The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1879-08-30
GAME TO THE LAST.
An Alleged Horse Thief and Burg
lar Hanged Three Times--His
Dying Prayer--"Hallelujah!
Pull Away, Boysi"
Leadville Chronicle.

w
wagons on the Elm stl eet commons,
below Grants smelter. Fearing a visit
from horse and mule pnferers, he secur-
ed his stock to the wagon by patent
fastener, and then went TO sleep. a
dog disturbed his slumbers about 4
o'clock this morning, and, remember
ing his stock, he pulled up the bottom
of his tent and peeped out. One horse
was missing. He aroused one OF his
men end some neighboring treighters,
and they hurriedly mounted and start
ed i'm hot pursuit Of the missing horse.
A trail was struck, and at a point about
half way to Malta the horse was spied.
On it was middle aged man, and also
bag of tableware which had been
stolen last night from the Grand hotel.
The rider made no resistance when he
saw the muzzles of several pistols look
ing him in the face. He turned the
stolen horse right round and rode leis-
urely back to town.
In the city crowd of men, boys and
some women quickly assembled, and
the decision that the thief should hang
was arrived at without a dissenting
voice. Some rope halters We're taken
from the Hiules at the corral and spliced,
the supposed thief was led to the little
grove nearly in front of Grants new
mansion, the halters fixed around his
neck, with the long end looped over
crooked limb, and then the culprit was
told to pray. His face turned toward
those who were about to take away his
life, and to them he prayed most pite-
Ously. He denied that he was horse
or any other kind of thief. The stolen
property found ..in his possession was
intrusted to him by man whom he
supposed to be its lawful owner, and
ne, the man in the halter, was merely
to ride the horse to Malta, where be
was to be joined by the owner.
| The eXecutioners listened to the
prayer patiently, and, after laying their
heads together few seconds, conclud-
ed to let the petitioner live, pre- viding
he would give the name of the man
from whom the stolen property was
obtained. The man i'm the halter re-
fused to save his life by any such cow
ardly means, and word was given to
hoist him up. He event about four feet
from the earth, and was almost in the
death thrOes customary on similar Oc-
casiOns, when he was lowered and Civ
en- a second opportunity to live by di-
vulging u secret. "No, sir, I'll die a
dozen Deaths" was the response. and
up went the culprit a second time.
The crowd now Began to cheer, a wo-
man tainted, and dozen voices cried
out for another chance. The man was
let down a second time and asked
whether he still persistedin wanting to
die at the end of rope. He said he
wished to prepare himself for death.
The boys at the other end of the halter
let UP enough to allow the doomed
man to kneel, and thus he prayed: 30
Thou merciful Most High, thank thee
for all that / have received from thee
since came to this country. | wish |
had prayed oftener. Now 1 need your
parting blessing. Let me come into
heaven after Pm hung. Send down an
angel to take my soul to Jesus as quick
as it leaves my body. Don't let the
devil get hold of me after Pm dead.
I know that pve been big sinner, but
Lord, you know 1 didn't steal this
horse and things for which am about
to die, so you will forgive me, won't
YOU won't you, good Lord, and let one
of your angels come down and take
me up to heaven. Oh, if you will, it
won't hurt me to die. / would a thou
sand times rather be with you and Je-
sus in heaven than to stay in Leadville
any longer. Let me know, Lord, that
l can come, and I'll die like Chris
tian. Oh, yes, know you will. All
right. All right. Bless His holy
name. Hallelujah! Victory is mine
at last. Bless His holy name. Pull
away, boys, pull away. Pu-ul" -and
up went the accused horse pilferer on
his way to heaven.
Just then big, burly miner named
Cronan rushed i'm the midst of the
throng of eXecutioners, and, leveling {
seven-shooter on the party pulling
down the rope, commanded them Il
let up. or their brains would be scatter
ed. The wild and fierce flashing o
Cronan's large black eyes convinced
them that he was not the one to bt
trified with, and the dying man com,
back to earth with thud. He wa
totally unconscious, and rolled over Oh
, the ground as limp as any fresh corpse
He was the only one in the crowd FREE
from fever Of excitement. A numbe
of pistols were drawn, everybody wa
shouting, and 1t was expected that ever,
minute some one would shoot. TIL
burly Cronan, still. fiourishing his re
, volver and gesticulating like MAJ
man, and roaring like mountain lion
gave notice that the first man VIII
made move toward the half-hun,
, man ON the ground would die. II
, was a stranger to him, and, by G., b
,, should have fair play. No d man
whether he be horse-theif or not
should be hung like dog wi hout som
opportunity to prove his innocence
The culprit did not look to him like
thief, and, even If he was, the speake
; would take his part, and shoot dow
, the first man that attempted to toucl
the rope over his head again. Hearing
which, the would-be executioner
,, showed signs of cooling. The fer,
Cronan loosed the rope from the man.
, neck ordered cup of water, battle,
, his face and head, and as soon as h
had revived sufficiently to walk led hin
to the office of Sheriff Tucker, on Stat
street, closely followed by the mob.
was about O'clock when the office wa
, reached, and the supposed thief wa
, handed over to the civil authorities 70
, safe keeping. He was taken to the cit,
Jail, where the reporter found hin
bathing his rope-bruised and lacerate,
: neck an hour later. He is about fit,
,, years, with not very intelligent face
,, but his hands show hours of homes
toll.
: ''Were you ever hung before?" in
quired the reporter. N4l sa.
, mo, sir; never was in such mo
in all my life."
"Why did they make the attempt
) because they thought l was a horse
, thief. They said stole the horse wa
! riding, but didn't"
"Suppose you tell me all about thi
little fransacfinn and I will write |