Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-05-14
A MAD FIGHT FOR LIFE.
CORNETTI FIERCELY REsTSTS
HIS HANGMAN.

netti, at White Plains, on the day befor
yesterday. 1t was a demoniacal fight fo
life against hopeless odds. No bette
account of the event can be foun
than that printed in the San. 1t reads a
follows: ''DiscOrdant cries, which SCENE
scarcely human, filled the corridor of tn
Westchester county Jail, at White Plains
soon after : O'Clock Friday morning
When the final moment came, and Angel
Cornetti, the murderer of Daniel Cash
was summoned to come forth into the jai
yard for execution, he fought the officer
of the law like a madman, and the effort
of half dozen men We're re
quired to piniOn him. From mid
night until almost daybreak tn
murderer alternately sat upon an up
turned pail at his cell door or stood gaz
ing through the iron lattice work at hi
guards. BY turns he cried like a child
declared his innocence of any crime, o
demanded to be released. At last b.
placed his pail alongside his bunk ant
sat there until 1886 a. m, when he droppet
asleep, his head falling forward. H
slept for about ten minutes, and then, a
the solicitation of his guards, he removed
his coat and shoes and threw himself upol
his bed.
At 4:15 he left his bed, without having
slept, went down into the lower cOrridol
in the company of a guard for pail o
water, and returning washed himself, ant
picking up rag dropped upon his knee
and began scrubbing the floor of his cell
This was self-impOsed task which tn
man often performed. At the conclusion
of his work he informed his guards in til,
most matter-Of-fact way that he wa.
going out to court at 10 80 a. m. At 5O'clock
by previous appointment, the Rev. S
w. EdgertOn, the Methodist Chaplain OF
Sing Sing prison, came to COrnettis cell
and Father Julius of st. AnthOny's Cath
olic Church arrived soon after. Cornett
again said he was Democrat, by which
Jailer Duffy says he meant Protestant
He talked pleasantly to the priest, but re
fused to accept his ministratiOns, listen
ing in preference to MIR. Edgerton. He
declined to eat mOuthful of breakfast
With fingers clasped together and eyes
unturned he repeated after Mr.. Edgerton
''Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help Cor.
netti.''
"NOw, make a full confession, Cornet.
IT," Mr.. EdgertOn said, land you will feel
better"
''If me wasa to die l would do it, he
said, "but me going to court. The high
Judge promised to leta me CO."
He was pleased with the new black suit
of clothes, provided by the county, in
which soon after O'clOckhe was request
ed to attire himself. He hastened to put
them on, as he said, for his visit to the
court house. 'May / keep them?" he
asked of one of his guards, who answered
briefly. 81 understand that's the arrange
ment.'
A few minutes after 7 O'Clock COrnetti.
by Mr.. Edgerton, walked
down to the lower corridor, which entirely
the rectangular block of ma
sonry containing the cells. The clergy
man talked earnestly with him, and he
appeared devOut, but declined to make
any confession, or admit that he was to
be.eXecuted. At 1870 O'Clock Sheriff Hor-
ton, his Deputy, Wright Banks, and about
a dozen other Deputy SheritfS entered the
prison, and their appearance was the sig
nal for all the deputies to close around
Cornetti, While Jailer Duffy and Deputy
Sheriffs Alfred Lawrence and James May
bee advanced to pinion him.
''9ou must be brave now, COrnetti,"
Mr.. EdgertOn said. '"These ropes are to be
placed on your arms"
COrnetti gaZed about him for a moment
with a startled look, and then with a
hOarse shrek, which echoed through the
prison and was heard in the yard outside.
made a desperate effort to break through
the line of the deputies. But Duffy, the
cool jailer, had him firmly in his arms,
while two deputies selzed him
by the wrists. With almost super
human strength COrnetti persisted in
his struggle for life, and dragged
the men to and fro. His head was
thrown back, his long hair fiuttering over
his shoulders and his eyes protruding,
while he endeavOred in vain to fix his
teeth in the hands of some Of the men who
had grasped him. He continued to fill
the air with his shrieks. He had often
said that his long hair would prevent his
being hung, but it became a powerful
weapon against him, for strong men
seized him firmly by his locks, and others
pressed a handkerchief over his mouth
while his arms were pinioned after a rude
fashion some distance above his elbows.
In spite of all efforts to quiet him he
to struggle. "Let me be-" he
cried; ''dOn't you see Pm dressed to 90
"Me no die! me no dIe!" he
shouted. ''No power of man can kill me-
Me Democrat" His face became livid
from the violence of his struggles.
AS quickly as possible the short moose
was slipped over his head and adjusted to
his neck, and the black cap was placed
on his head. His torture was terrible to
Jailer Duffy and his assistants
dragged him to the door, and as they passed
into the Jail yard the jailer and
Deputy Lawrence seized him by each
arm, while Deputy Maybee walked be-
hind him. Nearly 300 men were assembled
in the yard. 4 large circle had been
formed at some distance from the gal
lows, and the lines were preserved by
Capt. Mangin and a squad of fourteen OF
the Yonkers police. ''COsa fateT' 'Cosa
fateT' what are you doing?) COrnetti
shouted, as he was dragged under the
gallows. 1t was evident that his con-
litiOn was such that it was doubt
ful if he even saw the structure
which he so much dreaded, and
his refusal to talk about his exc
cution had left him in ignorance of the
method to be pursued. In an instant the
eXecutiOner had hooked the moose into the
iron ring of the rope above, pulled down
the black cap and the hatchet of the Sher-
if had released the iron weight before the
man could appreciate his sit
uati0n. The neck was not broken, and
death was caused by strangulatiOn. AT
ter hanging sixteen minutes the body was
removed, placed in stained black coffin,
and taken to the county poor farm for
burial.
COrnetti was 20 years of age and ma
tive of Naples, Italy, where, Father Julius
says, wife and child still survive him.
He-came to this country seven years ago
and became an organ grinder. In
drunken quarrel, early in 1880, at his
house in Baxter street, he beat out the
brains of the woman who was supposed
to be his wife with his organ stick. He
was found guilty of manslaughter in the
fourth degree, and on June 7, 1880, Was
sentenced to two years in Sing sing pris-
on. While in prison, where he was en-
ployed in peeling potatoes in the kitchen,
COrnetti became involved in an alter
cation with Charles Williams, a negro
and fellow convict. Onofrio MopgaIo.
an Italian, went to COrnetti's rescue and
cut Williams jugular vein with his par
ing knife, The most important witness
against M0nganO in his subsequent trial
was Daniel Cash, another convict. Mon
ganO was sentenced to be hanged, but
the execution of the sentence was defer
red. Cornetti subsequently ssahbed and
killed Cash for hfS evidence against
MopgaBo, This was the crime for which
ne was executed.
Mengano and young Hoffman, who is
charged with the murder of a pedalsr at
Port Chester, occupy cells In the White
Plains Jail adjacent to that which Cor
netti has occupied. Both men were
greatly impressed by the frightf1l scene
IN the Jail. ''Ale kill nobody" Moneano
SAID, with his hands clasped and lis ewes
turned upward, while he was trembling
IN every limb. "Ifl ever have to go out"
young Hoffman said, ''you can bet won't
90 that way"
The Georgia Pactha.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala, May 12.-The
and no,3,,iiio