New-York tribune., 1874-07-18
MR- PIRTON'.S C1SE.

We hone no one will fail to read the long
communication from Mr.. Parton which we
nublish this morning. 1t is not written with
his usual sprightness, and the subject Is
somewhat stale, but it is worth attention as a
very unusual illustration of that inaccuracy
and unfarness to which we have referred as
his distinguishing characteristics, ana whlch
render him dangerous to bimself and to his
own reputation, whenever he treats matter
in which his prejudices are fairly reused.
1t will be remembered that in Harpers Mag
asine for July Mr. Parton, discussing Falsehood
in the Daily Press, gave as the most prominent
illustration of his theme an account OF certain
disgraceful performances of the representatives
of the New-YOrll press at MorriStown, on Sthe
occasion of the execution of the Italian Lusig-
mani. He stated that "the whole body strolled
from their hotel to the jail" the evening
before, "to get material for telegrams" The
Sheriff refused them admittance, and they
tnereupOn swOre at him. and " several OF them
"began q carouse which lasted till past
'midIIght, and some of them, 1t Is
"srpposed, kept it up till daylight They
vent at daybreak, demoralized by alcohol"
to the jail, and being again turned away the
"infuriate bandn went to the house OF the
Sheriff, who also refused to allow them to
disturb the prisoner. They then held "an in
formal Indignation meeting at which it was
" resolved to give the Sheriff fits" The exc
cution came off, says Mr.. Parton, and was
managed with so much forethOught and
" skill that the man died almost Immediately
"and apparently without pain" Now comes
Mr.. Parton's crushing charge against the
porters, to which the story of the midnight
debauch is only an Introduction. The re-
porters, with few exceptions, criticised the man
ner of the execution, alleging three dlsgraceful
facts: /. That the rope was too Short 2. That
q box had to be procured upon which the
prisoner was forced to stand SO that the ends
of the rope could be united; 3. That the
moose was so bunglingly arranged that the
man was strangled to death. Mr. Parton
gives reckless and sweeping denial to all
these assertions saying: " None of these state
"ments has any resemblance to the truth.
"There was no soap-bOx, no series Of jerks.
"nO excessive excitement, no slipping OF the
"knot, no seven minutes of anguish. These
Interesting particulars were merely the threat
"ened fits the preconcerted vengeance of
"the reporters" Sc He concludes by saving:
''of riotous indecency to brains weakened and
"crazed by the fumes of alcoholic
Now, it seems incredible. but Mr. Parton
and bis own witnesses admit the essential
truth of every one of these three statements:
t. They say the rope was too short, but had
shrunk on account of the dampness of the
preceding night.
3 The box which the prisoner was made to
stand upon, Mr.. Parton says, was not box,
but a drawer.
3. DR.. Barker, his own witness, says :" the
"noose was adjusted on his neck with the
knot near the chin on the left side in the
"expectation that it would be drawn under
"the left ear. 1t did not, however, quite
"reach that point. The indentation caused by
"the knot was exactly over the angle of the
"jaw, just in front of the ear. His neck was
"not dslocated.' He therefore died of stran-
gulation, and the process occupied, according
to the same authority, seven and One-half
minutes
Unconscious, apparently, that his case has
thus utterly disappeared; that there was no
debauch, no conspiracy, and no misstatement
of facts, Mr.. Parton brings forward mass of
perfectly irrelevant testimony, from-whom
would any one guess ?-the Sheriff and the
hangman, to prove that the execution which
they have been criticised for bungling was
really performed in q humane and workman
like manner. This is certainly q novelty in
criticism. The next time Mr.. Parton publishes
a book, if reviewer thinks it is not a good
one, we may expect him to come out with an
affidavit stating that he has read the book
l. Sal, .
is brought forward to sustain the charge of
drunkenness, and the strange idiosyncrasy of
Mr.. Parton, which makes him incapable of
seeing that SANDER IS Objectionable when it is
uttered by himself, is nowhere shown more
clearly than in his treatment of this point. He
does not seem to feel the least regret for the
wrong he has done; he makes no apology or
retraction; even while dropping the charge, as
against Mr.. Miles and others, he impertinently
suggests that it was charitable To conclude
they were under the influence of liquor, when
they wrote n report which he still calls false.
though admitting its constituent parts TO be
true.
So far IA Mr.. Parton is concerned, this dis
cusiion is now closed. We have given him
more space than he could have claimed, to
explain siDS4arly reckless apd Vlfogndcd