The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-14
A TIME TO TELL THE TRUTH.
THE VALUE OF STATEMENTS MADE
UPON THE GALLONS.
Have the Possibilities of the Tn
known the Power 10 suppress the
Confirmed Habit of Lying in Men
About TO BE Executed

a
before his execution that he was innocent
Of the crime for which he was about to
die. suggested the other evening a discus
sion OF the value Of statements made by
men about to be put to death. one Of those
who took part in it said:
Il have seen thirty-six men hanged by
due process of law. and do not recall
a single instance in which the culprit at
that solemn moment, with his toes al
ready over the brink of eternitys abyss.
falsely affirmed his innocence. Some con-
fessed their guilt openly; others only to
their spiritual advisers; not few kept
sullen silence; and there were those who.
though admitting their crimes. protested
against their execution as an injustice, be-
cause they deemed themselves justified IN
what they had done. In fact. the only
one who, the moment before death, stoutly
averred his innocence really was guiltless
of the crime for which he was hanged.
There is in every man sufficient apprehen-
sion of the dread possibilities Of the I'M
known into which he is about to plunge
to suppress even the most confirmed habit
of lying And there is no incentive to in
dulge it. The man about to be hanged may
all his life long have considered lie as
Queen Elizabeth defined it, an intellectual
method of evading a ditficulty. but the
difficulty in which he finds himself is, as
he knows too painfully well, not to be
escaped from by any such method.
1T may be said that ne is liable to lie in
order that the shame of mis- untimely end
may rest less heavily upon loved ones. In
rare instances that is possibly true, but
hardly in the case of fellow like Buchan-
an. If there ever Is a moment in life when
one of his character is compelled to feel
that he 'fiocks all alone by himself II Is
when the moose is about his neck. The
poisoner is always the meanest sort OF as
sassin, most cowardly when brought race
to face with fate, least likely TO take
thought for the feelings of others. He VIII
lie stoutly so long as any hope remains that
a lie will help him. but when his feet enter
the shadow of Inevitable death he cringes
and confesses or else dbject terror so
overwhelms him that his mind seems
paralyzed to all consciousness other than
contemplation of the horror before him,
and he dies without either confession or
denial
"A wife poisoner named Stevens, who
was hanged in the Tombs a great many
years ago, was an illustration of that des-
picable class. AS was proved beyond doubt
on his trial. he had, while tenderly nurs-
ing his invalid wife, patiently and slowly
stolen her life away by means of minute
! doses of poison, continuously administer
cred in her medicines and food. He was
pious man, and prayed for her recovery
Between prayers he gave her some more
arsenic. until she died. When the time
came for him to die he fairly collapsed in
cowardly fear, and became almost glib
bering idiot. Liquor was administered
to brace him up so that he might walk
from his cell to the gallows, but even then
he had 10 be supported On both sides, prac-
tically carried and held up while the moose
was put about his neck. A more contempt
BILE wretch never contaminated the old
Tombs gallows
I'm splendid contrast TO him was poor
negro / saw, to my sincere sorrow, hang
ed on that same gallows. His name was
| Hawkins. and finer specimen of the
| clear-blooded AfricanoI have never be-
held He was tall, had a fine figure, and
a very intelligent, kindly face. The story
of his crime, as the law termed the deed
for which he suffered was very simple
and one that won the sympathies of all
right-minded men who heard It, He had
been employed as cook on coaster, bound
from New York TO New Orleans. The
master of the vessel was a malignant
brute, who was cruel to all his men, but
most merciless to the poor negro, whom
amused him to deal a savage blow or a
violent kick to the black cook, to hurl
Delaying pin or other missile at his head,
and to see him jump in fear or vince
with pain. All that the unfortunate man
endured without even thought of retalia-
ton. But one day the fendish skipper
devised a more exquisite torture for his
victim. He swore that when they reached
New Orleans he would sell him into slav-
cry. That was before the war, and Haw-
kins knew that il the wretch were so mind
ed he could execute his threat, and that
no protestations of being free man would
avail against the false claim of ownership.
And he did not doubt that for the price
he would bring, the captain would be ca
pable of any crime ever far greater one
than selling a free man into lifelong slav
cry, which the brute would deem a Joke.
The threat, under such circumstances.
might we'll have made the man desperate
but there were further considerations TO
madden him. In New York, awaiting his
return, were wife and little child, whom
he loved dearly, and he was to see them
no more. When he thought of them he
became frenzied, and, Selling a Ratchet
he chopped that captains head into pieces
They brought him back 10 New York
tried him, and condemned him to death
But he had the happiness of seeing his
loved ones again, and was sustained by
the consciousness of having done a good
soul savers swarmed about him, urging
him to repent of his sin and be one of the
redeemed. but he calmly put them all
aside. thanking them courteously for their
well meant attentions, but firmly refusing
to be bothered by them.
L do not repent of what have done,
he said. and the great Judge, who knows
all the facts, will not expect me to- / did
what was right. what 1 would under the
same circumstances do again and would
have been no man had not done it,.
His keepers were kind to him, letting
him see his wife and child as much as pos
sible, and when he learned that some pro-
vision had been made for their future he
seemed content and happy. When the hour
of his execution arrived, he walked out to
the gallows with as firm tread and calm
demeanor as ever in his life he had stepped
on the street. The moose was upon his
neck, the black cap on his brow, and he
stood under the gallow's beam with no
more bravado than fear in his manner
when the United States marshal asked
him if he had anything to say before the
sentence of the law was executed upon
him.
HE spoke at least twenty minutes. ut