The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-16
THE MURDERER,s LAST HOURS

THE MURDERER'S LAST HOURS.
 Ripple, the wife murderer, was hanged at 12:95 last night by the ma chine at the State Prison, carefully handled by the warden and his assist ants, His neck was broken, and the man died instantly, although his pulse ran on for about seven minutes, It is evident that he suffered no pain. All nervous sensibility ceased the instant the spinal cord was broken at the neck. The plan Of killing murderers at the state Prison is an~improvement upon the former plan of hanging them at the county jalls. An Execution House" is established at the prison, with well-ad- Justed machinery for doing the work.
 This man Ripple, who murdered his bad wife in fit of jealousy, exhibited a pride"in showing his firmness in the face of death. My knees will not knock together" he said few days be- fore the execution; and he exhibited a spirit, in view of his situation well cal culated to set aside the sympathy which might have been entertained for him A week before the execution he said to the warden that he supposed he should be in hell in about week ' and added that he would get stand ing there by which he could make it hot for the deputy warden when he should come along. He used blasphe- nous language all through his confine- ment, as an evidence of bravery, we suppose. But it was rather an indiea- tion of coWardice, as he exhibited no coWardice or fear, and trained himself to be very cool and indifferent at the trying hour, and he carried 1t out. When being measured for new suit of clothes he said. You needn't measure me for an overcoat, for I shall have a wooden one" and he joked about his shoes, saying that he would like pair of canvas shoes for playing tennis In the other world. When his new clothes were brought in the tailor's tag ap- peared on them, and Ripple said: Take off that tag or they will arrest me In the new country for having a suit of stolen clothes.
 The vain brag, profanity and levity was not consistent with the occasion which Nipples crime forced him to meet It was something for the public gaze and the officials, by man whose reasoning powers were not well bal anced. But with Father Lynch he showed feelings of a different nature. T do not fear the hanging" he said, but fear God"
 The good priest told him what the fear of God meant, and the doomed man became reconciled. Under this re- | ligious training, the convict settled down to calm condition of mind, and repeated the prayers for the dying as he was prepared for the rope Father i Lynch is satisfied that the mans pray 1 CTS and his religious ideas, or earnest desires, had led him to become recon ciied to tiis fate and, while he did not | fear hanging, he had confidence in God at the close of his earthly career. Nat urally, Ripple was thoughtless, pas sionate man, revengeful and unreason- able. But Father Lynch advised and educated him in an excellent manner The result must have been seen and ap- preciated by the warden and his assist ants at their midnight duties.
 Does such unjustihable conduct as
 Ripple has exhibited indicate strong
 nerve power or very little, If any
 nerve of sensibility, sympathy and re- fined feelings? Murderers cannot have
 a fine nervous organization. Their ner-
 vous sensibilities must lie dormant, like
 those of the alligator, or they could moi
 carry out deliberate plan of murder
 and die on the gallows without finch
 ing Their own better feelings would
 stay the hand raised to shed the blood
 of a human being
 The arrangements of Warden Wood
 bridge were carefully considered, ant
 very quickly executed, in as humane Z
 manner as is possible to be carried ou
 in hanging. Hartford Times.