The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1900-01-24


and out Of respect for their wishes il wss
decided that his body should be turned
over TO his brother Charles, who has mace
all necessary arrangements for having il
l buried on tract Of land owned by him,
several miles back of Meyersdsle.
A Meyersdele undertaken was present,
and as soon as the body was cut down
placed il in q easket. and shortly sfter-
wards left with 1t for the home OF Charles
Meyers. The funeral will take place to-
day.
In conversation with the death watch
/ Meyer said be was ready 70 die on the
gsllaws IL it was Gods will that he should
be removed in that way. bat declared tbSt
he would not 20 on the death-;rzp unless
had testified against him were present.
He insisted that Kzrnsy had no right to
( go on his property. aud apparently felt no
renorse that he had killed hun. He
claimed thar he WAS unconscious Of kill
ing Lenhart He chung to the belief that
he had simply protected his rights ON the
day Of the double tragedy to the last.
Meyers arose At an early hour yester-
day. he had slept soundly throughout
the entire night. and appeared u have
I been greatly refreshed He ate hearty
breakfast, and about nine o. clock received
= call from Rev. Cameron. Of the Metho-
| dist Church, who remained with him for
I some time. After the minister retired he
asked the death watch TO read 70 him
from the Bible, which wss done.
! Throughout the days Of his long confns-
! ment the condemned man Appeared TO
draw much consolation from the Holy
I Scriptures, which formed the greater part
I of his reading. Meyers impressed those
about him As being morhidly religious.
he was a member Ofthe Lutheran Church.
and during his incarceration was visited
~ intervals by his former pastor. Rev
Collins. Of Meyersdale.
After dinner he spent several hours Al
the open window Of the Jail corridor. gaz-
ing in an abstracted manner at the sun,
which was shining effulgestly in the hsav-
ems Hundreds of people passing through
! be jail yard were attracted by the figure
of the wretched felon. who was looking
5or perhaps the last time on the glorious
/ orb OF day.
Attorneys HOlbert and KOoser appeared
before the Pardon Board last Wednesday,
when they presented the application Of
Meyers for eOmmutstion OF sentence TO
life imprisonment. They were given q
patient hearing. and were permitted 70 20
into the details of the case. The lawyers
argued that their client WAS degenerate
and not possessed Of sufficiently strong
mentality 70 make him a III 81 bject for
execution II was pointed out that be
had suffered from epilepsy from early
childhood and had been the object Of
brutal attack by his father. when the lat
ter struck him. on the head with poker.
Much stress was laid on The fact that
Meyers in iis ignorance believed he was
the rightful owner of the property. the
/ dispute about which resulted in the kill
ing Of Karney and Lenhart, and that bis
father Was powerless % dispossess him Of
the house The Pardon Board did not
announce their decision until Thursday
morning. when Attorney HoIbert was no.
tilted by telegraph thai Meyers spplica-
ton was refused. Attorney Holbert i'm
medisteiy communicated the news to
I Meyers. who expressed no surprise, say
ing that he expected nothing Else.
Thursday night the death watch was
placed on Meyer. aud from then until
the hour Of execution arrived he was care
fully guarded by Cyrus Knepper and An
drew Bittner. one of whom remained in
the cell with the condemned man day and
night
As soon as it was definitely known that
the Pardon Board would not interfere in
Meyers behalf. the condemned man was
removed from the male corridor Of the
jail, where he had been confined for over
year. to the female corridor, over the
Sherif's Office Meyers requested that be
be given paper. pen aud ink. as he wish
ed 10 put the finishing touches 10 his
tory Of his life from period two weeks
before the murder of Karney and Len
halt mp 20 toe day Of his death. Meyers
put in great deal Of time during the past
two or three months in preparing the
manuscript Of his alleged history.
A soTroWful scene was witnessed IN the
jail Saturday when Meyers two brothers.
Charles and Dennis. and two or three
cousins. called for the purpose Of saying
good-by. Amer Ssking bis relstives to
deliver a number Of last messages for
him, Pete removed his watch and chain
and presented the watch TO Charles snd
the chain 70 Dennis. lie took $5-noie
from his pocket and wrote his name on
the face OF it before handing it to Charles
with a request that he deliver it to his
youngest brother. He then produced sew
ersl pieces OF fractional silver coin. which
be requested his relatives to present to
various members Of the family. who sent
word that they would be unable to visit
him.