Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1876-05-16

penitentiary. It looked like posteru
in fortress, heavy, sullen aud pitt
less. My eyes wandered back to the
scaffold. | then noticed, for the first
time, that above the platform, resting
on two posts, ran a beam. From this
| beam hung four ropes. 1t sickened
me to see them. The sun in the
meanwhile shOne down ON the whole
scene as fierce in its unclouded splen.
dor as ever it shone on the hot sands
! of Syria.
A sudden movement, murmer, a
low exclamation
"Here they are !"
There they were, issuing, one by
one, from the little door, preceded by
| soldiers, fanked by soldiers, followed
by soldiers, accompanied by men in
civilian dresses, the priest. the minis.
ter ard the hahgmen. There was
hangman to every prisoner.
Atzerot came first. Payne came
second. Harold came third, She
came last. Father Walter was talking
to her all the way to the scaff0ld, all
the way up its steps, and on it, when
she took her seat. They sat In the or
der in which they had come.
The poor woman could scarcely
"N'hg anu NlNg dcSloNGu 10 Dtl
death very tenderly. As she sat down
| could not refrain from looking to the
yard gate, thinking OF the orderly mt
the outer gate beyond. There was no
sign. | looked ut Hancock his ewes
were turned the same way his usual
y tlOrid face was the color { { ashes. /
could see his hands open and close
nervously. He looked at his watch.
and the chain oscillated ut the touch
of his nervous fingers, usually as calm
as in the hand OF heavy Emphatic
man, for Hancock was both.
Mary E. Surratt was praying to the
crucitiX held before her bv Father
Walter. Each Of the others was
listening to the minister. at length
Father Walter prayed aloud, and | re-
porting the prayer, for the time forgot
the orderly. The prayer over, look
ed gatewards again. No sign Han
cock 8 eyes were riveted on the gate,
The arms of each were being plninned.
They were told to rise, and they all
four rose. Each hangman placed the
moose around each of their necks. l
looked again at the gate. No sign! Han
cock was looking at his watch. Turn
ing again to the scaffold, | say the
straw hat of Payne blown by a sud.
den. unexpected breeze off his bead.
as if to make way for the white cap,
Detective Roberts, h 8 haugman, was
about pulling it over his face, turn
ed to see her. She had lost the power
to stand. They had TO hold her up
while they pulled down the cap
Great God! can u thought be more
horrible
Still no one at the gate!
They were told to walk forward upon
the front and treacherous part of the
platform.
There they stood. AtzeroI swaying
with fear; Payne erect aud firm as the
gladiator, which he Iesembled, when
awaiting the fatal fiat. Harold, still,
She lifeless to all appearance. The
sentries had ceased pacing You could
hear pm drop.
Good by, my friends, We'll meet
again" exclaimed Harold.
Atzerot said something l could not
bear
Still no one at the gate!
Hancock closed his watch.
The men who upheld the lifeless
woman stepped back on the solid half
of the platform, She was falling,
when suddenly the supporting posts
in front were knocked down, and all
four dangled and swung-the most
CHASTITY spectacle man ever saw!
She never perceptibly moved, Her
petticoats and dress had been gathered
with string about her ankles. She
hung \ dead weight of flesh, not less
than two hundred pounds.
Payne writhed and twisted for sew
eral minutes.
There was no shout. There was a
shudder went through all present
through soldier and civilian-nothing
more.
Again looked at Hancock. If ever
he wore that frightened looked on the
field, his soldier fame is a lie.
WITHHELD THE REpRILvE?
Who withheld the reprive?
Holt says Andrew Johnson did
Johnson said he was never asked for
1t. Holt admits that an official APP
plicatiOn by the murderous conclave
of troopers, called the court, was
made to Andy for a reprieve, Andy
said stanton withheld it. Each threw
the blame on the other; but, whose
ever was to blame, the deed was done,
iii face of day, under the shadow Of
the flag of the United States, by the
authority of its President, the
acquiescence Of his Cabinent, the
signing of the Secretary of War, and
under the actual supeFvlsions of q
majOT-general of its armies.
or all the more active participants
in that murder, Holt alone remains to
face the strange fates that have over
taken his associates therein dubious
and sudden deaths.
stanton died quickly after. He died
suddenly, and suspected Of the suicide
of remOrse.
King drowned himself. And men
do say he drowned himself from
inability to face the constant memory
of his unsolicited share in that wo-
mans murder.
Andrew Johnson, whose demise
recalls the whole of that awful story
to the mind again, died suddenly
But not, We trust, because of this
crime, Of which a passing weakness
alone made him passive aceOmplice.