The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-03
FIVE MINUTES WITH A MADMAN
Though Very Badly Scared the Victim
Managed to Escape.
From the Nel0 York Recorde

From the Nel0 York Recorder.
THAT you hang by the neck until you are
dead, and may God have mercy on your
soul" The words rang out clearly with a
fearful import through the crowded court
room. The doomed man listened seemingly
unmoved, but glare, like that of wild
animal, for a moment lit up his dark brown
| eyes. swiftly giving place TO a look of
| deathless despair. he swayed to and fro,
then bracing himself by superhumau
effort, be drew one long breath, then turned
with mis- guard to leave the hall.
/ had been engaged by the crown as off,
cial stenogrpher, aud, with the first glance
at the man whose hand was red with a
wife's blood, feeling Of sympathy pos
sessed me, increasing hourly as l wrote the
darnning evidence of his guilt l was COM
pletely fascinated. Each time l raised my
eyes. knew, intutively, / should encounter
| the prisoners pathetic gaze. And now, l
watched him as he walked to the iron door
| which was to shut him from tbs outer
world forever. On the last stone step he
| paused, and turning, with the accuracy OF
| thought darted at me a final glance whose
| herceness burnt into my very heart The
advocates gentle reminder that all was
over brought with it a sense Of relief; and
| gathering nv notes | left the court house
with its Rin-laden memories behind me.
| Weeks passed, and although 1 could not
| quite forget the condemned man, l ban-
ished, like an unpleasant dream, all
| thoughts of his tragic fate. The dread day
drew near and poor Faubert, the wife muir
| derer, could count his spans of life by
| hours.
The evening of the day previous TO his
| execution l sat transcribinR some legal
notes, when, suddenly the venerable min
lister Of an adjoining church was announced.
| Wondering a little at the unusual call,
greeted my guest with a warmth of feeling
evoked by the chaplian's many virtues.
81 have come to ask a favor" said he.
| Poor Faubert, you remember him, wants
a trustY woman to receive his last message
to his mother. VIII you shoulder the re-
| sponsibiity~
hesitated. In some mystic way dreaded
the mainland yet 1 could not, dared not,
! refuse. 1 undertook the charge and prom
ised TO be at the Jail at 10 next morning
| six hours before the fatal moment Of DEATH
With q heavy heart l wendell my way to
the court house, one side of which was a
prison. Being expected, was met by the
| governor, who, almost in total silence, led
the way 80 the condemned ward. The suns
! warm rays sent a beam across the floor, the
figure of the prisoner standing in bold out
line against the white walls. He turned as
the warden called him, and started per-
After a few sympathetic words on my
part, and au almost naughty expression of
gratitude on his, he requested to see me
alone. The prison rules forbldding this, the
guard was dismissed for a half hour, the
governor alone remaining.
AT one end of the corridor was the cell
toward this Faubert asked his keeper to re-
main while he spoke to me. The kind official
compiled.
Like a lightning fash came a change.
Faubert, with wild laugh, seized the I'M
suspecting guardian in his grip, hurled him
to the far end of his cell, the door of which
he bolted, making prisoner of bis master.
l shrieking loudly for help.
Like tiger be then sprung at me, and ef-
fectively silenced my cries by grasping my
| throat with both hands. l gasped and
gurgled; my eyes felt as they would leave
my head, while he laughed like a demon.
| Dragging me to the cell door where the
captive guard still lay he lifted me bodily,
and still by the throat, swung me to and
fro, still shouting:
Hang by the neck till you are deadp
The last words sounded faint in my ears
l could just see his glittering eyes, feel bis
hot breath on my cheek, the moist touch OF
his hands-and knew no morel
| When consciousness returned the alarmed
guards were bursting into the cell. l could
i hear the shutting OF feet, the changing OF
chairs, and on the floor the writhing form OF
the maniac murderer. Kind hands min
istered to me-, my injuries being serious.
was carried away to the parlor below, and
six hours after, that same Faubert wIfe
murderer and maninc, met his disgraoeful
death with a quiet dignity aud calm oovr-
age which won the pity OF all who witnessed
his execution.
1 subsequently discovered thss he had
been totally oblivious to the terrible deed
be Attempted, and few yet know Of the
awful tragedy SO nearly completed that
morning.