Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-10-24
TWO ON ONE GALLONS.
Young ST. Paul DesperadoeS EXT
eCuted for the Murder of
SaIOonkeeper.

St Paul, Mimi, Oct. 19.-At exactly
six minutes past o'clock this morning
the drop fell and Charles Ermisch and
Otto Wonigkeit paid the penalty of their
crime by death on the gallows.
Preceded by Sheriff Chapel, Otto Wo-
nigkeit was the first to walk down the
three or four steps leading from the Jail
to the enclosure erected for the execu-
ton. He was closely followed by En-
misch. There was nothing Of the bra
vado in their eyes, yet their glance swept
around the small room unfinchingly and
seemed TO rest for an instant upon every
body there. The black caps were on
their heads but had not been drawn
down over their eyes. Slowly and calm
ly they walked to the trap doors which
were presently to fall and usher them
into the unknown world. They stepped
on the doors without faltering throwing
one brief glance at the beam above their
heads from which was depending the
ropes SO soon to encircle their necks. AS
soon as they had taken their places the
deputies fastened the ankles of each Sc
curely, then adjusted the moose quickly,
drew down the black cap over the eyes
of the condemned men, stepped back, and
the signal was given.
There was about two seconds of deep
suspense. Then the door beneath WONG
keit swung open and the body shot down
ward and out of sight There was an
exclamation of excitement when it was
seen that Ermisch had not dropped also.
There was Il short and excited commo-
ton, and quick movement among the
jail officials. Capt. Bean, ex-sheriff of
the county, realized what had occurred,
and without moments delay swung
himself down to the floor beneath sprang
to the pulley by which the trap support
ing Ermisch was opened, gave it one
strong jerk. and WOnigkeit's partner in
guilt also disappeared from view. The
delay was very easily accounted for. The
weight of the spectators on the floor
had depressed the floor sufficiently to
cause the trapdoOr to bind SO that the
weight upon the end of the rope beneath
was not enough to draw the pin that
should let the floor drop. Capt. Beams
quick wit grasped the situation and he
was prompt to act. The delay had not
been more than five or six seconds, but
who shall know how long it seemed to
Ermisch, standing there with the knowl-
edge that there was hitch and that his
partner was already swinging below him.
In both cases consciousness had ceased
instantly. There was one short, quick,
almost imperceptible shrug of the Shout
ders and upper part of the body, and
then each man hung there without fur
Their motion. DR.. O'Brien, the official
doctor for the occasion, stated that the
tall was SO great that death came almost
Immediately from strangulatiOn and with
out suffering to the men. In eleven min
utes from the time he fell Wonigkeit
was pronounced dead and two minutes
later life had departed from the body of
Ermisch The bodies were taken down,
placed in collins and removed for burial.
The crowd that hung about the jail last
night was still there today, it's morbid
curiosity about the first hanging in this
county for thirty-three years seeming to
be in no way decreased by the consum-
nation of the legal ira gedy.
These two young desperadoes, wearing
masks, at about 9 o'clock on the evening
Of May ,, entered the saloon of L. Il.
HOFFMAN, at the corner of Wabasha street
and College avenue, commanded everybody
in the room to throw up their hands and
demanded the cash at the bar. They
then shot down and killed LindhOff, the
barkeeper. Though Ermisch was but 10
and Wonigkeit the same age, it was
shown to the court and public that from
childhood they had been criminals. While
under death sentence Ermisch secured Il
revolver through his mother and at
tempted to carry out a plot for escape
Laid between himself and Wonigket
through the passage of notes. He shot
and painfully wounded the death watch
and escaped part way through the Jail
before bpip" ~ona ptUrpd