St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-29
SMITHS CRANKY LAW
A Possibility of What Might
Have Occurred at the
BROKER Hanging.
John Day Smiths Grandmoth-
erly Legislation May
ThWart Justice.
The Chastity Scene Which Was
Enacted at Sunrise on
Friday Last.
Public Sentiment Is Opposed
to Private Strangulation
Of Criminals.

Tor Chicago last evening. 1t was lace
l knew well, for its owner did good
deal of work for me in the pineries
few years ago. The same face, too, be-
yond all doubt, though changed in eX-
preston. The beard and mustache
were gone, completely altering the con-
tour OF the face, but no one who had
once become familiar with them could
forget those restless, rolling gray eyes
or that curious pOise of the head If
the man l saw yesterday was not Will
lam BROKER then | never saw BROKER
in my life"
Did you speak to this man?" was
asked.
Yes, called to him twice by the
nickname he got in the woods-'Slasher'
the boys used to call him. He heard
me, too, and ducking his head, made
bolt for the train. 1t was on the move
as he got aboard. and in few seconds
was clear of the station
But BROKER was hanged last Friday
morning."
''Brooker is said to have been
hanged" replied the first speaker, ''but
[ shall never feel sure that he was
hanged until l have seen the body
and know of certainty that such
marvellous resemblance can exist"
The words of Brokers former en-
plOyer, man noted for his GOODNESS
under all circumstances and the last in
the world to be accused of imaginative
ueSS, made an impression On my mind
which has grown with each successive
hour since the conversation occurred.
Now as | think over the events of last
Friday night. of the little crazy struct-
ure which did duty for Jail and place
of execution, of the hour at which the
final act in the drama of Brokers mis-
cradle life was conSummated, of the
murky darkness which hung like a
pail over everything and everybody,
and of the crowd of half-breedS and
lumbermen lOafing about the jail l
say, what proof is there that this pas
Senger to Chicago was not BROKER, for
ii ever a criminal condemned to death
had presented to him an opportunity TO
escape, provided he had secured the
cOnnivance of
His Appointed EXecutiOnerss
BROKER was that one. TO review the
conditions under which the hanging oc-
Cured.
| such tragedies as the one about to be
enacted; the tumble-down country
store, transformed into Jail for the
| nonce, and from which tell-year-old
| boy could easily have found egress if
| all opportunity to evade the vigilance of
the guards presented itself, the hour
for which the hanging was timed,
| the same to second as that
at which the down passenger train
| arrived at the station hundred yards
away, the crowd of strange faces, those
of persons morbidly curious who had
come from far and near to stand outside
the scatfold Enclosure and listen to the
| CHASTITY sounds from within, and then
the darkness in which no man was rec
| equitable more than foot away, all
| circumstances favorable to the escape
| of the man whose life was forfeited by
law, and whose last moment was at
hand. And then again. who witnessed
| the hanging? Only few men aside
from Sheriff Mclaughlin and his dep
uties, and these few avowed believers
in the excessive severity of the sentence
about to be carried ont. Who were they?
Attorney Dent, who had worked night
and day for several mouths to secure
Communication of sentence without sue
cess; DIR. Game, who had been the con-
demned mans medical attendant during
his confinement, and who had known
him and the history of his do
nestle troubles for years prior to
the commission of the crime;
and two other doctors who
had come there at Brokers own soli-
citation. Then the deputies, who be-
came familiar with the condemned
through association at the Jail. and who
to man admired his gameness. and
would willingly forego the awful task
before them; and, lastly, Sheriff Nc
Laughlin, the big-hearted man, who, as
he said, would sooner have lost an arm
than have had such task forced upon
him. 1t is easy to imagine the escape
of the criminal under such conditions.
For instance, the criminal has made
his final deposition, has taken last
farewell of his friends, and the march
to the scatfold is begun at 500. The
courage of the motley crew hanging
about the Enclosure fails them, and they
fall back little. The shrek of the ell
CINE pulling the down train is heard,
and Just as it reaches the platform the
DEPUTIES (who noticed that there was a
new face among them rush outside and
order the crowd to stand back. Then
there comes
Preliminary Rattle
and the drop has fallen, the rope is
strained to its full tension, but by what.
Who knows whether the bag of sand
used in testing that rope had been re-
moved from the inclosurei Did any one
see that smoothly Shaven man in dark
suit and sloueh hat shoot across the
space between the Jail and the depot,
and board the down train to st. Paul?
Oh that is all right, of course he is a
special deputy, who lives in Rush City,
and no questions are asked.
After time those outside the inclos-
ure are Informed that Brokers neck
was broken, that he was allowed to
hang for twenty minutes and then cut
his remains Can the body he viewed?
Oh no. that is against the law, and be-
sides. the coffin was screwed down at
once, and no time must be lost in con-
veying it to the already dug grave
which awaits it. Well, it is not pleas
ing sight, anyhow, so :. there is
no protest and the crowd dis
perses. each member thereof
to recount to his immediate circle the
story of the tragedy, how the body
looked and all the rest of it. Who
knows or cares anything about the man
with the restless eyes and the smoothly
shaven face, who is crouched IN seat
of the down limited speeding toward
coffin? What matters who the other fel-
low is?
!, The reader will naturally ask there
: doubt that BROKER has paid the penalty
| of his crime?' The answer is, none
Sheriff Mclaughlin. while detesting
the task and sorry for the man, carried
out the law to the letter. BROKER is
| dead and buried beyond all dispute, yet
! the time of the execution and all other
circumstances as shown, were favor
able to the escape of the condemned
Had the sheriff of Pine county been g
man capable of disregarding the man
date of the law and allowing the muir
derer a chance to continue his career
under another flag than the stars and
stripes, while the fact that such posi-
t bility existed, as 1t certainty ald IN ihls
case iS snfficient commentary on a Law
which provides for the hanging of Grim
, inais Inv night, and thereby creates al