferson CITY
yesterday and begged Tor weeks respite, but with
nan heard their con esilon IN the JAN and admlns-
tered the holy communion to both prisoners. Whas
that confession was no man knows except the
priest and penitents. They made no public conies-
the condemned were chained by theIr legs ana
handcuned together. They looked calm bus
ly's eyes while IN JAN was supdaed; The
and frequently spoke them In low tones no doubt
breathing hope ana consolation, to which the
wretched criminals responded mostly by bowling
As the train sped along this track of sixty
five miles to the gallows crowds met i
the victims. against whom the direst hate
existed in this whole region OF country. They
climbed to the platforms. and peered through the
windows of the cars; but a. the doors were locked
and guarded they could not obtain an entrance. AT
Mineral Point, the junction OF the roai. four miles
from Potos, an immense crowd was gathered, all
Of whom, evidently, were acquainted with the per-
word OF sympa ny. Indeed, as sheriff Clarke
sured me, there never were men hung In that
Clarke hunted the murderers up and arrested them,
procured the evidence, which, as have stated con-
sisted Of members Of doly's own family and since
fall the that dropped them into eternty-haS
not let them out OF his care.
The train arrived nj Potosi at noon, where an
armed guard Of half dozen shot guns, took charge
OF the prisoners, under command OF the Sherlfr.
crowd OF about three thousand persons from all the
neghboring counties. assembled at totosL. Several
well dressed women, fashionable Pot0si bellies.
PROBABLY. were in the crowd. Children Of
all ages were there with their mothers; and
there was as llttle pity IN the hearts , OF the
whatever throughout the whole scene. The people
were jocose. They laughed ana talked as folks
law vanished when they found that, for the frst
time in tile history Of the wild mining region, men
were really to be hung according 10 law. Judge
Lynch had always taken this business in hand.
The funeral march from the railroad station to
tne village was over Il TOuHn ana frozen rOdu n
concourse or people accompanied the PRISONERS who
dragged their chains painfully along; but not
rbald offensive word was uttered. The majesty
Of law present, and the people VINO nhabit this
drcary region respected Its soernnlty, and will pro-
baby IN future pay more heed TO IL.
UNDER THE GALLONS.
They took but a short time to fix the ropes on the
scailod, which was erected In an open space beside
the jail, enclosed by line OF ropes The execution
was therefore, In all respects public. The prison.
ers, meantime. were the objects Of loving and
unremitting care from the priests until the last
moment. The sisters OF Jolly visited him, and they
In close converse lor some time. He be-
trayed little emotion, but she wept bitterly when he
put his manaced hand into mis- pocket and drawing
forth black rosary handed 1t to her with few
words His father was not present.
neither was Armstrong; motner, though living IN
the village. The boy Leon, only twelve years
old, the chief witness in the case, sat IN
corner OF the court room, but did not approach
his brother VINO took no notice OF him until Father
D Reilly brought him forward and made the brothers