Cañon City record., 1900-02-01
HANGED TO A POLE.
Convict Reynolds Suffers A Greater
Penalty than the Law Provides
For Ills Counection with
tire Rooney Hurder.


Friday evening about ten o'clock
the FIRE alarm was sounded . few
times. As is usual in such cases
people rushed to the hose house from
all quarters of the town, but the first
there did not find the ringer of the
bell and no one saw any signs Of any
fire. 1t first appeared to be q hoax
and people started home again, feel
ing that some regulations should be
made to to keep the fire bell from
eing rung without cause. Then it
was whispered around among the
men that Reynolds, one of the escap-
ed convicts who murdered Night
Captain Rooney on the Monday night
previous, had been captured At Flor
ence and was being brought up to
Canon.
No one knew how the information
reached town. but it was said that
the con was being brought by three
officers, in q two seated rig drawn by
two horses, . bay and gray. In an
increditably short time several hund-
red men gathered along Main street,
from Fourth street to the penitenti-
ary gate. Some had hurried off to
the several bridges. on wheels or
horseback, while others went around
the pen and stood at the several en-
frances. No arms were visable.
Several men carried small packages
done up in coarse wrapping paper.
The people walked about in little
bunches, talking quietly together,
much az they do when several fusion
conventions are meeting in town.
Fact is they were not half 90 excited
as they were in Canon last fall when
the three parties effected the county
fusion. To an immaginative person
no thought Of "frenzied mob
would occur. That number of persons
going to q base ball game or horse
race would have made twice as much
noise and have been more excited.
But in reality this was . mob
and its object was to hang the murd-
srcr. Reynolds, for whose crime many
felt there was no law to punish.
The little PACKAGES in coarse wrap
ping paper were ropes ranging from
SO to 100 feet in length. The peo-
pie on the various approaches to the
pen were to give the signal Of the
approach Of the bay and white horses
by firing two shots. The crowd at
the intersection Of Main and First
streets would do the rest.
II WAS about eleven o'clock when
the watchers on the First street
bridge heard the approach of team.
II was coming at a rapid gait. They
crossed the bridge at gallop. But
as they crossed several tall men
stepped out and looked into the
carriage. 1t was unmistakably the
wanted persons. As the carriage
left the bridge two shots were fred.
which were answered from several
directions by two shots. The street
was full of men but the carriage
drove pell nell past them to the
prison gate. Here they were met
by crowd Of determined men, who
demanded the prisoner. Resistance
would have been worse than foolish.
The prisoner was given up.
The crowd closed in. The prisoner
was led quickly to the corner Of Main
and First streets, under the glare Of
IN arc light. He was given an op-
portunity to talk but had little to
say. He appeared thin, haggard and
worn out by his four days run for
liberty, but did not seem scared. One
could hardly imagine a cooler man
under similar circumstances. The
The only desire he expressed was for
n cigarette. A rope was put around
his neck and after much trouble and
some delay was thrown over the bar
Of the new electric light pole recent
ly put in at this corner by the Colo
RADIO Electric Power Company. He
was then hoistsd into the air ten feet.
On being let down and given an op-
portunity to talk, he refused. Then
ths body was drawn high into the
air and the rope securely attached TO
the pole. Here 1t was left for the
night.
It is more than probable that .
more orderly mob never gathered
any where in the country. No shoot
ing, except for signals, was allowed.
No violence to the guilty man, except
the hanging, was permitted. He was
not hit, dragged or dealt with in any
manner cruelty till the last lift.
There we're FIVE hundred men in the
orov.,d 70 thar wsn nus vat aua vii