The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-05-22

Eyes, " he said ''I'n tell you what
I'll do. I'll swap shows with you.
So l gave him pass for the evening"
and we started in to visit the prison,
which is a big. rectangular building
standing in the middle Of large, grassy
knoll overlooking the city.
Some Of the prisoners are Indians,
but they are not of the Ramona stripe.
They are moro of the Cherokee strip.
People who read Ramona do net ex-
pect to find an Indian in Jail unless the
court has erred in its judgment. 1 was
panied to hear that some of these red
brothers were charged with stealing.
Some OF them are even charged with
murder. This striving little Jail has over
20 murderers in it at this writing,
some of them not yet 81 years old
Starr, the outlaw and murderer, is
one of them. Ha looks to be about 90
and is not bad looking chap excepting
that he has remarkably piercing cheek
bones and restless eye. He has killed
more people even at 90 than many
successful physician 60 years Of age.
His mother and sister came down on
the train with Us the evening before
The former is a gentle eyed, middle
aged, dark woman of quiet deneanor,
but evidently did not understand how
to successfully bring up boy. In few
weeks this lad viii be called home. tt
is needless to say that he Will go direct
~ to paradise, where all the murderers
90 if we can rely upon their farewell re-
marks On the gallows.
l visited the gallows where over 90
men have passed on to their reward. It
is an Enclosure with an elevated plat
form at one end, with roof over it, SO
that there need be no postponement on
account Of weather, for they have never
disappointed an audience since the con-
struction of the building. The trap has
n capacity of eight men, would think
AT the back of the platform is a long
bench for the chairman and glee club
At the front is the long trap hinged on
both sides, so that when the trigger is
sprung the platform parts in the middle
and the speaker drops through it with
great vigor
The old executioner had an ambition
70 hang 100 men. but when he struck
the ninety-ninth it happened to be
warm personal friend, so he resigned,
and his ambition is still unfulflled. He
always weighed his man and then got
railroad tie or log of the same weight,
cut out rude head and neck on one
end of it and rehearsed with this dunn
my and the new rope till he was sure
that all was correct and ready. Then
he did the job in way that ne never
felt ashamed Of
ST don't ask you to take my word for
It," he would say, with pride. Il just |
let my work show for itself I"
These various wooden dummies stand |
yet in a corner by the scafold, and the |
whole place has an air of steady, health |
ful, active business
The Jail now sends its long time con-
victs to Brooklyn, having filed up most |
of the other pens in the United States
Overproduction and long hauls seem to
be the only danger to the vast volume
of business done by this Jail
There were some ladies in the Jail / |
had never seen any lady convicts before. |
30 went up stairs to see them. a lady /
felon who chews navy tobacco is a sad
sight 1 hope 1 may never see it again.
l hate also to see a lady taking care of
E little child that has been recently born
to her in cell 40.
would rather follow her to her grave
than see a perfect lady trotting IN anony
nous baby inside the walls of peni-
Tertiary, We spent the Sabbath in COT
feyviIe, the scene Of the great Dalton
light, which occurred on the 9th day OF
October, 1899. Colonel Elliott Of The
Journal kindly piloted US around over
the field of battle, and having been on
the ground at the time knew every inch
Of it He was in Il pitched battles in