Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-03-13
How the Festival Week in the Cres-
cent City Was Msred by a Dark
Page in Her History.
Pat FORD aud John murphy Take BELLA
donna 10 Avoid the Gallows The
Law Must be Rrecntcd.
Apparently afeieSs, Their Bodies are
Carried 10 ,bs soanold, wh"r" tho
Dying Men nrs Hanged

ended to-day IN tho hanging Of L. II.
Ford and John Murphy IN NJ tragic ana
sensational manner as any Incident ~
the trial, Tor the two men we're executed
whDs nsouaible and apparently dying
from tho poison they had taken TO escape
by suleide the disgrace ~ hanging The
FOrds did not abandon all hope until THIS
week. when the governor refused 10 posi-
pone the hanging, M asked by forty-tNo
members Of The legislature, 40 ~ W give
that body an opportunity 81 nbOllshing
ihe death penalty, which they PROMISED
"a do and thus save the e0ndomned men.
Last night was devoted by tbs condemned
inon 20 u reception Of their friends
aud 10 tolr religious prepntn
tion for The next world the
leyee held bg Ford brought hundreds
Of ppfs0ns to express thelr sympathy aud
lid him goodbye. Last of ali came his
wIfo with her nvo little children. The
scene WIS very trying one ns he Kissed
each OF The children goodbye, and both
his wife and himself burst into tears
Atl2 O'Clock religious exercises were
held Va Tho chapel by the Society of ST
Vincent do Paul. Both men appeared
much comidrmd by thcs3 exercises aud
were more calm than they had ever been
before, aud talked about the crime for
which They were TO meet death, They
denied that II was murder. Murphy,
40 Ford declared, was drunf al the time
aud took no part Ia the shooting, nor
had no used his pistol until attacked.
Afler writing letters to his brother nnd
other friends Ford declared that he was
tired and wanted I'd rutlr0 TO reg. He
and Murphy won't to their cell and fell
asleep Immediately 70 the surprise Of all,
who wondered how they could do That on
the uyo Of their execution, They silent
until 30 O'Clock when II WAS thought
necessary to arouse them Tor the oXecu-
ton When the deputy sheriff started
to wnlSGn them he WIS struck by their
peculiar appearance They were breath
lug loudly aud apparently atrnngllng
All efforts TO arouse them failed OF sue
cHss, When Doctors Bert aud Beeson,
who wore sent for, arrived, they pro.
nounccd tho mon were poisoned by bol-
iadpnna, and tome was Administered,
In lfordH pocket WAS letter to the Sis
ters Of Mercy, iustllying his suicide on
the ground that " would save his
children from disgrace, ana calling down
curses on his enemies who had brought
about his execution. The doctors, as.
sisted by pr. St0nhopc, Jones, the cor.
0ner and CITY Physician O'Donnoll,
worked at them until II o'clock, bui
could not roylvH them. Indeed, they
seemed 90 grow worse
deadly pnllor ovcl spread Ford's face,
IL looked M II he would die before the
execution could take place, Tho Shond
photographed TO tho governor f0l
instructions what 10 do in this oxtraor
binary contingency and received The
ptdor
''ENEOuTE youR wARnANr'
AZ l9il6 the apparently lifcloss bodlei
OF Ford and Murphy were carried 20 th,
,caIiold by the deputy shorlus, They
were stood erect there, Tho ropes were
Affixed around thor neckH aud then th,
soaildld lell Both mon were killed In
Alautly, for when their bodies wtrB tAkei
down after hanging there tNouty min
utea thulr nccks WIRE found broken TN
law of Luulslana requires all execution
to tc private, aud only nitoon people wit
nrssed tho hanging, but II crowd of soy
eral thousand persons, very much oX
cited, waited ON tho outside and uacortu
the remains IN u body to tho Ford res
doneu,
lusroM on rms GRIMM,
Tho orlmo Tor which those mon wen
hanged, from lts holdnoss, from the hlg
positions Of tho persons Involved In I
from It's intimate connection with polite
and public adairs, and most Of all o
account Ut the remarkable criminal trll
that followed IL, WAS the most imporlaI
In itaoli aud In is results that has o,
CURED IN Louisiana certainly sinCc III
war There have been four deaths I,
Hnlting from H. three persons are seryin
twonty'ytNr terms IN the p0nltentiar,
eighteen indictments have followed fro,
II, aud Ms many persona have been IN
prlsoned for short periods --all as Il
direct result of this murder, IL has d
vid0d the community, aroused Iiuhl
opinion, aud eNtr cd u wonderful enc
upon tho criminal System of New q
loans, almost "a striking as the burning
the courthouse did In Cluomnat,
Neither OF the mon who were hung I,
dag were the principal IN the crime (,
which they suffered death, Tho NV
who was the center OF the cunspira,
which rasulled IN murder, aud who cor
mittud tho murder himself, Is alive ~
beyond thO penalty OF dealh, TINS mt
Is Judge Thomas j Ford, brother VI ol
aud cousin VI the other nian hung 10 da
Ford was recorder OF the city Of No
Orleans aud asplrod TO ho the next may o
tie was ono of the hrlghtest and mo
daring OF tho local politicians, aud w
political boss OF the Fourth ward of IA
city he served as recorder from 1850
1884 with great credit Was unanimous
ronominnied last year and elected hy q
overwhelming majority lie was pres
dent OF Orleans tilo Go. No, ., and
Claiborne Soolal club, ad0wntown Ofga
ifaiion, and was geNUrally respected al
Thought wvllof throughout the count
nifty
Among his enemies We're A, II Mnrph
another local politician, ford, as judg
had given Murphy The oNtrome penalty
tho law when the latter came before hin
Murphy replied with challenge, Will,
WAS dcolinNd, and then posted Tho iudl
thfnunhoal town as "a coward mud
thNiN Not o0ntonivd with this,
everywhere clrou ated the story th
Foui, when young man, had rubbed b
employers, tlll the Judge had him arrest,
Tor criminal libel aud the case was fN,
for necVmhor y Murphy always iusist,
that ON this TRIAL he would produce eN
donce So show that Ford WAS = tibet |
ncvcr dld 80, for the very good reas,
that on nNcomber l, the day before Il