The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-01-11

one for years. and the influence of the
anti-capital punishment people of
Michigan is strongly felt along the
border. Steps were soon taken to Sc
cure communication of sentence.
Belcher was apathetic at first, being
more inclined to put the moose over
his head than to cast it from him.
There came reaction. Perhaps the
winter sunshine pouring through the
cold iron bars, and warming the flag
stones of the corridor, warmed his
heart at the same time. He could hear
the merry shouts of the boys as they
slid down-hill or skated on the river
below, and the musical jingle of
sleigh-bells could not be kept out by
the massive walls. Belcher wanted to
live. He wrenched at his irons with
the strength of giant, and called out
because the hours and days were flying
so swiftly. He besought the press to
plead his case; he called for lawyers
he remembered that he had witnesses.
The strong man broke down and be-
came child, and every day and every
hour, outside of his sleep, he thought
of the grim gallows, the fatal moose,
and he saw himself dangling in the
air. Three days before the reprieve
came, he said he would die game; but
he said it with a face as white as snow
and every nerve trembling with fear.
Had he been taken to execution, he
could not have walked alone, and
he would have sunk down
on the trap. All Essex Coun-
ty were at last working in his
favor. Petitions were circulated, mass
meetings were held, and an irresisti-
BILE influence was brought to bear on
the Governor-General. Belcher hoped
and feared. Reprieves are not SO
common in Canada thatmurderers in
the shadow of the gallows can rely on
them and keep their courage up.
When Sheriff and Warden and muir
derer were counting the hours, the re-
prieve came. Belcher escaped the gal
lows, but the doors of Kingston were
to close on him for life. 1t was even
ing when the news came, and when
the telegram was read to him he could
not utter word.
An hour before sun went down, the
Jail was very quiet. 1t is always SO,
when the shadow of death holds the
keys. Belcher paced up and down, his
face haggard and worn, and his eyes
wearing such look as one never sees
outside of prison walls. Out in the
courtyard men were at work, not at
the gallows, but at some repairs. Bel
cher believed that the scaffold from
which he was to swing was being
erected, and his heart must have stood
still as he heard the hammer and saw
at work. Leaning against the wall,
his eyes looking into vacancy, the mur'
derer suffered all the pain that rea
execution could inhict. Some OF the
prisoners were watching him. They
saw him hold out his hands for the
Sheriff to remove the irons. They sa"
him kneA in prayer. They saw hin
arise and look around as if following
the officials to the gallows. He looked
I'D as if surveying the swaying moose,
and shudder passed over him.
The prisoners could read his
thoughts as plainly as if he had writ
ten them down. In imagination he
mounted the gallows. He looked at
the moose again and suddenly jerkec
his head aside, as if the rope hac
touched him. He bent his head as i
to have it passed over and tightenet
about his neck. When he stood as i
waiting for the trap to spring, his face
was no longer pale; it was so livld ant
distorted that almost every line o.
humanity was crushed out OF sight
The trap fell, and, with an awfu
gasp, shout, a scream OF agony, Bel
cher fell to the floor, his tongue pro
truding, his eyes open and CLASSY, an(
froth oozing from his mouth. ltWa'
quarter of an hour before he wa
fully resuscitated, and his first word
were" :"Oh, God. but how the rope Gu
into my neck!
1t was another fifteen minutes befor
the man could be convinced that hi
execution was imaginary. He ha'
suffered all that hangman's victim
suffers, and in piteOus tones he crle'
out, while tears ran down his face
"Don't hang me again! oh, my throa
is so sorer'
He had ona wooden shirt, tittin
loosely around the neck. They unout
toned the collar, turned it down, an
there was a bright red mark clea
around the throat! Facts only ar
stated here, and men may theorlze a
they feel inclined. That mark did nc
die away for til rty hours, and tn
murderer complained of swollen tor
sils and sore throat. His reprlev
came only after he had been hanged
and yet it saved his life.--Detro1
(Mich. J Dispatch to N. Y. Herald.
If we could approach the sun at tn
moons distance from the earth, al
parent jets Of flame would reach u'
Could we reach its apparent surface
we would find it composed of clouds
fine particles or globules of molte
metal, tossing and heaving, rising an
falling. Thousands of flashes OF ligh
ming or of peals of thunder would /
as nothing to the light and noise. B'
the nearer the center should be al
preached, the more quiet all woul
become, and we would discover thu
the main body of the sun was con
posed of molten metal in a sort OF ga
eous state, which, bursting out hel
and there into eccentric action, pr