The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-06-07

want to tell YOU all that ] am being punished
Of The at, u am innocent o. the intention il
which ease no man can III. guilty OF murder. But
the law says "a life for a HE and here am 20
from Fogarty. This ! would gladly do. n by SO
doing ] rOuid give him back his life, for he was n
$; s.r s,S, Z, % , %s, and !, irs GSd h know had had p int sssssn
10 XIII him ! would he satisfied, knowing
Z to be no more ihn riy IN, that
| Justice Of my punishment. There are men living
der DER as sp %y "alR' Ii,ase had 70 LOOK sat Tor myself
honestly and dealt fair by everyone and never
expected To come 10 this Kind ofa death. Nut so
i Is; Fate was TOO strung for me: ! would like
| present 10 deal rs kindly with me In their Opin-
lon as possible and Try to believe me a. ]
81 murder. want % thank my lawyers
for their efforts In my. behalf. They have done
their best. As TO the Officers having me In
meni, They were not only kind 70 even me, a
criminal, but thoughtful and careful Of my conf
fort, more 80 than could expect. They are gen.
tlemanly and efficient officers.
After the reading of the statement the
sheriff and jailers shook King by the hand
and babe him good bye. King leaned
over and whispered something into Law
yer Green's ear. liz was requesting Mr..
Green in case a certain person in Color
ado whose name Mr.. Green did not give
to the reporters. wrote to him about King
to send the person a true statement of
the facts.
The procession started for the gallows
| at 10 minutes past II o'clock. Sheriff Hal
ord leading the way. Next came Under
Sheriff Gibson, leading King by the arm.
DUST before descending the stairs the
| priest elevated the crucifix and King
kissed II. The priest followed King down
the stairs and when the yard was reached
xr, IL oil NJ his stfla tho ini1nrs md rn-
porters bringing up the rear. The sun
never shone more g~loriously, the heavens
were never filled with a richer, deeper,
more unfathomable blue, nature
was never more adam than
~cession, with barred heads and meas
ured steps, marched around the corner of
the Jail and We're suddenly confronted by
the tall, grim beams of the gallows, with
the emotionless rope hanging midway be-
tween them. In the distance was seen a
circle Of mag nificent mountains, The out
lines clear and distinct as il cut with a
knife. Not n breath of air was stirring
n not IA sound was made by nature or
by man.
King took his place and Father Follett
stepped to his left side, Whispering words
of prayer. while Sheriff Halford and I'm
legs and arms with broad, stout
thongs of leather. Meanwhile
Mr.. Berkin. the entcrprising photog-
rapher of Boulder, was busy taking views
of the scene and motioning the crowd to
part sufficiently to give his camera com.
mand of the central figure. Kings head
dropped over TO n shoulder. He looked
deathly sick. At Ia minutes past IL
O'Clock the sheriff pulled the black cap
over the mans head. A second later he
gave the signal to Under Sheriff Gibson.
WHO was concealed from view in a sort of
tall box To the left of the gallows, the
quick stroke Of a Ratchet against a block
of wood was heard, the rope had been
cut. The body shot up three feet in
the air and dropped back a few inches
n second and then the knees began TO
CULVER. Presently the legs bent, the
knees drawing swiftly upwards rs il a
terrible struggle was going on. This was
over in a few seconds, the legs regdined
their normal position, all struggling
ceased and the body hung m~otionless.
DIR. Fletcher Of Boulder, DIR. William {.
Riddell of Elkhorn and DIR. A. +. Judd
of Jefferson. with watches in their hands.
made the usual examination. The pulse
continued to beat for nine minutes and
was slightly observable for six minutes
afterwards. At IL 30 o'clock the physi-
clan pronounced King dead. The body
was Immediately cut down n placed
in a plain pine collin which had
been brought in through the rear gate and
put Immediately under the corpse while
IL was still hanging in the air. The pbysi-
c'ansf found that the first and second bones
~ the spinal column had been dislocated,
not completely but yet sufficiently to in
sure unconciousncss from the beginning.
Kings death was therefore painless. The
movements of the body which led
many OF the spectators to be-
st~rangulation were merely the reflex
movements. Lad there been a trifie more
slack in the rope the dislocation would
have been more complete. As II was,
however, the desired end, n painless
death, was attained. Undertaken Para
propriate name for an undertaken
screwed down the lid of the coffin IN
which there was not a single mark or in
scription to show who its occupant was.
The coffin was placed in the nm
dertaker's wagon and driven to the
King found a pauper's as well as q muir
derer's grave. No relative was present,
no tear was shed. With the exception of
Lawyer Green and Father Follett and the
sheriir's corps, no friend was there who
took In the man more b the passing
interest of a stranger. He was unknclled
and unknown, for, up to the last, he re-
fused 10 tell whit his true name was or
what had been his history previous to his
life in Leadville.
There has been a story afioat that
Foear,y was not the first maj that King
has killed, but il cannot be
traced To any authentic source.
This much is certain-he was "a man of
small intelligence and brutal instincts.
All that he ever said OF his family was
that his father was a German and his
mother an Italian and that his mother
with some brothers and sisters is still liv-
ing in Italy.
IL was the universal opinion that the
execution was well managed and that
Sheriff Halford and his corps of officers
deserved credit for the n in which
they did their painful duty.
READY TO MEET HIM.