Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-25
PASS IA ou'ELSUNDAY
FUNK AND SMELL AWAITING ACTION
OF COUNSEL.
Condemned to Die ON the Scanold FRI
day NeXt-Funk's Confidence
Unshaken.

Frank w. Funk and Benjamin H. Smell.
who are under sentence to die on the scat
fold Friday next between the hours Of II
and 2 pm. spent a quiet day In prison
yesterday. Unless the President or one Of
the justices of the United States Supreme
Court should interfere in the cases during
the next three days, yesterday was their
last Sunday on earth. Counsel for both men
are hopeful of getting stay of execution
until the meeting of the United States Su-
preme Court in October. and Funk is still
certain that he will not die on the scat
fold. So sure is he that he recently made
bet of box of cigars that he would not
be executed Friday. The bet, he stipulated.
is to be paid Thursday. for by that time
he said his fate will be determined.
IF 1 should lose the bet," he said to the
man to whom 1t was proposed, I'll have
the cigars here Thurs6s>%. and Ill sit up all
night and smoke with you
Funk did considerable talking and writing
last week. and Saturday afternoon his
counsel called halt The attorneys ad-
vised him that he would have to keep
demned man has since denied himself to
reporters. He attended the Catholic ser
vice yesterday conducted by the Rev.
Father Mcguire. the priest who does prison
mission work. Later he sat at the cage
door and listened to the services conducted
by the Rev. John Roberts of the colored Y.
Written Statement.
While Funk did but little talking yester-
day, he gave out a written statement, in
which he referred to the scriptural quota
ton, THE wages Of sin Is DEATH He
wrote:
1.-THE wages Of sin is DEATH may be per-
haps more forcibly appreciated when man
Is facing the gallows and the black cap Is
being drawn down over his face closing
out the light Of day. than when merely
considering the words in q disinterested
manner. Between now and next Friday.
the day set for my execution. the sun can
not rise and set many times. and the black
cap OF eternal night is fast drawing down
over the earthly light that the courts have
allotted to me as the residue of my mortal
existence. In biblical times the law was.
The wages Of sin IS DEATH but now the
law Of the land is. The penalty of murder
Is death If this rule was applied to my
case. instead of an attempt to literally en-
force the old Interpretation of the scrip
complain, and the black cap which Is now
impending would be raised from my eyes
that might have Justice and not avenging
retaliation for the crime of an unascer-
tanned sinner"
Further on he repeats declarations of in
nocence and says If he Is executed it will
be only one of the mistakes that must oc-
cur in the life Of a nation.
smells Indifference.
Smell appears to take no interest in the
religious gatherings at the Jail. He never
attends the meetings. AS stated in The
Star last week. he says he is good; that he
has done no wrong and he is, therefore.
not afraid to die. The Jail officials are
still of the opinion that he Is feigning in
sanity. He pretends that he takes no in
terest in earthly affairs. but the officials
say he reads newspapers when he thinks
nobody will see him. He talks very little
to either guards or prisoners. but when his
wife calls he is a party to an apparently
interesting conversation
No death watch has been placed over
either Funk or Smell. The warden believes
1t is not necessary. The guards are. of
course. supposed to pay more attention to
the condemned men at this time than dur
ing the past. but Warden Harris thinks
there is no reason for placing a man at
each cell at this time.