The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1874-08-22

meet you all in Heaven; am judged
guilty by man, but God says 1 am
clear; if my poor mother is in the
sound of my voice tell her that, and
raise my little child to believe it; man
born of woman has but short time
to live; but my way is clear to glory /;
l am freely and willing to go; God
bless you all, the kind Sheriff and his
wife and all f; | trust to meet you in
Heaven, strangers and ALL" Perry
was suffering intensely, but bore up
we'll.
Antoine Maurice was the last to
! speak. He said /: "All my friends,
white and black, leave you to God !;
though the body is prosecuted, the
soul is not; I am going to glory and
to justice God knows am not guilty
of the crime of the old man; if / was
l would say it and not die with lie
on my lips; all remember me and
trust in Gods justice; am not scared
of dying; man born of woman has
but short while to live; | only grieve
because of the way go we will all
go to the justice of God, not man /
have but few minutes to live; all
have to be judged at the bar of God !;
/ grieve not for this lowland of sor-
row hope you will all pray for me !;
do not grieve for me; / trust my last
minute in this world may be my best
i'm the next" Maurice shouted more
vehemently than any of his compan-
ions, and when he concluded was
shedding tears. It will be observed
he strenuously declared his innocence
notwithstanding his confession of
guilt has been ON file in the office of
the Governor for several weeks.
HUNG.
At 1910 the hangman adjusted the
nooses properly, drew the cowls
over the heads of the miserable
wretches, and the priest spoke his
last words of encouragement. The
props and wedge were taken from
under the platform, the Sheriff sig
nailed with his cane to the hang
man, who struck the trap with bar
of iron, and quick as thought five
human beings were swinging in mid
air, writhing in their death throes.
Ross died almost instantly, as was
the case with Maurice. Williams and
Perry struggled most violently, but
only for a moment, while Robertson
died last, pulsation being felt at his
wrist fully six minutes after the drop
fell. 1t was the opinion of DR.. Ford,
the parish physician, that the necks of
all but Robertson were dislocated by
the fall.
STAMPEDE.
just as the drop fell shout of hor-
ror rose from the FAST crowd in the
road fronting the courtyard, and
some horses becoming frightened
started to run, causinga fearful stam-
pede Of the whole assemblage. Men,
women, children and horses rushed
pell-mell down the road in a dense
mass, and it seems almost a miracle
that no persons were trampled to
death under the feet of horses or
crushed by the wheels of flying We
hieles. A large number of the armed
guardsmen, evidently thinking the
crowd outside were making q rush
towards the gallows, turned and ig-
ANONYMOUSLY fed, and it is related
that some of the valiant warriors
never stopped running until they had
reached the woods nearly mile dis
tant. The more courageous guards
stood their ground however, and it
was soon aseertained that no attack
was intended, but the stampede was
due to the tension on the nerves of
the spectators, caused by the horrible
sight they were Witnessing. Several
men and women tainted, among them
VIM. Ross, the man who turned
States evidence at the trial, but no
one met with serious injury.
FINALE.
When the bodies had been hang
ing nearly an hour, Sheriff Helluin,
who, by the way, deserves the great
est praise for his conduct throagh-
out the entire affair, dispatched a
At 20,