The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-12-10
WAITING FOR DEATH
How Two Condemned Murder
ers While Away Hours.
DIFFERENCE IN TASTE
ONE RECITEs SHAKESPEARE
THE OTHER PLAYS GUITAR.

So far as known. there is no par
ticuiar connection between the words
of Hamlet. Alas. Poor Yorick. 1 knew
him we'll" and the more modern liter
airy effort of Joe Hayden. "There'H Be
Hot Time In Old Town Tonight" The
two are separated by d period of time,
and the fame attained by each came in
parcels, many years apart.
But down in the county Jail the pro-
auctions are on an equal footing, and
anybody passing along the corridor may
hear suggestions of both issuing from
the cells of two condemned murderers,
who have chosen as means of pastime
the study of these widely diversified
specimens Of verse. The condemned
men are Lynch and King. the slayers
of Godfre-' Prowse.
Lynch, who is not so highly cultured
as his bandit colleague, and who is
popularity supposed to have fred the
bullet that ended the career of Colonel
PTowse in the Sheep Ranch gambling
house some months ago. has taken TO
the guitar. He CnCe rad slight knowl-
edge of music. he says. but mis- educa-
ton in that respect has, of late years,
been sadly neglected. i short while
death watch, Claude Russell the con-
demned bandit was furnished with the
strlnged instrument of his choice. He
carefully plotted to make life burden
for the prisoners in the wheel below,
and If accounts be true, he succeeded
pretty well in doing so. Having heard
/ of Hayden'S prediction that it would
be warm in the city this evening. and
( having secured a pretty good idea of
| the air accompanying, from brass
bands that brought soldiers home,
Lynch began a determined struggle in
the direction OF mastering the selection.
He worked out the first few bars the
| first day, and, as the result of constant
/ practice. he can now go through the
! introduction without fatting more than
fourteen notes.
But Lynch has his troubles. His cell
contains additional gobs of gloom every
I day, because between now and the time
set for his execution he fears he viii
I fail to attain a satisfactory degree OF
! perfection as a guitarist If the exc
cutiOn could be stayed until he has
mastered LISTS transcription of Men
( delssOhn's Wedding March. Lynch
/ would die happy. As it is, he hasn' I
/ time to become expert, and the prisoner
/ is pining away swiftly.
King on the other hand. has gone in
I for stage literature. Having secured a
copy of Shakespeare, ne began an ex-
/ tensive perusal of the life of the mel
anChoIy Dane. He can say Poor Hor-
! ick, | knew him we'll" as good as any
/ body, without looking at the book. but
I the soiiioquy puts him up against It
I It IS Kings most earnest ambition to
do a Hamlet stunt that viii make
/ Henry Irving look like a One-nighi
stand But like in the case Of Lynch
( there is quite a serious obstacle to his
/ as. irat:ons.
The two men are either confident
| that the appeal viii result in their re-
/ lease, or they don't care which way II
/ goes, for. from their appearance II
prison the visitor might think they
I were sojourning at Newport summer
hotel Lynch chats freely with his
death watch and the jailers on every
( day matters while King maintains
lsmore sullen attitude. speaking only
when spoken to, or 10 ask questions.