The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-02
HANGINGs AT NEwGArE.
The ScaaOld Has Accom-
for Six Men at a Time.

=
mankind IN many countries may doubt
the truth OF this. with the other phiIoso-
pher. who. when put ashore on an I'M
known land. knew he had arrived In a civ
ilized country because he saw some one
hanging from a gibbet Be that as Il may.
the murderer i'm England once he is
caught. has a very short road 70 travel
and "a sharp drop at the end OF a. He can
not buy himself immunity II he Is rich.
and there is no such delay as is common
in the state Of New York, for instance.
where man has been known to spend
comfortable years between the time he
was sentenced and executed. The trial
OF London murderer usually occupies
one whole day. ana that ends H. There is
no appeal except To the home secretary.
who very rarely interferes. and about
three weeks from the time the judge puts
on the black cap the murderer drops into
the brick cell underneath the scaffold in
Newgate. The other week no less than.
four murderers We're polished of in New
gate Jail. and this was a record even for
SO tremendous city as London
IL Is a curious thing that a hanging at
NcWgate always collects "A great crowd,
me refuse of the population who stand for
AANNA AAAtANA9 10 sec a nldNk UNE run UP
10 the top of the pole. There is no question
seem to have very vivid
interest in haugings The even
ing newspapers of London. when they wish
10 brag about their circulation. give GER
tined detail Of what is known ds hang
ing editions" The circulation % the one
cent evening papers in London doubles
ana trebles and quadruples when a hang
Technically the press Is not allowed to
sehu a reporter to any hanging that takes
place IN Newgate jail. Most OF the sher-
las IN England refuse 90 allow reporters
10 attend any of the hangings under their
charge, and thus the accounts given In the
papers might be looked upon as fictitious
We're II not known that a newspaper in
England incurs the risk of heavy penal
Ties II II prints false news Indeed. II even
newsboy cries false news I'm shouting for
MS paper he is promptly fined or put in
jail II customer complains 1t may
therefore, be wondered why the papers Of
London dare 70 print an account OF a hang
ing when every one knows that no news
paper man is allowed to be present at the
execution.
happened to be intimately acquainted
with man, recently dead who was pres
ent az every hanging that has taken place
IN NeWgate Tor the last twenty years
ana ne was "a member of the stan Of one
OF the leading weekly papers. In Eng
lana things may be divided into two
classes, unofficial and official Nothlng
happens as long as a thing is not oiii-
cldlly known, which serves TO explain the
joke IN PlnatOre where Capt. Corcorah
tells Sir Joseph Porter that II he officially
informs Josephine of his affections for her
there will be no further difficulty.
The sheriff of London has no official
knowledge that a newspaper man is pres
ent during an execution; in fact lac has
o1ncial knowledge that no newspaper man
Is at the hanging. This particular news
UADer man OF whom / sneak q.
deputy sheriff for the sole purpose of go-
ing in officially as a deputy sheriff ana
unoihcially as newspaper man. His ac~
count of the execution was invariably du-
plicated on thin paper known as "nlmsy'.
and handed round to every newspaper in
London and to the news agencies.
! suppose that If somebody had taken
u upon himself officially to inform the
sherin that some unofficial newspaper man
was IN the habit of being present at exc.
cuuons, the sheriff would have been mucn
astonished and would have officially in
formed the newspaper man that he must
betake himself elsewhere.
The scaffold at Newgate has comforta-
Die accommodations for the hanging OF
six men al one time, and ! don't know
that its capabilities have ever been put
TO full test, but the other week they
hanged three with one jerk OF the lever
Hanging Is done in the early morning.
and what strikes me as the most grevy-
some thing about the junction Is that the
AAVlhNAil ltt lever Is pulled ana the men
dropped into eternity the sheriff deputy
sheriffs and other officials at once descend
from the scaffold and eat a frst-cIass
splendidly cooked breakfast which at tina.
moment Is ready for them in the Jail My
deputy sheriff newspaper friend informed
me that he rarely enjoyed a breakfast
ike the hanging breakfast because on
these mornings he had TO get up early and
journey in "a cab in the dim light and keen
air from his suburban home TO the place
of execution. After breakfast is over. the
bodies are taken down, an inquest Is held
and they are flung into vault and COW
cred at once with quicklime. 1T is such
a stuffy DEATH" said Yum Yum, referring
to being buried alive.
Official hanging may be called a cut
and-dried death, for everything in New
gate moves with the regularity of clock
work. One of the disagreeabIe features
connected with an execution 10 the prin-
cipal victim thereof, to which II seems
to me ! should object very strongly is
the tol1ing of the bell, which adds an
unnecessary touch of cruelty to the whole
proceeding. The big bell OF St. Sepul-
cher's church, near NeWgate, begins to
toll before the Wretched victim is even
pinioned, and the sound of its measured
beat must be extremely disquieting st
Sepulchre's church, with its grim and
suggestive name, is the nearest sacred
edifice to the ancient prison, and an ex-
traordinary person named Robert Dove
in 100 left ESQ TO the church on the con-
hanged
the bell should be tolled Indeed, Robert
went further than this He arranged that
the clerk of st. Sepulchre's should take
small handbell and promenade before
Newgate during the night previous to an
execution and ring his handbell reciting
lot of verses, beginning:
All you that in the condemned hold to
lie
Prepare you. for tomorrow you shall
die.
This amazing species Of torture was
stopped long ago, but the sexton still
rings the big bell in the church and re-
receives for doing so Fl 6s Sd. The fig
ures 6 and are somewhat ominous. be-
cause IS. Sd. represents the legal charge
made in England for the advice of a law
yer st. Sepulchre's clock still gives the
time to the hangman and he enters the
condemned cell after looking at its dial
This church was burnt down by the great
fire and was rebuilt of Portland stone
which stone comes from the duarries
which, at the present time at least. are
worked by cOnVicts. When condemned
men were carted from Newgate to Tybtlrn
St Sepulchre always presented them with
bouquet Of flowers. which may be taken
as the predecessor of those amazing floral
presents which ladies are said to bestow
upon murderers dn some parts of the Uni
ted States, but this sort of thing is not
allowed now in England under any cir
cumstanc6s. The last man in England IN