Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1901-10-14
coNvICTS HATE czoLGosz.

AUBURN, Oct. 10-When the assassin
of the president was received at the pris-
on here. every man in the institution
knew of his conviction and sentence
through the system Of silent communica-
ton by which news permeates the place
with such astonishing rapidity says a spe-
| cial to the New York World, The unan-
| imous sentiment of the convicts was that
If the assassin were handed over to them
they would satisfy vengeance in an UNI
mistakable way. The men In stripes muir
derers and all, hate the poor fool who de-
stroyed the nations ruler, and they would
like to put him to death in awful agony.
The felons in stripes loathe him, and do
not regard him as a wrong doer in the
same class with themselves.
There is an astonishing amount of pa
triotism among the c0nvicts. Strangely,
too, even those who are habitual law
breakers have a high regard for the law
and believe It to be just. They have moth
ing but condemnation for anarchy. which
would annihilate the law-6he power that
placed them in durance. Many OF them
are sentimental, emotional and impulsive.
and the advent of the assassin among
them acts as a firebrand.
In the chamber Of the condemned, where
four other than the ASSASSIN await execu-
ton, the murderer of the president is de-
spised. His companions in the death house
are John Truck, of Scott, Cortlandt coun-
ty, to die for the murder OF farmer a
year ago; George A. Smith. OF Churchill,
wife murderer; Clarence Egnor, slayer
of Prison Keeper Benedict, and Frederick
Krist, of Waverly, the murderer of his
sweetheart, Kittie Tobin.. All are appeal
ing to the highest court and the latest ar
rival, from Buffalo. will go to the cleo
trio chair before any of the four The last
to enter he will be the first 70 leave.
The assassins cell Is No 4 between
those of Egnor anc Krist When he was
dragged bowling into the sombre place,
Egnor cried out roughly to him. tAh. stop
your blubbering." Krist taunlingly called
the whining assassins attention to the
entrance to the execution room. called
the Door of Doom. 1t is directly opposite
his cell.
Look at IT. said KrIst: ''you'n go
through there and you'll never come back.
If you enter you'll hear as cheer as you
CO." Ma
One of the murderers said he would
like to cheat the chair of the assassin by
getting at him. Their theory Is that they
had some sort of excuse for their crime.
while the assassin had none at all. They
intend to make holiday Of the day he
dies and tell him so.
Thus, in his last wretched hours on
earth, this 'liberator. as he Thought he
would be called. Is ieered at I'd made the
jest Of men who themselves are facing
death. He knows now the bitter truth
that there are none so low, outside his
brotherhood of assassins, as to have one
spark Of honor or pity for him.
Three keepers divide the day and night
into watches over the assassin, and viii
see to It that he does not commit suicide.
His cell is about eight feet square. Most
of the time he spends lying on his cot,
now and then pacing to and fro in the
narrow space about his bed.
In commenting on the attitude Of the
prisoners to the assassin, one of the off,
Gals said: IF they got hold of the as
sassin they would tear him In pieces.
do not believe there is any place in the
world where he is hated more bitterly
than here among the inmates of this pris-
on. The inmates want the world to know
that they are no such criminal as he.
might explain best the difference by say
ing that IL the inmates of this prison We're
TO be organized into a regiment and
marched forth to battle for the flag, they
would fight to the last ditch, fight glori-
ously, fight like f1ends and die like heroes.
''If ], 200 anarchists were to be marched
forth they would spit at the flag and die
like dogs That is the difference. No one
feels It more keenly than do the prisoners.
You know it was the Duke Of Wellington
to whom the saying is attributed that II
he were asked where to look for the best
soldiers he would answer, in the prisons
and the palaces, among the sinners and
the swells."