Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-03-01
The GallOws.
rrs yICTIMs DTrRTSG THE YEAR 1911

There is no subject which possesses so ex-
treme fascination for people OF all sorts as
the execution of human being, whether
the inspiring motive be vulgar curiosity
sympathy, regret, or that interest In 1.-The
| meeting by a fellow-creature OF the accident
of death to which one must IN his turn SUD-
nit himself inevitably For these reasons
we present to our readers in an abstract taken
from the Chicago Trib,nle) the following sta
tistics of the gallovs in the United States
| and Canada during the year 1877. In that
wear there were sc men hanged in the United
| States and Canada of whom l3 were negroes,
. were Chinese, and was an Indian. There
were double, triple, . quadruple l sextu-
| pie and 20 single executions. fennyslva-
MIA leads of with l6 (ten OF them Molly
Mcguire murderersl. South Carolina had
IL Georgia s Arkansas and Louisiana .
each; California, Missouri and North Carolina, 3
each Virginia 4 Maryland, Mississippi,
| Nevada New York, Ohio and Tennessee,
each ; Canada, . 2; and Delaware Kentucky,
| New Hampshire. New Jersey, Oregon, Texas,
| Dakota Utah and Washington Territory
each
| Taking the great cities of the American
Union and Canada, we find that there were
executions only at San Francisco, New Or-
leans, and Philadelphia so that, with all
| their great criminal classes and tragedies OF
| almost daily occurrence, no one was IN 1871
brought to the scatfold in, Chicago, Indiana
polls. Louisville, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit.
| St Louis, Jersey City, New York, Brooklyn.
| Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Montreal,
| or Quebec In New York City alone there
were over forty murders committed last
year.
THE 'UNLUCKY DAY.
Taking up the time when the men were
| lor ba tnllnurnu showing
January, 5: February, 5; March, 6 :;
April, May, IL June, % July, IL {;
| August September, 4 October. = No.
vember. 3 December, II.
The unusually large number of executions
in June is made up by the hanging OF ten OF
the Molly Maguires' in Pennsylvania. Ex-
ecutions took place on the several days of the
week as follows
Monday, 6; Tuesday. ; Wednesday . ;
Thursday, 10 Friday, 50 Saturday ..
1t will be seen that the old prejudice IN
favor of making the ''unlucky day of Friday
the day for execution is still strong in the
minds of Judges and Governors, over GO per
cent of the executions taking place in the
United States last year happening on that
day, and both of those in Canada. Indeed,
on the 18th of December, at Wilmington,
Del two negroes, George Collins and Sam
mel Chambers, convicted of an assault on a
white woman, were sentenced to be hanged
upon the 18th of March ; but after they had
been sentenced it was discovered that the
18th would fall on Tuesday. They were again
brought into court and sentenced to die upon
the 22d, Friday 1t is worthy of remark that
with a view to breaking down this supersti-
tious selection of Friday. Gov Hartranft, OF
Pennsylvania, invariably selects another day
of the week, generally Thursday, for the car
n,,ta Of aanital spptgnnns
CAUSES OF MURDER.
In sixteen. cases murder was committed
deliberately for plunder- In one two burg
lars shot down an officer who came upon
them in the act of rihing a house. Three
murderers were hanged for killing officers
from whom they took prisoners 4 fourth
shot down policeman who halted him at
night One man. Bishop John ID. Lee, of
the Mormon Church, was shot for his parti-
cipation in the Mountain Meadows massacre !;
one man was hanged as the author of mur-
der in a street riot one the doer of q
political murder.
OF murders prompted by sheer diabolism,
there might be mentioned the double murder
of children by Il colored Georgian Jessie
Pomeroy, who could ascribe no cause for his
act-indeed for whose act no cause could be
found Passion brought several men to the
pallows 4; one murdered his half brother in
quarrel over some potatoes one the card
PLAYER (..Wild Bill') who had advised him
not to make bets he was not prepared to pay
should he lose them ; one destroyed his
child because he could not learn it to walk
rapidly one killed a neighbor who threaten
ed to seize his crops one shot his employer
in dispute about wages another killed o
creditor for dunning him another shot
down an officer who asked where he and
some disorderly female companions We're 60
ing one mere boy killed the servant who
detected him in lie and secured n repri-
mand for him from his master another slew
the man who some weeks before had struck
him another beat the brains out of an old
man who said that the murderer fathe: had
plundered his meat-house during the war :;
another killed the floor manager at d ball for
fancied insult another slew the man whom
he fancied to have been instrumental in hay-
ing him dismissed from his situation for out
raging woman another killed the man
who. during the war. secured his arrest as a
Unionist another killed a customer who re-
sented being called liar for questioning
the freshness Of the eggs the murderer had
for sale and another blew of the head Of
hotel-kseper who said he had never heard of
his valise
LOVE, JEALOUSY, AND LUST.
also II ade notable Contributions TO the long
black list of crime. One man was hanged
for numbering his wifes suspected paramour !;
another for murder springing from the
allegation Of her faithlessness three slew
their wives for jealousy aEd one his mistress :;
in two cases men destroyed their wives so
as to be free to enjoy the love of their wives
sisters (; one murderer shot the wife he had
sCduced and forced to marry one, while
drunk, beat his wife to death ; one an habit
ual e-beater, at last killed her Deliberate
ly, and another slew the brother of his wife
who interfered to save her from murderous
thrashing. One man slew his paramours
husband to simplify the situation another
her child, that she feared had been witness
of their guilty love. One killed his rival in
the affections of a prostitute another the
sweetheart who had refused to marry him
four men were hanged for fendish outrages
on girls and children, the outrage in one case
being followed by murder. Three hired as
sassins were brought to the gallows in one
case wife hired her brother-in- law for $50
to kill her husband he sublet the contract
to a second murderer for 500 and of the
three only the second murderer came to
the gallows. The woman Mrs. Lawson, of
Virginia, WAS the only female condemned TO
death during the year. One man slew a fel-
low carouser in dance-house brawl and was
hanged therefor another shot down neigh
Dor for the qualification of some friends be-
fore whom he wanted to be IA show of big
ngger" finally one man was hanged in
North Carolina for burglary. Hillard Nor
gan, the man thus punished, WAS hanged for
breaking into a farmers house at night and
stealing 1896, being the third of four broth
ers who ended their days on the gallows.
THE LAW IN MASSACHUSETTS,,
1t may be of interest TO say here has some
survival OF the severity of the old English
code for such ofienses. for it will be remem-
bered in the case of the Northampton Bank
robbers that. to secure heavier sentence, it
was attempted TO have them convicted OF
breaking into the cashiers house at night,
rather than to convict them OF robbing the
vaults OF the bank itself from which they
took nearly million and half of money
| and securities Up to II very recent date IN
| Prince Edwards Island within the hast two
| years that is the pIllory and the whipping
post have been prescribed for such otienses
AZ horse-stealing and capital punishment
han been ordered for burglary, though the
sentence has not been carried ont. II is
only necessary to add, in concluding this
| branch of the subject that in ten cases men
were hanged for the murder Of their wives
while six other murderers came to the gal
lows for the staying respectively Ola divorced
wife, II child, II half brother brother-In-law
an aunt, and iather-in-law.
There were
SEVERAL MARROW EsCArEs