The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1886-09-09
CUSTOMS AT A HANGING.

CUSTOMS AT a HANGING.
The Forms Observed When the Law
fakes a Mans Life at the ToInbs
A great many customs surround a
hanging in New York. They have
been modified by law, which allows
only the sheriffs, a sheriff's jury. the
judges of the higher courts, the district
attorney, the doctors, and the hang
man to be present. Formerly the
coroner could bring a party of his
friends as jurors, and the sheriff gave
out cards of invitation as he would to a
ball. That has been stopped, and
Sheriff Grant keeps the number of
spectators down to the lowest legal
number. The reporters acted as both
sheriff's and coroner's jury at Chacon's
hanging. 1t is customary for the
sheriff to present the man to be hanged,
when he is poor, with a black suit to
be hanged in. The care of the city for
his burial goes no further than to see
he gets to potter's field.
1t is the duty of the sheriff to be per-
sonally present at a hanging. One
sheriff lodged this duty once by going
TO Long Branch. In a case like that
the under sheriff has charge. The
hanging is set down for as early an
hour as possible in the morning to
avoid a crowd. The sheriff and his
deputies, dressed in mourning, gather
at the sheriff's Office and march to the
Tombs. Each bears his staff of office.
At the hanging they take off their hats
as soon as the weights fall, and put
them on when the body is cut down.
In a case on the wall in the sheriff's
office are a score of slaves and two
swords. The slaves have been present
at every hanging since a time that no
employee in the office can recall. They
are about thirty inches long, and are
made of dark hard wood. The middle
is covered with thin, dark velvet. On
each end is a brass tip shaped like an
Indian arrowhead. The sheriff's staff
has a crutch at one end instead of q
dart, and the under sheriff's has a
crook. The two swords have not been
taken to a hanging for a long time.
No matter where in the state a hang
lily lllhf NC LIZ oudfCS IL SCuU lOl ulu
the sheriff's men carry them. They
would as Don think of trying to have a
hanging without a rope as without
their slaves. They are "a relic of col
onial days, when a hanging would
draw as large an assemblage as a cir
Gus, and the officers who had charge
of it appeared pompously in their Of
fetal robes.
The same gallows, rope, moose, and
weights are used time after time until
they are lost or wore ont. The gal
lows now in use is about four years
old. The uprights are all ut five inches
square and fifteen feet hi-h. The cross
piece is the same size. The construc-
ton is simple, and it is easy to take the
gallows apart and put it away. The
hanging is the mark of the ak where
it cuts through the rope that keeps the
weight from falling.
Two men do all the hangings in New
York. One is a short, lean man, with
Hebrew features. He has a thin, full
beard that curls, dark hair, mild eyes,
and a shrinking face. He was in the
box at Chacon's HANGING when, the
rope was cut. The other man, who
pulled the cap over Chacon's head, is a
short, stout German, partially bald,
with a bIack-gray m%ustache. He is in
charge. These two men have a num-
Der of names. They do not want to be
known, and the sheriff himself has
nothing further to do with them than
to give them charge CT the arrange
ments and to pay the bill. The one
man is commonly known as Isaacs, the
other as Minzesheimer. The bills are
made out to Joseph B. Atkinson. The
cost of hanging varies from 5000 to
$500. The men are hangmen not only
in New York, but they travel around
over the state and country. Hanging
is their trade.