The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1873-03-27
A DiCssg. MCRDEa.

L OK. uhtli ueau. LOT 'Hc Htitocf VI avery
d Putnam. in April 1871. On the day Of
the murder, Mr. Putnam was riding in The
stree. car, and had under his charge Mrs
Duva and daughter. Foster was standing
OH the platform, very much under the infiu-
ence Of liquor and looking through the win
dow. sneerci aud laughed at the daughter"
Mr.. Putnam declared that he would not allow
ladies' under his protection to be thus insAlted
when words passed between them, and the
Conductor i"terposed to make Foster sit down
When Mr. P,.,'nam saw the condition of Eos
ter. he remarked that he would not have spo-
ken to hiin had he known that he was drunk
Tue The Car stopped. at the puint where the
ladies' wished to ret cut, and as Putnam was
assisting them, he was struck by Foster, with
a car hook, over the head. causing wound
from which, he died in three days. Foster
was arrested that night at his home. where
he vas found, about r. o',clock, by the police
officer. with all his clothes on, SIT ina State
Of beassly iuox;cation Some time after. he
acknowledged that he made the assault, bur
guessed he did not hurt him much With
| in twenty days Foster was indicted hy the
grand jury, and put on trial for murder in
the first degree. The jury were cut part Of
| one day aud all night and until ten o'clock
next morning, when they brought in YER
dict OF sni!y. Effort after effort has been
make for Communication of his punishment
t" imprisonment for life, but Gov Hoffman,
and a''crwara, Gov. Dix, refused only grant
ed suspension Of sentence, until the fna,
| transaction III the tragic scene on last Friday
tuster was a married mau-l1is wife a
| lovely woman, atfectionatc, cultivated aud
| devoted. with four beautiful little children -
| He had persistent'y refused to allow his
chlldren 10 visit hm. sayas that he did not
want their little minds to be Impressed
with iron bars aid Jail scenes ia connection
Will, the memory OF their father.
For months ami mouths past the daily
press of New York has been elamorins for
Foster $ lir. They have been gratified-the
bid aud brutal desire to see somebody
bun. has hecu satisted and the real cause oi.
tie murder passed unno,iccd-the whiskey
shops aud still houses
II WAS very clear that Foster would never
nave acted as he did, had he not been
sr"zed 10y liquor. There was no premetita-
tion-na cold Icol in the entire occurrence
IN his part. lie was not himsel! "a demon
vas in h''n, and under the maldening iuill-
cree Of poisonous whak ", he struck down a
man he had never met before, and against
wnnm he had not harhared an unk:ud thought.
Yes fosters life has been !aseu-tha crini-
I,w vindicased his wife broken hearted. and
his little iunocenr children left Legacy OF in
fanny that the world VIII nnurish and cherish.
and throw across their path at every stes Of
their future cxlsttnee-and the rea! cause
The vsia"ous whiskey demon-still remains
guarded and pauoped by the sacred sanction
Of the law.
We have never been very warm advocate
OF capital punishment We think it Gus
to that wenid be more honored in the
breach than the o:,Scrva ce,'' a, 4 the ends Of
justice would be as well promoted by its abo-
iiion as lis enforcement. From the DAYS Of
The en,loine aud rack when the head tum
h|ed IRON the body under the rapid eyolu-
lions of sharp knives, and the body Was liter
ais hro' en- on spiked b4rs, we have regar,ie;,
'hc enforcement of capital punishment as of
doubtful policy. and lily calcu ated 10 abatc
ine. When Dan,on proclaimed from the
executioner's block that he was Of the same
age Of the sans ca7oftes, Jesus Christ" wien
he as stretched on the cross, and met the
bloody axe, without fnching muscle, he
was proci; int i hero. Notwithstanding / is
h ,a!s we're rocking in the blood ct hundred
,t his fellow citizens Aud so with all ratnark-
adj. cxecuio ,s-thc victims have been re-
membered as to the manner Of their taking
of, and the crime forgotten. Human passion
has not charged and nothing but the in
terposition of the graccs Of the spirit viii
ever change it. In the case Of Foster. the
un'alterins devotion OF the Innocent wifi.
the last sad s"ene, the faintins, breaking
h arr as it s"hhcd out the final Good bye
forecer.' will be remembered, aud the uni
vefsaI sympathy felt, be crystalzed into :;
cold detestation Of! the law. that demands the
heavy thal, the disputed neck, and the |
dangia. form Of one poor pile of dust, and
in doing so b!ights the existence Of one loving
heart and Fur innocent little children, whose
lives will be living deaths They will be
more than human. If they car ever forge, |
the parties 10 he l',l;ciai murder Of their ia
her, aud what Is worse than murder Of them
selye7, aud thar FIR crime of theirs.
WHY We see That Judge Allan. of
Shcnard ,ah has b, en- succeeded a, Comfy
jude. by Geo Z. Calvert ESQ editor o;
he Shenandoah Vahey We d" not know
whether i, was the desire Of Judge 4 Han to-
! Il