The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-22
DENVER SOCIETY ENTERTAINED
The Last Public Hanging of the Ma
 tilra of a Social Function


 ture of 8 Social Function.
 As a story teller veteran Detective Sam Howe cannot be beaten. To-day the conversation drifted to the repeal
 of the law making death the penalty l for murder. Of course Sam had to tell
 about some of the hangings in the old
 days The most interesting of the
 many was the last legal public hang
 ing.
 Up to 'S6 all the hangings were pub l lie" began the detective. Tn those
 days a hanging was a big event, people i Hooking to the scene that lived miles away. The crowd that witnessed the last legal public one, that of the ne- gro, Andy Green, who was hanged July 27, 1886, must have numbered almost 1 20,000. l remember the day well. I was a detective at the time, and was de- 1 tailed to assist in keeping order. Be- fore I continue think it best to give a short outline of Greens crime, He i and another negro named John Withers held up and killed Joseph C. Whitnah, street car driver driver. Withers confessed the whole crime, turned states evidence and is now serving llLe sentence Tn the pen. ''The scaffold was erected in the bed of Cherry Creek, midway between the Broadway and Colfax avenue bridges. The day was a beautiful one, but in- tensely hot. Think as you might, the heat had no deterring effect on the crowd, Men, women and children liv- ing for miles around and many of them refined, came to the execution. 1t Is a way partook Of the nature Of a society event. The hanging was dvested of solemnity by the enormous crowd, who seemed to find pleasure in the gruesome spectacle about to be enacted. The death scene was relieved of some of It's ghastliness by the roughly reconstructed scaffod, which had no steps,
 'The colored murderer was standing on boards raised few inches from the ground The whole scffold was such simple contrivance that it did not re- semble an engine of death at all. Com- pared to the modern scaffold, it was mighty crude affair. The drop con- sisted of merely a rope and weight to pull up the murderer.
 Tt was about 1 o'clock when the pro- cession left the county jail. Andy Green, the murderer, was attended by Sheriff Cramer, the Rev. William Gray of Zion Baptist church. the prisoners chaplain and Edgar Capyless, his at- torney. Before the execution there was talk of band of music, but at the last moment 1t was omitted At the very head of the procession was Col. Chiv- | ington and posse of police. Then fol- lowed some deputy sheriffs and then came the prisoner and those having him in charge and lastly number of hacks and other vehicles with visitors
 "The candidate for the gallows was attired in hobby suit of black diagon- al. He wore a white shirt and black | His appearance was particu- larly striking, as Green, when arrested, looked very much like hobo The | prisoner seemed to realize the gravity | of the situation fully The crowd, on the contrary, took the situation lightly I and was very bolsterous. The first thing on the programme was the read ing of the death warrant, which was done by Sheriff Cramer in voice that | not once faltered. When the reading | was finished a choir sang the hymn, Why Not To-night?' Green joined in the singing. Then followed a number of good-bys between the prisoner and some friends. The last act of Greens life was his dying speech, which was T resume of the crime.
 After he had thanked all his friends for kindness shown him and forgiven ais enemies the rope was fastened l around Greens neck. While the choir was sinpin1 dNaarer Nv C+n1 to T,ban | he stone was dropped and the death began. For fully fifteen min- ltes the crowd eagerly watched every witch of the body. At the expiration If that time the body was cut down, md the crowd dispersed. satisfied that t had been rewarded for its trouble in 'oming such a distance. Prom the Denver Times.