The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-24
DIED ON THE GALLONS
NoRDsTRoM FOUGHT HARD FOR
 HIS LIFE.
Deed for Which He Was Executed Was Committed More Than
 Nine Years Ago-The
 Case @ Famous One.

Seattle, Wash, Aug. 23.-Charies w. Nordstrom was hanged this morning for the murder, November 27, 1891, of William Mason.
 From early morning the condemned man had seemed to really fully realize his position and while the ministers and members of the Salvation Army prayed with him he wept continually.
 Shortly after 9:30 Nordstrom was brought into the execution room. It re- quired the assistance of four men to keep him on his feet.
 When he was taken into the presence of the scaffold he brokn down com pletely. crying and praying that his life be spared.
 He collapsed entirely and3 fell to the floor.
 Efforts to keep him on his feet were fruitless and at last Sheriff Cudihee or1ered that a board be brought. To this Nordstrom was tied.
 The six men then with great effort succeeded in getting him on to the trap.
 There he was stood upright, four men standing on the four sides of the trap and holding him.
 In less than two seconds after the condemned man was in place the trap was sprung and Nordstrom had paid the penalty of his crime.
 Nordstrom was pronounced dead in thirteen minutes.
 Charles w. Nordstrom, who was hanged in the garrett of the King County courthouse at 9:30 this morn ing, committed the deed for which he was convicted over nine years ago, November 30, 1891.
 The Nordstrom case is a celebrated one, having been fought back and fourth in the courts for nine years.
 During that time the condemned man has managed to escape the gallows several times for one reason or another. Nordstrom worked during the fall of 1891 for Thomas Mason. rancher, near Cedar Mountain. in this county. He had a dispute about the amount of wages due him. On the night of the murder Mason was sitting at supper with his father. Some one fired shot from outside the window. Young Mason pitched forward and died in a short time.
 Investigation showed the prints of the murderers heel as he had stood beside the fence corner and rested his rife on the top. The officers at once took up the chase. The murderer was tracked through a long stretch of country. Several days later Nord- strom. with a Winchester rifle of the same caliber with which the victim was murdered. was arrested on the railroad track near Cedar Mountain He told conflicting stories. On trial he was convicted. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of this State, which refused to grant a new trial. Colonel James Hamilton Lewis be- came associate counsel in the case. He fought the case in the Federal Court on a writ of habeas corpus. which was denied He carried the matter to the Supreme Court of the United States and lost his case. He then went to the Superior Court of King County and asked for a commission of physi- clans to extamine into the mental con- dition of Nordstrom. This was granted. The doctors pronounced the mane sane. Lewis demanded a jury trial as to Nordstrom's sanity. The Superior Court denied this. Tn the Supreme Court of the State Lewis's appeal of this ques- ton was overruled. Lewis carried the case to the Supreme Court of the United States. and also applied to the Federal Court for a writ of habeas cor pus on the strength of insanity pro- ceedings. The Federal Court refused the writ Lewis carried this to the Supreme Court of the United States also. He was oVerruled in both cases. Since then Lewis has applied to the Federal and Superior Court for a stay of pro ceedings and been refused. The entire litigation has taken nine years. Lewis last night. in spite of his announce ment the other day that he had left the case. was out of the city looking for a writ of prohibition from the Su preme Court Justice. The Governor has refused to interfere.