Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-07-01

WA~HISDrpS. June 81. - Armed with
letters Of introduction from high Off
cials, early Thursday morning your
representative visited the District Jail. 1t
i, a grim old building, and it is said was
designed by Chief Justice Cartier, OF the
Supreme Court OF the District of Columbia.
There are now confined within its walls
one hundred and ninety prisoners, although
a, one time il contained as many as three
hundred and ,iity.
The ScanOld
is permanent ExtUre-a part OF the jail
i,,rl.. aud has stood in its present plsCe ior
more than three Years, during which time
three men have met death at its fatal trap
The first Of these WAS !. Madison Wyatt
Stone. a mulat,o, who was convicted OF
mr,-,lrrin. his vile by cutting her throat
with razor. He was hanged on the 18th
Of MAY. l~7y. and when the trap was spruag
the s,uall rope cut his neck like a knife
completely scyering the head from the
body.
The next 10 suffer upon this same scat
told. we're Babe Bedford and Eli. (Uenau.
Doth Of whom. were colored. They were
convicted of the murder of man named
IUrth. and on the 18th OF November, 1850
they we're brought to the scaftold together
and together suffered the penalty for their
crime. since
Their Execution.
The scatFold has stood as a grim monument
of the severity OF Justice. Its position i
I'm the extreme northwestern corner oI the
jail. where the view from the windows Is
extremely dreary and desolate. The east
ern branch Of the Potomac flows lIstleS'Iy
by toward the main stream, forming the low
marshes and breeding disease and death
along its course. The jail building is a
long low. rectangular structure, running
north and south. and is really higher than
il looks. its extreme length having tend
ency to dwarf it's heighth. Short transeptS
tut from the central part, which is mainly
4 lar.r rotunGa. thus dividing the north
ami south parts into
Two Divisions or Wings
OF about 10 feet in length. In the West
transcpt is the entrance and office of the
Jail and the East transept is now used for
cooking. The tiers Of cells, of which there
are a number, one above the other, are
built down the centre Of these wings, being
sixteen feet from the outer walls. The
cells. two rows in each tier open out into
a corridor which is divided by brick par
utiou, leaving to each row Of cells mar
row hall In the northeastern corridor is
found the scatIold. From the rotunda
one must descend broad, iron stair
case to the toor OF the corridor, which
is lGyl2O feet At distance tn
>cutIold appears to be lightly built. but
nearer approach shows it to be otherwise.
The Frame Work
is of timber GX6 inches The floor, or plat
form, IS twelve feet high. reached by adisht
of hitcen steps, At the centre OF the east
and west sides an upright. Gv6 inches, ex-
tends upward twenty.onc feet to support
the croSS-byam, which Is Of the same size as
the other tiulberS, an extra piece seven
feet in length being fastened 70 the cross
beam to Impair: additional strength to meet
the >udden strain when the victim falls
through the trap. Through this rroSS-beam
are bored three small holes for As many
ropes, but the >pac" loookN narrow and
confined for the prisoner, though one OF
the guards insisted that they had once
comfortably hanged two men al once /
the cross. beam to the upright n the east I.