The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1872-09-06
CHE 5NarIetta 5onrnal.
Marietta, Georgia, September 6, 1872.
A WARNING VOICE FROM THE
GALLoWS.
An Appeal to the Young Men of the
Country

The following touching appeal to
the young men of the country was
written by Newton V. Chandler, ex-
ecuted r rape in Charlotte, North
Carolina, Friday the 9Th of August !:
| have been requested by persons
to write a sketch Of my life, which
for some reasons best known to my
sch, | have refused to do. But !
cM say to the world, my life has
been bad one, especially for man
of my age. am only twenty-five
years of age was brought up by
pious, Christian parents my father
died when | was about twelve years.
Inever began to be Incorporate un.
til after my father died. | then be-
gan to associate with bad company
and, as a matter of course, began to
drink little as all drunkards be
gin. When first began to drink it
was apparently very hard to learn,
but lived with an uncle who used
| it, and soon learned the habit. |
never became thu slave ofintemper,
ance until | was % or % years of
age. Then ! became a complete
drunkard became involved in
trouble and rcsorted to evil spirits
as cure. Ny life has been a bur-
den for three years. Death would
have been a relief long ago. The
cause of this trouble concerns no
man but myself | will say it was
not on account of any crime by
drinking. To drown this trouble |
found myself in the strong chains of
intemperance; it was now that | be-
gan to be a desperate, bad man. |
would drink, fight, swear, frolic,
dance and associate with the worst
of company and dissipated charac-
tiers of all kinds. and at the same
time could associate with good re-
spectacle people. have been told
that would be hung if | kept my
course. have been begged and
appealed to, to abandon spirits. My
mother has taken hold of me when
in the act of drinking, telling me, in
food of tears, that it would ruin
me, temporal and eternal. I have at
times, promised my friends to quit,
but | soon forgot my promises. |
finally left my mothers and seldom
ever went home. All cared for
was spirits that l must have. All
| the appeals of my friends were dead
to me, during the times of my drunk
enness. | cared but little what
did. 1t is an old saying, that what
is in the heart when sober, comes
! out when drunk. This was not the
case with me; | did things when
drunk that | was ashamed of when
sober. For instance, | would lie
down in the rain or snow when
drunk, | would strip off my coat,
my shoes or boots, and go bare-foot'
ed in snow and ice to a neighbours
house. | would strike the best
friend | had, burn my clothing, ride
into deep water and gullies, or in
any kind Of danger. 1t is well
known to those who are acquainted
with me, that when sober, | had
common sense and good reason; |
could out-reason anything but whis-
ky-that always beat me.
by no means excuse myself, and
feel that l deserve my fate, because
knew that intemperance would ruin
me, and / often thought and won>
dered what would be the result of
my ways; but, poor, deIuded wretch
in spite of all my reasoning with
myself, l would swallow the water
of death again. The last few
months of my drunkenness | thought
of suicide. ] at one time took my
pistol to shoot myself; why | did
not do the deed, can't tell. Peace
was not to be found; sleep was a
stranger; l kept mp my habits of
drinking till | was arrested on a
charge of capital crime and placed
in Jail. | was arrested on the I'd
day of May, in 1871, remained in
Jail till the spring term Of the Court
at Charlotte, 1872, then tried, con-
victed and sentenced to death;
placed in a dark cell to await my
execution. Now my feelings can
be more easily imagined than ex-
planned. What had | come to now
Doomed to die; not fit to live nor
prepared to die. Who could help
me now Will the liquor sellers
come now who have crammed my
money in their capacious pockets ?
Will they come now? No, indeed,
they are far from it. Oh, you liquor
/ sellers and makers, you must ans
wer for your doing, you can't escape
the Judgment of God, "Cursed is
he that putteth the bottle to his
neighbours mouth and maketh him
drunk" You may say my neigh
Dor sells, and l have as much right
as he. You have no right to muir
der because your neighbor murders.
Young men, shun grog shops as
you would a den of infuriated tigers
They will ruin you as they have
ruined me. know | am poor, dis
graced, ruined and deluded wretch,
but feel for you. l have learned,
when it is too late, what you can