St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-13
BLANCHARD HANGED.
III Was at His Own Request as
! Against Life Irnprisonment.

SHERBRoOKE. Que, Dee. 12.-WIll-
lam Wallace Blanchard was hanged
here this morning for the murder of
ycmb"r, 1889. The drop fell at 9:O6 and
at $50 the Jail surgeon pronounced him
dead. The execution was performed by
) Radcliffe, who hanged Birchall, and the
whole proceedings were without an un-
pleasant incident. At Z O'clock this
morning Father Lefebvre and Fissette
celebrated high mass in the cor
ridor of the condemned mans cell.
Mr.. Blanchard joined in the exrr-
,eises with much ,fervor, and when
they were over expressed himself as
thoroughly prnitent and prepared to
ale. A few minutes after 8 o'clock those
who were to witness the execution, to
the number of sixty, filled the yard.
The gallows were erected under wood
shed and We're of the same type and
weight that did duty for Birchall. Soon
the procession appeared. Sheriff Weub
and Deputy Sheriff Whitcher leading.
Then came the TWO priests, with the
doomed man between, followed by the
guards. Blanchard walked onto the
seaffold calmly and firmly, knelt down
beside q kneeling priest and was alb
solved. He arose, and, turning to the
crowd. thanked ali who had been kind
to him and bade them farewell. The
exeeutlOner adjusted the cap and drew
the cord. The weight fell an the victim
rose into air the four feet and dropped,
turning half around. Scarcely a trpmOr
was perceptible, and not sound was
heard. In one minute the doctor felt
the pulse. which was full and rapid. 1t
decreased gradually and bet anne hardly
percrpJIblt, and in twenty-fOur minutes
minutes Blanchard was pronounced
dead and the body was cut down. Exc
cutiuner Radcliffe will proceed from
! here to Weliand to Officiate at the hang
ing of Day next Thursday.
The crime for which Blanchard was
executed this morning was committed in
November, 1889. at Ayers Flats. in the
district of Sherbrnoke. at that time he
appeared as stranger. No one knew
where he came from, and he himself adj
mitted that he was an American
tramp. He became acquainted with a
man named Calkins, and the two
were together continually. One even
ing they were having carouse in Cal
kins' house, the two men being alone.
When Mrs. Calkins returned from a
neighbor's house, where she had been
visiting, she found her husband dead,
and, as she knew the two had been to-
gether. Blanchard was suspected of the
crime. He escaped across the border,
but was speedily brought back and tried
at Sherbrooke. At the trial it came out
In evidence that there was no pre-
meditation of the deed. 1t was merely
the outcome of drunken brawl.
Blanchard produced revolver and
boasted of his proficiency with the
weapon. Calkins demonstrated and a
scuffie ensued, in which the weapon
was discharged and Calkins was in
stautly killed. Blanchard took not the
slightest interest in the trial, and
asked that he be hanged rather
than sentenced to Imprisonment for life.
He was convicted and sentnceed on the
18th of October, and this morning his wish
was grati6ed. He was entirely without
friends or relatives. and it is certain
that if any efforts had been used on his
behalf the extreme penalty would not
have been carried out.