Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-08-15

feet. Everybody out here cheWs to-
baccO.
The jail stands a quarter of a mile
away, within the inclosure Of old Fort
Smith. The gray stone wall Is crumb- !
ling. The gates ere broken down.
The parade ground-and, in fact, the
entire PLACES in a disgraceful state :
Of dirt, decay and patchwork. Rub
bish filters the earth. The outbulld- |
ings are filthy, with broken windows
stuffed with old clothes. The offices |,
are caTpetless. The windows are dirty, !
and the lack of soap and brush, wall
paper, paint and competent custodla~
is everywhere apparent.
A new building, which has been built
as an addition to the officers or COM !
mandant's old quarters, serves as the
dollhouse. The quarters are the gail
offices. On the first floor are the Of
ices: on the second the hospital, a
large. CHEEKY, weIl-ventilated and we'll
kept place. The jail itself is like all
iails-a babel of sound, in which laugh
ter, profanity, jears and cries m:ngIe.
PRAYER is the most infreIuent thing
heard. There is no chaplain IL the
iail. The first or lower tier is re-
served for the murd4rerS, the second
| and third for other felOnS. \ few days
ago thirty-twO pris )ner3 were sent
AWAY TO serve out sentences at De-
| troit. under the disgraceful and costly
system which the government persists
| in maintaining. Before the removal
of these prisoners the jail had its
capacity severely taxed.
| But it is around the galloWs that
Fort Smiths criminal interest centers.
! And there is an interest which, Jaller
Berry SAYS, manifests itself in crowds
that surround the fort by thousands,
and whose morbid curiosity IS only
controlled by armed guards posted all
around the decayed wall, while an exc
| cution is in progress. There have been
some very weird and wonderful stories
! about executions telegraphed out of
Fort Smith in past years. 1t was these
that. more than anything else, con-
tributed to it's reputation of being the
yestibule of the satanic realm. Tales
of men who went plunging down
through the trap with hot curses on
their lips, of God-forgotten wretches
! who danced jigs with the rope, around
: their necks, Of others who did and
said that which, with the open grave
yawning at their feet and the horror
= of a great crime about their heads,
: shocked even the most hardened and
! Indifferent sinner But old George
Maledan tore these romances of crime
/ into shredS.
J 'There is no truth in them," he said,
= with a disdainful wave of his hand.
: eff there had been j would have
known of it. The only man I ever
saw who went to the gallOWs SmOk-
ing was John Childers, big Cherokee,
and the first man / hanged. 1t was in
} 1872 He was very brave in the face
l of death. That was the most remark
d.. able execution ever known in Arkan-
sas, or anywhere else for that ma t
: ter
The old man was seated on a chair
= close against the stove in his dark lit
, tie grocery. From behind a barricade
| of boards in a rear corner at times a
= sound that was between a growl and
howl, accompanied by a fierce
scratching. 1t was a wild cat, tiger
' iSh, fiery-eyed thing, which broke into
t a scream every time footsteps ap-
, preached too near. 1t was chained to
, post.
''ChilderS was the murderer Of a ped
der" continued the old executioner,
after he had smoothed down and adj
justed to his satisfaction piece of
black court plaster over a sore place
on his index finger. He swore that he
was innocent. For six weeks before
he was hanged a little Baptist
= preacher from Van Buren, stayed
with Childers in his cell. He lived
with him, and every day and night
5 after the preacher had prayed he
5 would say to Childers: John Childers.
J not for the sake of your miserable
body, but for the sake Of your
Wretched soul, say whether or not you
are guilty Of this murder. And
: Childers would always say he was in
: nocent.
: well, sir, the day of the hanging
came. and Childers marched up to the
7 gallows smoking a cigar. There was
big crowd in attendance, for the
hanging was public. The Cherokee
= had listened to the prayer of the little
preacher, whose last word was to ask
5 him to confess, but he said no. The
rope was round his neck, and was
hurrying to get through, for a storm
cloud was just overhead. That was
where the strange part of the hanging
, came in" said the executioner, drop
r ping metaphorically, the criminal for
moment.
"On the way to the Scaffold a small
black cloud hid the sun. There was
not another cloud anywhere in the sky.
l never saw anything like it before or
; since. When Childers took his place
on the scaffold it began to rain, though
. | could see that all around the sun
was shining elsewhere. AS the drop
; fell there came a crash of thunder that
= was the worst / ever heard. A dyna-
= mite explosion which l heard since
: was the nearest thing to it, and it
. seemed to me as if the whole space in
front of the scaffold was filled with
forked lightning. Three or four
women in the crowd tainted. The ne
groes came to me afterward and said:
= Didn't yo' heah DE chains a rattlin',