Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-28
Quadruple Hanging Takes Place in
Baltimore This Morning. .
ALL TEE MEN WERE NEGROES
Three Condemned for Rape and
the Other for Murder.
HISTORY OF THE CRIMES

the Baltimore city Jail yard. Three of the
men-Cornelius Gardner, John Myers and
Charles James-paid with their lives the
penalty for criminally assaulting Annie
Bailey, a thirteen-year-old negro girl, while
Joseph Bryan, the fourth member of the
quartet, killed Mary Pack, a negress with
whom he had lived
A NTH negro, Daniel Rodgers convicted
OF killing his brother-in-law, Charles Lew
49, was TO have occupied the same scaffold,
out MS sentence was commuted to life i'm
Prlsonment by Gov. Lowndes, and he now
occupies cell in the penitentiary.
AS early as o'clock crowds of morbidly
curious persons thronge1 tho streets lead
ing TO the jail in the hope of getting a
snmpse OF the execution. Sheriff Hoffman
Iiau peen oVerrun with applications fer
passes, but to all these he turned d deaf
ear His deputies, the jail wartIens and
twenty witnesses, as the law requires the
spiritual advisers of the condemned and
representatives of the press We're the only
persons allowed within the inclosure
Gardner, the only Catholic in the u1larte+
was attended by Father Busche, the 9th
efs being accompanied to the gallows by
Rev. z w. Coins, Rev. j. w Beckett and
rev. r. Parker, evangelists
The Final Preparations.
Shortly before O'Clock Sheriff Hoffman
80 tiiS jan anu llle Ilflal preparations
1or the execution were begun. AT 9:15 the
prayers and songs of the prisoners wer,
cut snort by a notice from one of the den,1-
ties to get ready for the march to the gal
lows. Ihe witnesses gathered in the corri-
uor 10 eaten glimpse of the men All evas
We're on the cells. The men made thair
lldl preparations in their cells, with the
assistance OF the death watch and their
spiritual advisers. They seemed narticmIar
as 10 their appearance.
Then, accompanied by the clergymen, the
Solenh procession started to the office of
arden Hall. The crowd of spectators in
the corridor was parted by the deputfes
leaVlng a wide passa geway. Along this the
men walked with attempted bravery and
courage although their dOwncast eyes were
raised only occasionally to meet the curl
Gus glances of the spectators In the
"arden's office the final statements of the
men were made and their farewelIs said
Then the deputies garbed the men in hIacl,
robes for their death
again the procession was formed and
lne march began out through the Jail cor
fldor to the back entrance. The black
robed figures moved slowly by the side of
the clergymen, and the deputies s1,rro1nd-
ed them. Every sound was hushed and the
spectators did nothing more than whisper
III making comments to each other Jrpon
ARRIVAL at the Scaffold the men immedi-
ately ascended ii, and the IDENTITIES ner-
formed the flnal Offices of binding the limbs
ana pulling down the masks over the faces
All Fail Together.
rms done, deputies and cIergymen left
the structure, Sherff's Clerk Heine being
the last to descend the steps. When all was
pronounced in readiness Sheriff Hoffman
sprung the trap and like a shot the four
men dropped to their death.
The necks of James, Myers and BRYAN
were broken by the fall and they died al
most instantly. Gardner's can became dis
arranged in the faf nd
was visible to the Mortified spectators He
was apparently conscious about one mo-
ment, after which he slowly strangled
IhlS accident, which was entirely unavoid-
aDle, was the only feature to mar the 9TH
erWise perfect action. James BODY was the
hrst to be lowered, at 1917 Gardner's
body was suspended forty-four minutes, the
sheriff preferring to be satisfied that life
was extinct in all cases before he moved
the bodies from the scaffold.
Inc remains of the four men were turned
over to undertakers, to be buried at the
direction of the families of the dead men,
History OF the Crimes.
Cornelius Gardiner, Charles James and
John Myers We're convicted of criufnaII,-
assaulting Annie Bailey, colored. thirteen
years of age, at her home in Vine street.
1he crime was particularly revolving. 1t
was committed on April %. The men were
indicted on May and found guilty on June
l. OH lHe IolloWlnS day, IN passing sem
tence, Judge Wright dwelt at length upon
the nature of the charges against the men,
and said 1t would have been lasting dis
grace to the court had the jury returned
any verdict other than guilty. He added
that he was disposed to give prisoners the
beneht of all doubt, but in this case there
was neither doubt nor eXtenuating circllm-
stances. In order to thoroughly satisfy
himself before passing sentence, he said
he had employed a detective to go over the
ground Independent of the testimony he
fore the court, and to find if possible
some eXtenuating circumstances The de.
tective had failed to find one circumstance
tending to lessen the aggravated nature
of the offense.
The girl was in her room on the second
floor of her little home, alone at the time
of the assault The men entered one at a
time. A sister of the girl discovered the
CRIME and reported 1t to the police. Gardi-
ner was found hiding in the house in a
small attic room. He was covered with
dust and dirt and presented a woebegone
appearance. No trouble was experienced
in locating the other two and the trio was
soon under arrest. For a time it was fear
ed that the victims injuries would cause
death. She underwent convulsion after con-
vulsion. After two weeks of suffering dur
ing which the child was unconscious most
OF the time her strength returned and she
was sufficiently recovered to appear before
her assaiants.
Bryan Murdered His Wife,
Joseph Bryan was convicted of the muir
der. on April 23 last, of his common law
wife, Mary Pack, colored. Bryan had lived
about six years with the woman, who had
deserted her husband to take UP with him
They were both of a quarrelsome dspo-
sition and their fights were the talk of the
neighborhood of their home at 123 Rogers
avenue. About week prior to the murder
the woman upbraided Bryan for not giving
her enough money to keep their establish
ments with. After the usual quarrel Mary
LETT the house and went to live with a
friend at 205 South Dallas street
Bryan did not discover her whereabouts
until the day of the murder, when he went
to the Dallas street house and demanded
that Mary return with him and bring some
OF his clothing, which he claimed she had
carried away with her. A quarrel fol-
lowed Bryan says the woman threa tened
to scald him and lunged at him with a
knife Bryan overcame her, took the knife
away and deliberately cut her throat. The
woman's fifteen-year-old daughter wit
messed her mothers death. Bryan con-
fessed. but said he was drunk at the time
This was denied by witnesses, and the jury
on June 13 rendered a verdict in the first
degree after twenty-five minutes delibera-
tion.