Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-11-14
A DOUBLE HANGING.
Two Men Executed To-day for the
Kaber Murder

A DOUBLE HAN(sIN9s.
Two Men Executed To-day for the
Raber Murder.
LEBANON, Pa, Nov 14.-Charles Drews and
Franklin Stickler were hanged here to-day at
lilo a. m. for the murder Of Joseph Raber at
Long before daylight this morning people began
to congregate In front of the jail and despite
cold drilling rain the numbers rapidly in
creased. AT O'Clock the scaffod, an entirely
new one, with drop and cross-beam wide
enough to hang two, was brought from the
workshop into the jail and the work OF erecting
it began. By O'Clock the rain had ceased. and
a large throng was assembled in front of the
jail. The men hanged are two Of the six tried
and convicted of
THE MURDER OF OLD RABER,
upon whose life they had taken out heavy in
surance policies. Zechman, one OF the 6, was
acquitted yesterday on his second trial Wise,
who confessed first. has never been sentenced.
Hummel and Brandt now have their cases be-
fore the supreme court, and DrewS and Stichler
are the only ones yet brought to the Sca1old.
Drews, according to his previously announced
intention. remained awake during the whole OF
the night and ate only light breakfast Stich-
Ter slept only hours during the.night and ate
very hearty breakfast, bath culpritS being
served with ham and eggs at their own request.
Revs. Tabert, Shafer, Light and johnson have
held
RELIGIOUS EXERCISES
with the condemned during the morning, and
at $3.50 a. m. all was in readiness for the eXecu-
tion. At that hour Stichler was pacing his cell
and conversing with visitor and without any
apparent agitation. The old man Drews was
engaged in arranging the articles OF furniture
in his little cell and replying to occasional re-
marks. Both men have shown remarkable
nerve.
AT $50 Stichler was taken from his cell into
Drew'S cell where impressive religious cere-
monies were held, lasting nearly an hour. Be.
tween these two cells the faces of Hummel and
Brandt, two others of the Raber conSpiratorS,
could be seen through the bars of the 1nterven-
ing cells, anxious listeners to the solemn service,
hni n nn1 ftnt
prayers and the singing of the several hymns in
German, the prisoners commenced, of their own
accord, to sing in English.
81 WILL SOON BE AT HOME OVER THERE"
in which the clergymen joined The ladies and
children of the sheriffs family were then taken
into the cell to bid good bye, and Stichler kissed
the children paSSionately. DrewS maintained
perfectly calm demeanor until his old comman-
der, the colonel of the SD Pennsylvania vOlun-
teerS, came and shook his hand. The old man
broke into tears as he spoke of his experience in
the war, where he carried the coOrS but when
the sheriff announced that the time had arrived
DrewS became quite firm again. At 1855 the
procession was formed, and, led by the sheriff
and deputies. moved down the stairs to the
prison yard Rev. Mr.. Trobert reading prayers
in a loud voice. The culprits walked side by
side and without help, with the ministers before
~' ( ON THE scAFFoLD
the services were extremely solemn and impress
sive. The rain was falling again, but every one
stood with bare heads as the prisoners, with
Stichler's voice, somewhat TREMENDOUSLY, was
heard distinctly above all Others in the
prayers ,o,nt. and hymn -, singing: Rev; Dr..
read the 14th chapter Of Job, Rev. E. Light, of
the United Brethren church, sang German
hymn, in which the condemned men Joined.
Rev. Geo. F. Trabert, of the Lutheran church,
sang another hymn, and the benedctton was
given by Rev. j. T. Shaeffer. Up to this time
both men had displayed wonderful GOODNESS,
but during the benediction strchler gave signs
aud he showed evidence Of great agitation.
Drews remained passive as ever. At 11:O5 they
were manacled and strapped. After the white
cap was pulled over their faces
JUST BEFORE DROP FELL,
both men trembled percept1bly, stichler in par
tfcular, and Drew's voice was heard remarking
in German to Suchler, ''Frank, now we go to
oaese the gprns @ aeg d ss ee f9s sRsfa s To
the ground, but both men remained trembling
on the gallows. They were evidently addition
ally distressed by being ignorant Of the cause OF
The mishap in the working of the drop
however, did not cause more than delay OF on
minute, and at minutes past II the drop fell
Their struggles were. not violent, and both
seemed 10 die easily, although directly after the
drop fell Stichler's body moved convulsively.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE DROP FELL
Drew's pulse beat at about so, and Stichler'S at
about 40. Stichler's pulse went rapidly up to 60,
and then gradually fell, while DreW's gradually
CedStu, anu III lU minutes DulSaUlOn nau ceased
practically in both men. The bodies remained
suspended until lao a. m. The doctors pro-
nounced the immediate cause of Stichlers death
to be strangulat1on. Drew's neck was broken.
The bodies were placed in collins and taken away
from the prison, followed by an immense crowd.
1t was the desire of both men to be buried in
Indiantown Gap, where there homes are, but it
is not yet decided whether this wish will be
complied with or not
THE CRIME
for which Stichler and Drews have just been
executed was the murder of Joseph Raber, an
old man, whose life they insured with the ex-
press purpose of killing him and securing the
amount OF the insurance. Stichler and Drews
were the two men who murdered Raber by
drowning him in Indiantown creek. They did
not have any interest in Raber's insurance poll
cy, but We're hired to do the killing. Josiah
Hummel, Israel Brandt, George Zechman and
Henry Wise were the principal conspirators.
They We're all convicted of murder in the first
degree, but Zechman, on second trial, was
acquitted. Wise, who was used as states evi-
dence, tells many and varied stories, but no two
Of them are alike, and many of his charges
againtsstt reputable citizens here are considered
absurd. His case will now speedily be dis
posed Of