St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-03-10

t. accrue.
:; The fatal dfy came, AMI with it thoa
sands on thousands of people, men, wo,
men and children, 10 witness the pcrpet
uation of this remnant of stupil barbar-
ism called hanging. From midnight um
til morn, from all the hills and valley.
Of kentucky, Ohio, ard Indiana, cam,
pouring in the motley crowd Of ignorant,
curious humanity. The tavcrns, stores.
streets, and alleys were crowded will
people; and when the senlcn"c Lour ap.
preached, the procession that accompa-
MED the cart made 4 sensitive mind siri,
of the human race,
The better cultivated and more refined
gathered i'll Il huge tent TO witness the
scientific experiments, that promised to
restore Tie wretched convict to life, or,
failing i'll that, to make his dead body
struggle and kick i'll thc most exciting
manner: The preparations were signiii-
cant anl startling. Near the center OF
a sawdust ring was table, and on it the
wonderful instrument that was believed
TO hold the mysterious essence Of life :;
willie about them were gathered in
groups the mctlicatel philosophers CON
vcrsing in low measured tones, or walk
ing to and fro, calmly indifferent TO the
gathered crowd, as great men are wont
to do on such occasions.
Hours wore away The noon came
and passed. The excitement grcw i'll
tense. AT last Il rumor spread and reach
ed the tent that the sentenced man had
been reprevcd upon the scatlold. This
was confirmed 10y the rcturnin" crowd,
that pushed in without paying and pack
cd every available space. Kisses and
cries Of discomfort broke out, and were
taken up by the motley crew Of the non
paying audience, in Il ii.h state OF wrath
at being disappointed in the hanging. In
the midst of the tumult Professor D.
muuntcI the table, and, commanding 81
lcncc, said: 'I.adicS and gcnilcme:.,
We regret deeply that Il mistaken elem
robbed the gallows of lis own and sci
ence OF 4 subject 1t is impossible 10
return you your money, for - many
have rushed in without payinG, and they
would be precisely the sort To demand
the admission fee. We have determined.
however, 80 that you may not b. di-ap-
pointed i'll your laul"hle curiosity to
witness IN execution and those wonder
tul exhibitions of modern science, 10 pur-
chase OF MIR. Brown Il bear that he has
tattcncd TO Kill, hang the animal here.
and then proceed with our cxprtimcnt~
VIII this satisfy you?'
An uproariouS and unanimous shout
III the affirmative was the response The
bear was Sont fnr Bot R-rin h.,I uut
been Consulted, and declined the engage
mcnt. The audience waited impaticntlv
tor hours At last 4 great noise OF men.
boys, and dogs on the outside gave wei
come note OF the coming event. The fat
janitor of the Medical College, bald
headed enthusiast in the cause of phv>ic,
appeared insi lie the entrance, iu.2ing at
4 rope that seemed to he held by some
reluctant party outside. - reluctant
was this party that twice the fat ,ianitor
disappeared, pulled back by superior
force. The initor, chccrci 10y the
crowd, and 1T length assisted by stout
men, pulled the animal into the arena
To hang Il bear without the animals
consent (anI never heard OF one COM
mIttng suicidt) is at amy time difficult
but TO hang n fat bear Is almost impos>i-
bic. The muscular neck is quite us large
rs the head, and on this occasion Bruin
was pulled up twice, and twice, assisted
the moose and came down amid loud
cheers from the crowd that WAS rapidly
passing into sympathy with the four
footed animal. The third attempt PROV
ed the charm. Bruin kicked and struw-
glcd at the end Of line rs naturally as a
man would have done, and at the close
of twenty minutes he WAS pronounced Il
dead bear by the learned faculty in at
tendance.
The body was lowered with some
haste and placed upon the table.
At the first shock the struggles were
renewed. At the second diSch lrgc the
efforts were more decided, and growls
were added. At tic third shock Bruin
sat up on his launches and gazcd stupid
ly at the audience. The audience rccip-
rocated the attention by still louder
cheers. While this was going on, the
subject Of these wonderful experiments
happened TO get sight Of the fat janitor,
and, while the fourth shock was being
administered, lie suddenly, with Il terrific
growl, jumped from the table and ran
after his corpulcnt foe. Tic ring. that
up to this moment had been somewhat
crowded was abruptly cleared. 4 fair
field was given the atirighted official, who
fairly astonishcd himself at the rate with
which he carried his alipose over the
ground. SO long as the bear chased the
Janltor, the crowd was entertained In
all such exhibitions, however, certain
women are sure to be present who mar
the enjoyment by screaming at the wrong
moment, and then, fainting, force people
to carry them into the open air This
is to be reprehended, and the women
should be iebukcd. On this occasion,
when the popular enjoyment was ut the
highest and the hated janitor-by the
way, body-snatchcr-was making his
third round, with the bear gaining on
him, three or four inconsideratc women
began screaming. The people Of that
day were familiar with bears and had no
fear Of the animal But there was
something mysteriously alarming about
bear that had hppn dead and ,y,S .liyn
again. And 50 when the screams were
heard a great panic fell upon the crowd.
The effort male TO escape was fearful