The New York herald., 1877-12-08
7HE Death PENALTY.
Two Culprits Pay the Forfeit Of Their
Lives for Murder.
TERRIBLE SCAFFOLD SCENES.
Execution Of William 8. Bersin and John G.
Collins, Alias Harvey Thorpe.
FROM THE GALLOWS TO GLORY.
Tpx TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD. ]

(BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.
Mr. VERNON, Ohio, Dec 5, 1877.
From an early hour this morning streets OF this
village have been throngsd by eager crowd drawn
together by tho strange attraction OF execution for
murder William S. Bergin to-day terribly expiatcd
on the ralows a cold bloodcd murder, by which
,ho l4th et juno last he took the Tito OF Thomas
J. Mcbride Bergin was twenty nine years
old Ho was q OF this Villages and
was known by all here. During tho war no lost his
r,ant nrm in The military service OF tho country.
After leaving army no filed several positions with
credit but had been lapsing into habits OF intcm-
pcrancc. On the evening before tho murder he had
q slight alteration with Mcbride. keeper OF the
Bergn HOTEL aged thirty five, and the father OF tnrec
children. Bcrgin demanded u valise. Mcbride denied
sny knowledge Of It, whercupon BorRin threatened
him with vengeance Next morning Bersin borrowed
revolver from dealer IN guns few PAGES from the
hotel and finding Mcbride sitting on the piazza, ap-
preached him from behind and fred sending bullet
through his victims brain and innictng a wound
from which he died two hours later, without having
regained his consciousness. No saw the deed.
Those attracted by the report found Mcbride
dying In his char; and upon question being asked
.swho did IT," Bergin fourishcd the pistol above his
head and with an oasn, avowed himself the culprit.
Intense excitement followed Mcbride was easily
arrested aud while tho occurrence fresh there
were loud threats OF mob violence, but order pre-
vailed ON tho trial tho plea OF insanity set up,
but without effect and verdict OF murder IN the hrst
degree promptly rendered oy tho jury at the con-
cluson OF the evidence. Very persistent Efforts have
been made by tho trends OF the murderer to induce
Governor Young to commute the sentence All hopes
In that direction however, were dspcllcd on Tuesday,
when he positively declined TO Interfere with the SEN
tcnce Of tho law
The doomed Bcrgin did not obtain undisturbed
sleep until early this morning. At haifpast eight no
awoke dressed h,mselr with scrupulous care In q
new suit OF clothes and ate q hearty breakfast pre-
pared At the hotel At haltpast nine he reverend
Mossra Thompson, Burrows and Thrapp called and
no expressed to them mis- repentance. None Of his
relatives came again, the final parting having oc-
:urred lato tho previous night Bcrgin spent some
ciosurc in OF tho jail which Adams, the Day.
Ion murderer. and others have been executed
scAFFoLD
A few minutes before noon Sheriff Gay, OF Knox
county, admitted TO tho jail about $50 persons. At
Twelve civ ~. n s
advisers He had hoped the appeal OF his mother to
have tho reporters ana others excluded would 90
not be the casc and on discovering the crewd when
be entered tho enclosure no uttered the words my
scaiiold with . nrm stop and looked straight
before him, only the muscles Of tho mouth
! lengthy speech II many were present; but
arsrward altered his mind. So the black cap was
Svs n s'' Sse1 Ss1 Of
ssiant Episcopal Church, read prayer. snd Shenl
BesOe, Of Montgomery, pin,onsd him and adjusted
shsris OF ONO Witnessed the operation and deemed
II all satisfactory.
Tho clergy men having finished their Offices tho
pins pulled and tho trap sprung by sheriff Gay,
body would fall with inc usual dun thud. Instead OF
this Berg!n dropped with crash upon his
legs and SIDE me n0Grns rons bad an
broken, as some supposed, but tho moose Knot la
slipped out. Bergn pong prccp'tated over six feet
him sauorsn !" ..vh .as !oh oh Lord and other mko
calculations wero heard on every sdc while the
mercla traveller from Columbus tainted, and others
manifested similar signs ol feeling.
Sheriff Gay rushed down tho scarod steps
rs the had occurred aud with assistance returned
Bergn to his place on the again CLOSED trap within
three minutes. The hood not removed from
Berg,n's face, but besides an occasional swaying
motion OF head and slight quivsring ofhis hands.
bruised somewhat BY tho fall but dd not appear 10
notice tho slight hurts then. He, however, remarked
through the black covering In tho ear OF The Sheriff,
.Johnny, it's ali right, but you are choking me,
now" Again the clergyman murmured prayer, and
proved secure this time and Bergn soon danged in
tho air. HIS pulse showed sevcnty-two beats at The
expiration oi the second minute; cighty-four tho
lhrd 140 and irregular ut the twelfth, and his heart
gave only slight futtcr.
Alter eighteen minutes had elapsed at twenty nine
minutes 10 O'Clock no was pronounced dead by
sne physicians. and few minutes later his body
cut down. The corpse placed a coffin and will
be given into tho hands OF friends without post
mortem examination being held. The funeral will
occur Saturday.
JUSTICE SATISFIED
Governor Young tcicgrapned TO know tho precise
simc Borgin executed, aud Information was sent
him. The horrible oil the prsoncr's fali to-day
sdded 10 the frghtfui execution o sterling Young
town, aud other similar unfortunate hapgings in
Ohio wncrc nobody In particular could be blamed,
will tend 10 cxcito iurther prejudice against this
mode OF punishment. With the exception OF n few
sympathizers however, the general opinion is that
Bcrxn met III death exactly tho late no deserved ior