Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1899-05-20

OF the consptrators, he was sent down
to the arsenal to have charge of the
prison. In this way Capt. Rath came
to have part in the execution. He
Is modest and rather shuns publicity.
but the other day he told some OF his
impressions gained In the performance
of his duty. IL will be remembered
that four of the eonspirators we're
hanged, Booth himself having been
shot and killed by the soldiers In their
pursuit. The four were: Harold Payne,
Atzerot and Mrs Surratt Arnold.
Mudd and Mclaughlin were sentenced
to life imprisonment and Spangler to
six years at the Dry Tortugas. Re
garding the last named, Capt. Rath
said:
"Spangler was employed at the thea
ter before Lincoln was shot, being the
house carpenter. He was Booths lac
key. and although he had evidently
been used by the conspirator. yet 1t Is
my firm belief that he was entirely
innocent Of any Intentional part in the
crime. 1t was arranged that he should
be at the rear door OF the theater on
the night of the assassination to let
Booth out, and yet | know from his
action and conversation afterward, as
we'll as from the others, that he did
not know what he was doing 1t for.
OF course the whole city was under
martial law and proceedings were not
the same as they would have been II
The civil authorities had been In sway.
remember the day OF the execution
5pangler was pretty nervous. He told
me afterward how he had felt. He
did not know that the military Law re-
quired the reading OF the sentence OF
death to the accused, and so when he
heard the prisoners Payne. Harold, At
zerot and Mrs. Surratt being taken out
/ he said to himself, That is the first
batch. Am l In the secondT And
| he listened to the sounds from the
, prison yard. the moving about and the
/ commotion, then the deathly stiffness
/ and finally the horrible lurching OF the
| prisoners to death. Spangler told me
I that he lived year in that one hour
and long year at that, for every min
| ute he felt that the door OF his cell
might swing open and the guards ap-
pear to accompany him out to the
scaffold. II was when took him out
OF the prison to be sent to the Dry Tor
tugas that he looked up at the gallows
and blenched terribly at the thought
of what had gone through his mind
and then he told me all about 1t. The
most acute agony could scarcely be
worse than that dreadful waiting
waiting, with just the half certainty
that death would be his lot before
/ many minutes were gone. He was the
| only one Of the lot that was not guilty
/ The others never denied their guilt
\ disputing sometimes little questions oil
| dates and places. But their whole
| bearing and the conversation when
! they came together in the prison yard
! confirmed their guilt. The execution oI
| the four was delayed considerably By
/ the hardness Of Gen. Hancock, secre
tary of the war department. II was
| to have taken place at o'clock In the
/ afternoon, but we had orders not tc
| proceed without the general. Two
O'Clock came and went. then 2:15, ant
| still Gen. Hancock did not appear
/ Finally he came, painting a little, anc
| seeming to me to be little excited
He went with me into the prison ant
| said: Go ahead
Her. too-all four OF them. gen.
eral?' | asked.
Yes, all four OF Them
And so we went ahead. The reason
asked that question and got thaI
! answer was that there had been SONS