The San Francisco call., 1897-10-03
EBANKs@ TO HANG ON
FRIDAY.
Received at the Prison and at
Once Put Under the
. .-:=-s Death Watch.
EIGHT DAYS FROM SEN
:TENCE TO EXECUTION.
Story of a Fiendish Crime and Per-
picking Questions in a MUIR
-. .--@: der Case.

SAN QUENTIN PRISON, CAL, Oct.
2-zEor the first time in the history of San
Quenjin prison, a murderer has come into
..Ihe pan}tentiary and gone directly into
the death chamber to await the hour of
execution. The man is Joseph Japheth
EDanks, the slayerof Mrs Leroy B. SuIes
and j. s. Borden at Ocea inside. His case.
in many particulars, is unusual and per.
picking.
Ebanks was brought to the penitentiary
This morning and his execution will take
place next Friday. He was sentenced TO
death *on Thursday, Septe NJ Der 3d. by
Judge Torreuce of San Diego. Thus only
eightdays intervene between the day of
sentence and the day of execution.
In this particular alone the case of
EUanks. has caused confusion and COM
plexity,. as it is generally understood that
no man under the laws of the State of
California may be executed in less than
sixty days nor more than ninety DAYS
from the time sentence is passed. The
authorities at San Quentin did not feel
. instlhed IN executing Ebsnks, knowing
that the hour of death came only eight
days after the pronouncing of sentence,
atld so Warden Hale went into consulta-
tiOn with At rncy-General Fitzgerald
who gave ain opinion that may mean
:Ebanks' execution,
The Attorney, General held that in cases
where the sentence was pronounced for
! The second time i! was not necessary TO re-
Spect the time limits of sixty and ninety
days, and .conse Quently Judge Torrence's IS
sentence was proper.
Whea *Eblnks arrived at the prison this
moining:at9 o'clock he was Immediately
ia zen before Captain J. c. Edgar and put
through the customary ordeal of having
his plctare taken. his face ana head
shaved AMI his entry made on the great
prison register where he Is known a No
IL ISL After dOnning a suit of stripes he
dl what II o OF her convict within the walls
OF tile big penitentiary had ever done be-
fore. He was handed over 10 two guards,
and instead OF being led to the iron and
stone cells Known as "murderers' row"
heWal ked to the cham Der of death.
Ebanks passed through the beautiful
flower gardens, with their bright colors
and exhllsratIng essence, then down steps
Into gloomy passage and then once
again Into the sunshine which crepi be.
tween the great stone buildings, with
their barred windows and. forbidding
masonry, The scene was new to toe MUIR
derer, and his eyes roamed about with
that Interest which only a condemned
man can feel
From the prison yard to the death cell,
on The top floor OF the building formerly
used as d furniture factory, is a long
climb. The steps are long and the rests
lew: This morning Ebanks took the Jour-
ney. Slowly he mounted the wooden
steps. hls eyes gazing at the stretches of
IandScan ne which burst into view as he
mounted higher and higher. When he
reached the top he gave one final glance
ana drank In cue long breath of the richly
scented air. He saw the bay cleaning in
The distance, the shining roofs of the
houses on the tar-away shores, the smoke
a-lsTng from happy homes, the little town
at his teet; tnen the cham ber OF death
was thrown open and he entered. He
walked into the cage, the door snapped
behind him. and the vigil Of the death
watch began.
Ebanks is not over 50 years of age. He
claims 10 have been born in England,
whence he went to the West Indies,
. nna4ly drifting into the United States and
quito California.
A:pary OF three Riverside people-Mrs.
Harriet Stiles, Leroy r. Stiles her hus-
: band, ana J. b. Borden, father of Mrs.
Stlles-Went to the ocean beach about
fifteen miles from Oceanside for a weeks
camping out. The little party pitched Its
teats on the beach within sound of the
oceans roar. In the afternoon the men
left Mrs Stiles a! the camp and started off
fishing: This was on the 10Th of Ser tenn
ber. 1885. As they were walking along
they met two men whose appearance they
did. not fancy, so rather than leave the
woman alone at the camp one of them
turned back.
j: 1t was Mrs. Stiles father who remained
with hyr while Stiles went on his way to
the. fishing grounds. After being away
for some hours Stiles sreturned to find both
his wife and Borden murdered
The authorities took the case in hand,
and :EbankS was captured about thirty
miles from S n Diego ard charged with
the criiae He professed innC cence. but
revolver was found on his person with.
tour barrels EN- pty, and the campers had
been M urdered with weapon of its cali
ber-: Nothing except some smoking to-
bacco> was missed from the camp and this
was found on Ebank>.
The ease was iried before a Jury in Judge
w l. P.erce's court and though the evil
dence:was. clrcumstantiaI the Jury in q
very few minutes returned yerdict of
guilty of murder IN the first degree. The
murder was rendered all the more hor-
Title by the age OF the couple. Mrs Stiles
was % years old. while her father had
passed the 50 mark.
Judge Pierce. sentenced Ebanks on April
. 1870 ;o:be hanged at San Quentin on June
~ 1915 Ebanks was not brought to the
prison, bus was Kept at San Diego. and
tHhr hled an appeal based on sensational
grounds he alleged that while he was IN
the. prison at San DIEGO B. a. Stephens,
Who claimed to be "a hvpnotist and could
place man under his power. had him
unnef his influence, and that while he
was under the spell he denied that he
murdered the aged couple. On these
grounds he asked for free dom, but the
supreme Court recently confirmed the
judgment OF the lower court and Ebanks
was brought before Judge Terrence of San
Dieso last Thursday for resentence.
execution to take place at San Quentin on