Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1901-01-18

LII v L
MURDER suggested The sug-
gestion met with instant approval
and the crowd, carrying the negro,
pushed on to Fourth street. At a
quarter past five o'clock Alexander
was brought to the scene Of the MUIR
der Of Pearl Forbes, at the corner of
Lawrence avenue and Spruce street.
The exact spot where the murdered
girl was found was located by the
leaders of the crowd, and there a
semicircle was formed. Alexander
was brought up in a wagon with a
dozen men. The wagon was stopped
in front of the %ravine, and, surround
ed by the crowd, the leader of the
silence. The roar ceased, and Alex
ander was showed forward for the
crowd to gaze at. A howl went up,
which was quickly hushed as the ne
gro raised his shackled hands and be-
gan to speak. Twice he started, and
the crowd drowned his trembling
voice.
Makes Another Plea.
"You are going to kill me, what
ever I say" he said, "but you men
are wrong. I want to tell you right
now, you've got the wrong man. I
did not do that, and some day you
men here will run up against the
man who did. I know it amt any
use to say so, for you're going to kill
mo Int r 1;Jns4 Jo -
The men standing behind him
showed him from the wagon, and the
roar from the wagon drowned every
other sound. The negro was quickly
driven down the embankment to the
pile of wood, with his hands still
shackled, and there bound to the
stake. Long before the wagon con-
the place a crowd had gathered. Many
carried rails and boards. Several
seized railroad irons and carried them
to the ravine. The spot chosen for
the stake was the exact one on, which
Pearl Forbes body was found on the
morning of November Z. 1t is on
Lawrence avenue, near the Santa Fe
track, and a hundred yards north of
Spruce street.
Chained to the Stake.
The first thing done was to plant the
railroad iron upright in the'mud. This
was made fast to irons firmly
bound to the upright iron with wire.
Around the improvised stake wood and
boards were piled. To this the man
was dragged and chained in a standing
position to the upright railroad iron.
Chains and irons were wrapped about
him, and with his hands still shaekled,
he was made fast. to the post. Coal oil
was then poured we him and the
match touched to him. Before the
match was applied John Forbes, the
father Of the murdered girl stepped
up to Alexander and said:
"Are you guilty of numbering my
daughter?"
81 don't know what you have me here
for" said the doomed man. Forbes
replied:
"For killing my girl in this very
spot"
"Mr. Forbes, if that's your name,
you have the wrong man."
"Burn him, burn him." cried the
crowd.
"Gentlemen you've got lots of time"
said Alexander. you're burning an
innocent man. You took advantage of
me. You ave me no show. Can 1 see
my mother?" A mar in the crowd
called for the mother, but she was not
in the crowd.
developed in Flames.
Coal oil was then applied for the sec.
ond time, and while it was being done,
Alexander called to friends in the
crowd and told them good-by. He did
not seem to realize that he was to be
burned at the stake, and talked ration
ally until John Forbes, the father of
the murdered girl lighted the match.
Again Alexander was asked to make a
confession, but he replied that he had
nothing to say, AS the flames leaped
about him, Alexander turned CHASTITY
pale, and for the first time realized
that his death was near. He clasped
his hands together, and began to swing
to and fro while the crowd yelled. In
less than five minutes he was hanging
limp and lifeless by the chains that
bound him. AS soon as the crowd saw
that life was extinct, it began to slowly
disperse. There were hundreds oil the
morbid, however, who stayed to the
last.
A Scramble for Relics.
Men kept piling on wood all the time
until about seven o'clock, when the
flames were allowed to die down. From
six to eight o'clock there was a con.
%tinuous stream of people going to the
scene OF the burning. When the fire
had died down sufficiently to allow the
crowd to approach what remained OF
Alexander, there was a wild scramble
to obtain relics, bits of charred flesh