The Lamar register., 1894-07-07

Gated n guest smoking his cigar in
the depths of an armchair. and evil 3
IDENTIFY having visit with himself
MAY be a preacher" answered
the Free Press scribe. after q brief
scrutiny.
..He might be. but he isn't
That's Colonel Clark. Go and intro
duce yourself and ask him all about
murderers and executions He can
tell you more about such things than
any other man in the United States"
The colonel drew up his left knee
got his hands clasped around IL and
said:
..Lat us make few comparisons.
Out of the four hundred executions.
z four OF the victims being women.
5.only two made full confessions before
aoing 10 death Two OF the others
partly confessed. None OF the women
&oufesscd. though all were guilty OF
a murder in heiuous form On the
.eontrary ninctysix out OF the 100
nci their fate declaring their in
Docencs. Statistics show that only
&c per cent OF tho number executed
nAke confessions Why. then. should
be taken as an evidence OF mans
Innocence that no did not confess'
~ the thir,y-four executions re
<. {Drrc to at Fort Smith. the murders
i. NIerc committed by bullet, knife, AK
f77pd club Some were for revenge.
shers for robbery. One man killed
Sur pcrsous. another three. four
o1hers killed two apiece OF the
Y tAfr,y-four ten wanted to plead
xuflty at the outse. There was no
- in which the Jury deliberated
- two hours Ia over half the
s. q tho murdorcrs were caught
1h andcd myself helpeo to arrest
anAn who had killed husband and
d ne He was splashed with blood
Y "a had a bloody AZ in his hands.
~ was not thirty rods from the
a pne when we came upon him He
= "a robbed the shanty. and We found
D3 plumber on him lie boldly ac-
DIV edged the deed aud detied the
and yet when he came to the
H1Ilows he said TO the spectators;
I'll am going to meet my Godi
With my last breath declare that |
am an Innocent mani
f.There Is popular superstition
that a man about to be ushered into
eternity always confesses any great
crime which no may have committed
4 II is like many other superstitions-
Bithout foundation What murderer
- Roiug TO his death in any state in the
f last one. two. or three years has con-
fessed his crime' can recall only |
Ntwo cases. and those were excuses
.frather than confessions The num-
afber of executions has been large, but
& are we to argue that all the other
victims were innoceut-those who
did not confess9
Just So There is a great deal of
& talk about ones nerve and fortitude.
Statistics show that only one man in
y $50 breaks down under the strain
I There Is sort of collapse about |
three days before the execution 1t
was so in every one OF the thirty-four !
cases This state lasted from four to
twelve hours and Was then succeeded
by an exultant feeling. Some prayed
with great fervor; others sang roll
licking songs and danced; others
still wanted to celebrate with drink
and food. From that hour on they
betrayed no weakness When their
last hour came they assumed bear
ing which may be termed the dig
nifty of death. and showed less emo
tion than their attendants
II now come to a feature which is
in one sense mystery and in an
other very easy of explanation ]
believe that Carlyle Harris believed
himself innocent | believe that
a.