Morning journal and courier., 1882-05-03
At the ScafOld.
An Old Journalists "Reminiscences of
 Many Hansinss. From Joe Towards New York Letter in Philadel-

An Old Journalists "Reminiscences of
 Many HanSings.
 From Joe Towards New York Letter in Philadel-
 phis Times
 I don't believe in capital punishment. In my professional experience it was once my duty to do the descriptive" of executions, and I have seen scores of fellow beings turn ed off The first was a Methodist minister the last was Hunter, in that blessed town of Camden I have seen white men and black men, women and lads led to the scaffold. With the exception of a lynching party in California, I never knew a hangman to do his work decently and in order. Why do we hang murderers? The law says to punish the guilty and warn the foolish. This is nonsense. Of the people l have seen hanged not one was ''punished' in the least. They were either drunk or expected instant glory. Drunk? Drunk. 1 never shall forget Cor don, the slave trader" He was wretched little shrimp of a sailor, who was expeditions ly put out of the way to save the reputation of rich men in Boston and New York, his packers. He drank all night, took poison in the morning, had 1t pumped out, was 'braced up" on brandy, and was taken half stagger- ing half carried to the gbRet and swung into eternity drunk as any tramp in Christen- dom. Where his punishment Surely the effect on the public was bad. The whole thing was farce and the last scene a dis grace. Hawkins was cook on a ship. The captain didn't like his coffee one morning and flung a cup of the boiling beverage in the face of the cook. The negro's blood was up and he brained the brute. He had no friends and was hanged. Clergymen and newspaper men braced him up, but not with brandy. Hymns and prayers attended his departure and he died as cheerily and happily as any saint in glory. Where's the punishment in. his case He was glad to go. Why, bless your hearts, with half dozen men waiting to be hung in our city prison, we have mur- ders as regularly as we have our meals. The condemned men played cards with Sindram the night before he hung. They don't care a rap. So far as the public are concern ed, hanging Is no protection It Is in no sense preventive. And experience shows that the men who die on the scaffold care nothing for it. There is ample room for argument as to what should take its place, and on that I express no opinion, although have a very clear idea about it. 1 do not be- lieve in hanging. We have no right to put an end to life, no matter what happens the other side of the line The brutal mode of hanging Is another part of my objection also. There is considerable ceremony about the 'job," but there is rarely any solemnity. One of the notable executions here was that of Hicks, the pirate. Isaiah Rynders hanged him on Gibbet island in the harbor. He hired a steamer and sold tickets to hundreds. There was a bar, of course, and in order to make the trip profitable, under pretense of giving Hicks last look at the bay, the boat sailed all around the harbor and down to the narrows. By this time everybody was ''loaded'' and you can imagine the rest. Bridget Durgan, who bit her mistress to death, waS hung in the presence of hundreds of New Jersey ropghs, against whom her clothes brushed as she slowly swung at the end of the rope. You remember the sickep-