Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-11-21
DEATH BY HANGING.
Roferences to Executions in En-
gland, Franco and America


gland, Franco and America
Killing criminals by hanging will perhaps
soon bc out Of datc-none too soon. For,
writes Thomas J. Dowditch in the Troy
(N. ~ Times, we apprehcnd that hanging
when skilfully performed is but "A barbar-
Gus mode of putting an end 10 life, and un-
skliully performed there is reason to be-
licvc that it becomes positive torture; and,
moreover, the moro difference in the
weight Of the Culprts renders it at all times
an unequal punishment. Heavy murdcrers
escape much Of the pam we inilict on lighter
ones.
The modern gallows IS not like the ancient
gi0bet Down TO the French revolution glib
bets used TO stand in every French town
and village They were generally composed
Of pillars Of stone. joined at the summit by
wooden ravcrscs. 10 which the bodies of
malcfuctors hung until they had crumbled
to dust That of Montfaucon, which is 50
famous In history, stood on an eminence by
the high road leading to Germany II con-
sisted Of mass Of masonry composed "a
ten or twelve layers Of rough ste -, aud
formed an inClosure Of forty by thirty feet.
Al the upper part was platform. reached
by a stone staircase. In the center Of the
inclosurc was dccp pit, where pell-ucll
Ntt EANAtiOHS WtIt AilbNu. AlUNN anu
buzzards flew about and fed upon the
corpses, and the stencil was horrible. ~
many a5 ffty-two were sometimes hanging
at once. Sometimes the remains hung IN
wicker baskets or iron casScts. Those ot
Pierre dcs Essarts hung three years be-
fore they were delivered to his family for
burial
The victim rode in cart TO the gibbet,
and, when the cart arrived at the foot, the
executioncr asccnded the ladder backward,
drawing the culprit after him by means Of
ropes, and on arriving 40 the top he quickly
fastened two ropes OF the size of the little fin
/ ger, each having q slip-lmot. around his neck,
I 20 the arm Of the gbbct, and by jerk Of the
| knee he turned the cu'prit of the ladder. He
/ still held In his hund a small rope called a
| get, used TO pun the victim of the ladder.
/ He then placed his feet on thc hands Of the
| condemned, and, suspcuding himself by his
| hands TO the Ribbet, he finished his victim
/ by repeated jerks, which completed strangu-
lation.
In England, from 1871, when Fityasborn
! was hanged there, TO 17S3 when John Aus
! tin was hung at Tyburn-a place nc torious
| In the criminal annals of England many
eminent people were executed. Among
these were the pretty and wicked Lady Ag-
ncs Hungerford, for poisoning her husband; ;
the poet Southwcll; Sir Thomas Armstrong,
a victim OF the Rye House plot affair; Lord
/ Fcrrers, who would be hanged in his wed
/ ding clothes, and Rev. DR. Dodd, that once
fashionable preacher, for whom one can not
| help feeling n little sympathy. People went
| TO the Tyburn hangings as 20 festival.
| The vulgar drank and sworc, while the
! quality made picnic OF 10.
/ In Massachusetts, in tho seventeenth cent
/ ury several women were among the victims
| of the witchcraft dclusion, among them be-
| ing Mrs. Hibbins, who was a sister Of Gov
ernor Bollingham and widow of n man of
/ good position in the colony. Some of those
| persons who were hanged ut the time of the
"SalCm Witchcragt" were women OF good
rcputc One was hanged in New York,
| charged with having been concerned in the
NEGRO Plot Of l14l, one of the strangest
events OF colonial history. Mrs. Bathsheba
| SpOoncr was hanged IN Worcester, Mass,
| on July g, l17S, she having taken part in
] the murder OF her husband. Mrs. SpOoner
was a daughter of General Ruggles, pub
lie man OF great note one hundred years
ago. but who took the Tory side of the revo-
/ luton, and was ruined; and Mrs. SpOoner
was a superior woman who was unhappily
| married. She scduced a young American
soldier, Ezra Ross, and Ross and two British
/ soldiers of BurgOync's ARMY, James Bu-
. ! Enunun ana " lAliAliA DfNVAos hliftu MI
| Spconcr Au four were executed at the
same time and place, aad most terrific
thunderstorm broke out before they
reached the gallows. Whilo under sentence
! Mrs SpCOncr asked n respite, which was re-
fused Scme years later a woman named
. Wall was hanged in Boston for theft. There
arc quite . number Of other cases Of the
hanging Of women in this country.
No other instance has been SO uiuch dis
cussed and written about as that of Annie
Green, which took place Ia England during
'he time Of the Commonwealth. Judges
md phvsicians alike referred TO II as az
fordirg illustrations for or against legal and
med al testimony. This poor girl was exc
cu;cd az Marstou, IN Oxfordshire, on De
/ c-mber a. 1859, tor infanticide, charge
which could only be proved against her by
much straining Of the law. This severity
and a knowledge Of the wrong which she
had suffered Ia other ways made her an OBJ
iect OF much public sympathy. Tho hang
ing was accompanied by certain coarse and
ahoc tng pulHugs and strilSinCs Of the body
aud limbs. which in those days were sup
r,osed To insure more Cffcctually the dealt
% the victim and TO lessen the period Of suf
foring After hanging the usual time she
was cut down, actually trampleu on while
prostratc, and left with the rope Cnslack
cned round her neck. She was put into
rofhu and consigned 70 the doctors for dis
section To the surprise Of all, when tbs
coffin was opened the bosom was seen gent
ly to hcaye.
The incident was too remarkable, how
ever, TO remain concealed, and men OF 50
perior position took up the matter 81
William Pity, DR.. " allis and DR.. Clark
who at that time filled the three o-ccs o
professors OF anatomy. President u Mas
dalen College and Vice Chancellor of OK
ford University, being present at he iu
tended dissection, perceived that L c b.- ~
ing Of the bosom vas followed by a sirga
rafting IN her throat. Dr. Plat y tes o
this case as follows "Hereupon, o-slsiin.
6 from their former purpose, they + >seOst
used meens for her recovery by o ning
vein, lying her in q warm bed, al psin