The age-herald., 1900-04-08
THE MURDERERS
 DIED AT PONCE Great Crowds Attended the
 Public GarrOting. WAS A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE Simon Rodriguez Fought the Execu- tioner and it Took Five Men
 to Overpower Him
 Pathetic Scenes
WAS A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE

Ponce, P. R., April 1.-The five men, Si- mon Rodriguez, Carlos Pacheco, Hermoge- nes Pacheco, Eugenio Rodriguez and Ro- salio Santiago, convicted of the murder in October 1899, of Prudencio Mendoza at Yuacoa, and criminally assaulting the wife and daughters of their victim, who were compelled to dance about the corpse, were executed today by garrote during the fore noon in this city at a spot about mile from the jail.
 The great publicity of the garroting exhi- bition, with the condemned men in open carts, the slow procession, the entreaties of the priests and the braggadoco manner of the executioner, with the later exhibi- ton of the corpses to the assembled thou sands, made a horrible spectacle
 Business was suspended, and large but orderly crowds lined the streets and sur rounded the elevated platform upon which the execution took place. The policing was perfect. A company of infantry was held ready in the vicinity, but its services were not needed.
 The doomed men, manacled and attended by priests, received visitors during the last twenty-four hours. They slept but little and smoked and talked much. The father of the Pacheco brothers visited his sons and the sentencing judges, who were pres ent, were compelled to turn away from the pathetic scene The owners of public coaches having refused the use of their ve- hicles, the two-wheeled carts, each drawn by one horse, were used to carry the con- demned men to the place of execution.
 Each man had a cart to himself and was accompanied by a priest. The executioner' S cart led the procession. The condemned maDaclpd. hands and feet and wore black caps and ropes which were adjusted about them by the chief executioner, who told the men to be brave. Eugenio Rodri- guez resisted the executioners, and in the scuffle his clothing was torn. Before he was subdued five officers were required to oyerpower him. He addressed the crowds on his way to the platform, declaring his innocence and blaspheming and cursing every one in spite of the efforts of the priests The women along the route of the procession waited and wept as the condemned men went by. A halt was made near the platform and the carts proceeded singly to the steps.
 some of the condemned men walked up, but others had to be carried to the plat form, where they were seated and bound with their backs to the posts. As the ex- ecutioner frightened the screw rapidly the bodies twitched for two or three minutes and then all was over. The last body slip ped from its fastenings and fell to the floor an hour after the execution. The other bodies remained In position on the platform for four hours Thousands of people, unmoved, viewed the spectacle and heard the speeches of three of the con- demned men from the platform, but they refused to hear the speech of the execu- toner, who coolly paced the platform The Pacheco brothers kissed each other fare we'll just before the execution The citi- zens or this place censure the authorities tor permitting the Spanish mode of exe- cution, although they favored the death penalty being inflicted.
 The prominent Americans here, however th1nk that the actual killing of the men was sure and quick and not inferior to hanging. The method of adjusting the gar rote and the employment of human agency 10 complete the execution they consider bad.
 The crowds dispersed in an orderly man. ner after the execution and the business houses were re-opened