The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-06-28

themselves about the enclosure. They
were officered as follows: Jos. w.
Vance, captain; Samuel Stark, first
lieutenant; Jacob II. Mann, second lieu
tenant; VIM. Wheeler, orderly sergeant;
John Il. ROzelle, ordinance sergeant. A
heavy, powerful, engine of death, looking
strong enough to hang a dozsn men, was
built yesterday and day bef re, and was,
| Yesterday, the center Of a morbidly Gu
rlous crowd. The beam was sixteen feet
from the ground, distance from beam t.
| drop eight feet; platform ten feet square;
drop four feet square. The prisoner had
| a fall of six and one half feet. The stock
sde was twenty-iOur feet square.
THE PRISONER INTERVIEWED.
The Sentinel correspondent called at the
all last evening. about 7 o'clock, and was
admitted to the presence OF the prisoner
man rather handsome, in an animal
way with every mark of deprsvity and dis
| sipation on his countenance. He sat in one
corner OF the Jail, and replied in monosyl-
lables to the questions.
"Is there aBything, Mr.. Johnson" asked
the correspondent, that you would like
ssid?"
"No, nothin' tall; the whole thing was
an accident, didn'G intend the pistol sh'd
gwsff. 1 wus jist a foolln' with the boy. :"
How have you slept the last few dsys?"
was the next question.
"Oh reasonable; only lost two hours
sleep last Dignt. My appetite's bin good"
"Have you any apprehension"
None tall ;there's hope Tor me- Although
I've bin great sinner, the LOrd'u be mer-
| ciful TO me, and to- morrow L expect to 60 to
Him
ON THE WINGS OF WHITE ANGEL.
"God has tug my soul in his own hands !;
washed it white In the blood of his own
Son; made me as pure as kin be an when
to-morrer comes 1 shall be free from ali
troubles an pain, way up thar whsr the
angels is a singin' an prsisin' him f'rsver
an PIever. Sometimes since I's baptized,
feel like I'd once been part Nv the great
Creator, an been torn from his busim long
ago to 60 through sort o. long
weary path. But I'm gittin close to
/ the eend Nv IL an Pm goin' home.
The only thing L kter about is thst
I'n leave my family an little chil'ren
on the cold charities NV the world"
"How do you think you will stand the
/ trial OF your courage on the morrow ?"
1--WE got IL 10 go through and / might jlst
as well brace up agin it, as not. I'll try
an be steady. But its an awful thing,
awful. You, nor no one else can have any
idee Nv 1t. 10 sic here as I'm sittin' to-
night lookin' out through these bars,
KNOWN that to- morrow will bring the
end Nv il all to me, is kinder benumin'
me. l caD'tjist reallzs how is. 1t seems
| to me all the time wuz going to try some
experiment tO-morrer. Tonight Pm
bresthln', that's wot l call bein' to-mOr-
row, while the world is still agoin' on
around me; the air tree sever; the people
lsughin' and joyous SEVER: the whole
course o. natur' sgoin' on; Pm to stop, like
machine; when my weight
| gifts to the end o. the rope, IIl
stop like run down clock.
II seems kinder strange. TO me,
my mind that I'd orter know all about
it. These kind o. reflections have been my
oed-iellers 1ur some time; that's why
kinder SIT still an think; people think
Pm not a carin' a cuss; well, let 'em think
so; all right. But I'll be sorter out q
reach to-morrer light" Tue Sentinel
correspondent withdrew, leaving the con-
demned To his further meJisstlons.
HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN.
Yesterday morning Johnson sent re-
quest to his wife to come up and bring the
children, two in numbsr. She sent back
saying, "Bring me back the boy you MUIR
dered, and I'll see you" NOtwit thstand-
ing this rebuff, the woman and her children
came last evening and conversed with
him. The womaR sat by him, and even
took his hand, and as looked through the
narrow wicket at him saw sll the man
that was in him rise up in a flood of ten
dsrness TO his face, and one by one the ST.
lent tears coursed down his cheeks-tesrs
of penitence, OF humanity. And [ won
dered as he sat Ia This mood-all that was
good in him Re fiected for the moment in
his fsce-whether there is such thin & as
a totally deprsved man. do not believe
there il. Some wnere down in the depths
of the heart there Is a fountain OF good
ness, over which the brambles and br ars
OF an ill-spent lie are growing; but there
are times when the gel wand touches
its depths and the swe & waters gush forth.
As MS little step-s)D, poor, deformt
cripple of nve or six years, came up
to him, he took the child up in his arms
and put his lips upon its head, and then
averted his face. There was sight {, {
pitisble for tears; too intensely human fol
the mere attempt OF words. Alter coD.
versstion in vhicn the merest common
places were passed, the woman Withdrew
with her CHILDREN.
POISONING PREVENTED.
Speaking to Mr.. WoOlly, young attor
ney here, Johnson said the other day, thai
if he could only get poison he would save
the gsllows its work. Since then the sher
III has watched him so closely that an at
tempt at poison would have been utterly
unsuccessful. Last night and this morn.
ing The strictest watch was kept and tht
utmost care taken to prevent anything o.
this kind.
WATCHING AND WAITING
Slowly, one by one, the hours of the
night were counted by the iron tongue o.
the city clock, each stroke seeming tC
knell the fate of the human being doomed
to suffer the rigors of the law on the NOR
row. How each stroke must have fallen
like lead upon the heart OF the man who,
behind the heavy iron wicket, counted
the hours until the eastern light should
usher in the last dsy of his ill-spept life
A telegram from his attorney, then doing
his best In Sprins field to save him, had