St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-03
A REWARD FOR BUNGLING.

,
| tie or run, but fight. Il.
A REWARD FOR BUNGLING. IS
The bill now pending before the
| legislature to appropriate 81 600 to
| reimburse Sheriff Chapel for execute
| ing the death sentence on two crirn-
| inals last October, for, notwithstand-
ing the guarded wording of the biHs
that is all there is to it, wildly res
calls the horrible details of that mis-
managed affair. For days previous
to the execution tickets of admission
| to the Jail were UNFORTUNATELY is
sued, and the two trembling wretchss
served as a kind of side show I'd
the campaign which the sheriff was
then making for reelection. In
stead of being allowed to dev6ta
their last days of life to quiet
preparation for the sanguinary end.
they were compelled to stand there.
day after day, as an endless stream
of idle curiosity seekers passed in re-
view before their cells staring and
gaWking at them as though thew
species of wild beast. On the fatal
night the crowd increased to such an
extent that the minister chosen by
the boys to administer to their spirit
ual needs found it almost impossi-
BILE to secure a quiet moment with the
condemned.
But the worst of all was when the
81,
out of the two miserable wretches
The law explicitly states that only
a given number of persons, to be
chosen in a specific. manner. are to be
present as witnesses of such an ex-
ecution, and the Scaffold had been
prepared with reference to this pro-
vision. But cards of admission to
the 'butchery had been issued as in
discriminatory as to the Jail; the en-
closure was so crowded that the
supports gave way, the structure
dropped several inches, and one of
the men had to be almost cho!1ed
to death by hand in consequence.
The drop of the structure was so
great that the calculations were dis
arranged, and what eXcruciating tor
ture the victim suffered can only be
conjecture1.
For executing the decree of the
court in this bungling manner the
sheriff was paid 81 ZOO. Subsequently
he made repeated efforts TO collect
from the county an additional sum,
and when the board of county com
missioners refused to pay any more
the introduction of this bill fol-
lowed, providing that for the execu-
ton of the death penalty sheriffs
shall receive $500 in addition to the
expenses incurred, and that the pro-
posed law shall apply to executions
which have taken place in the past'I
and where sheriffs have not been
paid in compliance with the provis-
ions of this most remarkable bill
Under it's provisions every sheriff
who has ever executed the death pen
atty in Minnesota can come forward
and claim $500 for a service for
which he has already been paid ia1s
full. And all this because the sheriff
OF Ramsey county wants an addition
of $1,000 to the $25, 900 a year which.
he issalready enjoying as the fruit of,
the office to which he was elected
The bill is in the hands of the Ram
sey county delegation, and if passed
at all, it must be by consentsef. a
large majority of the delegation.
1t can never pass under the opposi-
ton of the honest members who are
watching it unless it is in the rush
of the closing days of the session. 1t
would be rank f1attery to call it any
thing other than a plain steal, and if
it is permitted to pass under any con-
d1tions. those who permit it will be
held to a severe accounting for their
sins of omission as well as for those
of commission.