The evening times., 1899-04-22
THREE MURDBRERS
AWAITING EXECUTION
Soon to be Hanged at the Dis
trict Jail.
Guiteau's Seaffold to Swing Them
Into Eternity.
Strnthers and Winston indifferent
and GOOd-Natured-Smit Dis
misses His Spiritual Adviser.

Three murderers are waiting at the jail
| until the warden shall come TO their doors.
and after reading their death warran s,
escort them to the scaffo,d where they
will pay with their lives the penalty for
ruthlessly destroying life.
Everything has been prepared for the
| solemn execution of the death penalty. an ]
the men have but few days more to live.
William Strathers and Charles Winston
| will forfeit their lives to the law ON FRI
| day, May 5, between the hours of II m.
and p. M, and Edward Smith will be
| hanged one week later, Friday, May II,
! between u m. and 3 p. m. All Of these
men are colored and the crimes for which
they will pay their death pena-ty are OF
the most brutal character.
Strathers killed his mistress with an
AK early one morning in September. 1897.
and Winston shot his wife while the latter
was in bed, killing her instantly. Winston
reserved one ssot which he attempted to
put through his own brain. The ballet
only pierced his eye, however, and COM
pletely destroyed the sight. Both Ct these
men seem to realize their impending fate,
although they are calm and even tempered
and are much together in the tine al owed
them for exercise. They have had split
ual advisers with them continually since
the courts refused to commute their seI-
tsEces.
When seen by a reporter for The Times
today at the District Jail the condemned
murderers were walking rapidly to and
fro along the long corridor in front of
Strathers' cell in the south wing of the I'M
mense building They spoke pleasantly to
the clerk of the Jail as he inspected the
cells. Their spiritual advisers were in the
cell with murderer Horton the former po-
liceman who killed woman in Armory
Square last spring.
Two May Hang Together.
These two men will probably be hanged
together, although the hours set for the
execution of the sentence differ slightly.
The warrant for Strathers reads that he
shall be hanged between the hours OF II
and | o'clock, and that for Winston that
he shall die between 12 and 3. In order
TO have no Unnecessary delay in the mat
ter. however. the warden OF the Jail in
tends to hang them together.
Winston occupies cell No. on the
ground focr OF the south wing in the right
corridor and Strathers cell further down
on the left side Of the corridor.
The third man to be hanged, Edward
Smith. is an enigma to most of the Jail
officials. They are divided as to whether
he is showing great nerve or is on the
verge of collapse. The crime for which he
will pay the death penalty was the most
brutal and inhuman of the three. He lit
orally hewed the head Of his wife TO bits
with a hatchet and then placed the body
under the bed and remained in the house.
sleeping and eating in the room where the
hpfnrp ha
crime was discovered.
He maintained an Indifferent air
throughout his trial, and when asked if he
had anything to say after the death SEN
teEce had been pronounced he calmly
thanked the Judge and walked out OF court.
When Strathers and Winston asked for
spiritual advisers one was also sent 10
Smith. The minister called upon Smith
just two days, when the latter asked the
guard to refuse to admit him any longer. as
he had Iio use for him. He still maintains
the stoical demeanor noticed during the
trial. and has little to say. When he takes
his exercise in the corridor he rarely spa. Ks
TO anyone. but when he does it is in pleas
ant tones. When alone in his cell however.
the man spends the time swaying to and
fro on his seat, sometimes humming soft
ly to himself. The walls of his cell are
literally covered with pictures cut from the
Sunday newspapers representing the birth
and the resurrection Of Christ. He eats
and sleeps regularly. the guards say. and
never makes complaint. All of the three
murderers have gained weight since their
incarceration
Prepa ntiOns for nm Execution.
The preparations for the hanging are
very simple and everything is in readiness
for the event except the placing of the |
rope and the connecting of the trapdoor |
with the dark cell where the mysterious |,
individual who springs the trap is placed. !
The scaffold which was erected in the |
northeast corner of the Jail when Charles |
Guiteau, the murderer of President Gar |
field, was hanged, and which remains as |
solid today as it was when il was first |
erected, will be used.
Fourteen murderers, including Guteau.
have beeen swung into eternity from that !
,caffold The last man who paid the pen
atty on this scaffold was Irwin Ford. the |
murderer of little Elsie Kreglo. Ford was
hanged June &c, 1896. since which date the
;caffold has been idle. 1t is probable that
here will be work for it to do before the
rear is out, however. as there are now
confined in the Jail four murderers. all of
whom. it is thought, will be sentenced to
leath. One of them, William X. Reed.
las already been tried and convicted and
will probably be sentenced this week. The
,ther three are under indictment for mur-
Ter, but have not yet beeen tried.
The scaffold is built of heavy. stout tim
bers, is painted white and grey, and the
platform is about twenty feet from the
ground. There are holes in the gibbet for
he insertion of three ropes SO that three
men may be hanged at once, but the ca
'acity of the apparatus has not yet been
ested. The corridor in which it was built
s about twenty feet wide and the scaffold
extends almost from wall to wall. 1t is
,laced in the northern corner of the cor
-idor and ample room is allowed for the
spectators to the execution.
A small window Just below the lever OF
The floor on the left Of the structure opens
into dark cell into which goes the man
who springs the trap. This man is taken
into this room before daylight on the
morning of the day Of the execution and is
not removed until after sundown when
everyone has retired SO that no one except
The warden and the guards of the jail know
who 1t is that cuts the rope and releases
he trap. One of the guards Of the Jail is
selected-to perform this act, but
i often happens that the guard refuses to
10 it and then prisoner is pressed into
service -
The wing of the Jail in which the execu-
ion will take place is used for prisoners
rom the police and other courts who have
been sentenced to confinement there, while
he other, or south. wing is used for pris-