The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-05-25
GRIDLEY'S CHOICE.
IT WAS a WISE ONE, As SUBSEQUENT
! EVENTS PROVED.
The Lrw nnd the Condemned Murderer
Made y Combination That Became the
Cause of Sheriff Hartwenter's Destruc-
tion as an Ofhcial.


tisn as an Omcial.
San Pete county Is located in Utnh, and |
Utah Is the state where they sometimes
shoot murderers instead of hanging them |
But, although custom supports death by
Che bullet, there was time when the ter
ritorial laws were more liberal. They
offered condemned man "A full menu OF
death One sentenced to give up the ghost
for capital offspse was allowed to choose
between hanging, shooting and decapita-
tion. At least 81 1t Was written in tho
leather backed books. But only one man
is known to have chosen the slicing proc
ess, and 1t is ct him that this story Is
written.
Grf6ley, who had I'D first name, and
whose surname was q matter of coEven-
fence according to the part of the ccuntry
in which he WAS residing, had fnjudicious-
" killed q man whe was contracting to
bring an irrigation ditch into the San
Pete country and 10 spend some money
among the people. previously Gridley had
assassinated a few odds and ends Of super
fiuous men, and lirule had been thought OF
it, but on this opcasioR the disappoint-
ment of the people, thus suddenly and
wickedly deprived of their ditch and tho
prosperity which it's construction would
bring surmounssd custom, and Gridley
was arrested, ant toifTis intense surprise
locked up, tried'and convicted of murder.
The district judge came down one day
when he had nothing better to do, aud
calling the convict 8ridley before him
told him that according to law he could
.select either tc be made into a target, to
be dropped at the end Of a rope, or to be
bisected in the neigh borhood of the neck.
''WeIl, judge" said Gridiey, ''if it's all
the same to you I've always kind of han
kered to have my head chopped of. 1t
seems such a first class an bon ton way OF
shuffiim off, Most any feller can. go over
into Colorado or Nevada an be tied to
beam. but this here looks like sort Of ex-
elusive thing Chopin 1t is"
Everybody In rhe courtroom was sur
priscd and many were eminently dis
pleased. 1.-THE Gridley hangin" had been
talked of for two weeks and several ex-
cursions from outside camps had been ar
ranged for and it was serious question
with the yeception committee whether or
not anything bnt hanging would suit the
tastes of the expected guests Especially
was James B. Hiartwenter, the sheriff, dis
turbed by Grilley's decision Hartwonter
was a humane snan, and he had been pub
ting In severaLdays Of practicing crew OF
marksmen and gangof scaffold experts
with the view of making Gridley's ext as
comfortable and expeditions as possible
when IL came to the dayof the passingout.
Hartwenterhimse had no liking for the
business of ,,nethodically killing men by
programme, but he felt that with a lot Of
unknown rif1emcn aiming at a culprit's
heart there could be no after remorse, be-
cause nobody would ever know whose bull
let had killed. and to some extent the same
Al .l~l A. Il .l<--~
the cord was cut by q man unknown to
those present. But a decapitation! There
was no fashion of concealing identity In
such case-no comfortable way of believ-
ing that nobody knew just who had lone
the killing. And as he, the sheriff, was
the official directed TO perform ON the
slaughterirg day, he felt intensely worried.
He went to Gridley in his cell.
"Look here, he said. "What kind of a
fool notionlis this of 'yourn? Don't you
know you spile your clothes an waller
around in a disgustin way analogous to q
chicken killed for dinner? What sort of a
dignity is there to the demise of man alb
breviated by use Of butchers cleayer?
What you want to do is to git up there on
a scaffold like man with some idea of
etiquette and be swung off like the Swan
Greek people expect you to"
goods fer this here entertainment" he de-
manded, "ne or Swan Creek? The judge
passed the thing up to me, an / made my
bet, an it was for the cuttin."
"But, doggone it all, don't you see T'm
an interested party? don't want to have
to stand out there in the sun an chop at
you like nan workin cn stove wood. l
amt used to it, an, moreover, you amt
used to it, an We'll make a blamed botch of
it,"
Gridley leaned back independently and
puffed twice at his cigar. "Jim," be said,
~ voted fer you, an I'd do nos. any rea-
sonable thing for you. Bullock herel This
matter of your desires ain't nothin TO me.
This is q paramount case. i amt maxim
no kick on the KILN, but bein the star
boarder, so to speak, demand my rights.
Look here! Who was shot last months
Hunko Pado, u blamed Mexican that you
an me wouldn't reco'nize socially. An
who was hung in June? Old Bill Grason,
n miserable critt6T without lineage nor
posterity. An that's the way it's been
since l been here. Not decent, high
toned gentleman has ever been hung or
shot. Do you think I'm goin to start itS
No. sir. There's somethin renowned an
blood stirrin an dignifed in bein behead-
ed, an them's my ehOosins. Why, they'll
TELEGRAPH about il ali over the east, an I'll
DO notorious like the president of the
United States, an 50 on. It's the greatest
moment of my life. There is tide In the
affairs Of men, you know, an this is my
tide. Who remembers Hunko Pado or
Grason todayS No one. But fer years this
camp'll talk about how Gridley stood up
an took his KILN like a man in pictur,
an you'll none Of you fergit me-
Hartwenter was sad and gloomy. He
had no tastc for his forthcoming job, and
ne argued and entreated Gridley to be
obliging, but Gridley would not. 1t was
the chance of his lifetime, and he did not
mean to throw II away. Hartwenter offered
10 paint the gallows In three colors and
have some flowers for distribution as SOU
venirs. In vain. The heartsick sheriff on
the night before the day set for the execu-
tion visited Gridley for the last time with
his final appeal But Gridley, growing
eloquent concerning the unique character
of his impepdip0 deceasc positively re-