The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-25
LIFE IN death CHAMBER"
noLINEUUs BOOB. A RECORD OF
HIS PRISON EXPERIENCES.

leading figure in one Of the most re-
,7,arkab1e cases in the annals of GRIM
inology, employed a portion of his time
result of his labors is now given to the
world in a volume of sketches entitled,
1.-THE Room With the Little Door" The
hook is published by the G.. w. Dill
lingham Company of New York. 1t is
a work of no little literary merit and
will interest those who are familiar
with the history of this extraordinary
young man.
Molineux was arrested on Feb. 2S,
1899, charged with the murder of Mrs.
Katharine j. Adams of New York. 1t
was alleged that he had a grudge
against Harry S. Cornish; that he sent
to this man a bottle containing poison;
that Cornish, under the impression that
the bottle contained medicine. gave
portion OF its contents to Mrs. Adams,
who died from the effects of the drug.
Molineux was indicted on March 1, 1899,
but the indictment was dismissed on
technical grounds. He was released,
but re-arrested on the same day. On
July 20. 1899. he was indicted for the
second time by the grand jury. His
trial began on Nov IA, 1899, and lasted
until Feb. 9. 1900. The jury returned
q verdict of guilty of murder in the first
degree, and Molineux was sentenced
to death in the electric chair. He was
sent to Sing Sing prison and placed in
a death cell. His attorneys imme-
diately appealed for a new trial, which
was granted by the Court of Appeals
of New York on Oct. Is, 1901. The sec
ond trial began on Oct. 49, 1902, and
ended on Nov. IL. The jury returned
a verdict of mot guilty" and Molineux
was once more a free man, after spend
ing three years and eight months in
the Tombs prison. in New York city
and the prison at Sing Sing.
The Bright Side of Prison Life.
In the preface to his book Molineux
explains that most of his sketches are
true, or founded on truth. While in
prison he looked upon the bright side"
OF life whenever it was possible for
him to detach himself from his own
gloomy thoughts and surroundings.
That he succeeded in doing this is
proof that he possesses the philosophy
cal temperament in an unusual de-
gree. His book opens with a descrip-
ton of the death chamber" in Sing
Sing prison. 1T is very light" he says,
Sin the death chamber. There is no
privacy. The guards pace up and down
night and day, always watching There
is no sound while they do this, as their
shoes are soled with felt 1t is like
living, sleeping, eating and bathing in
a searchlight. 1t is like being alive,
yet buried in a glass coffin. We enter
the front door, exist for a year or so,
and then go out through the little
door,, as we call it. some morning to a
very welcome release"
Time drags heavily in the death
chamber. Sometimes, however, the
monotony is broken by new arrivals
and in Saying goodby now and then
to a fellow we have suffered with"
Newspapers are barred, but the occu-
pants of the death chamber are allow
ed to get books from the prison libra
ry. Nobody takes any note of how the
time passes. mo clock ticks in that
room and none is needed because the
value of time and it's relation to affairs
is eliminated. To us time is Just an
endless waiting without expectancy.
Each second seems an hour long-and
we are kept in there for years." The
little door" leading into the execution
room and 1.-The chair" has an intense
interest for the unfortunate being in
the death chamber ION one side is
life--such as it is-on the other in
slant death. When exercising in the
corridor one passes and repasses it.
Though we walk away we know we
are going toward 1t. 1t is always with
US, and irresistible is it's fascination"
In the second chapter of his book
Moineux tells of an occupant of the
death chamber who cheated 1.-The
chair" of its prey. This man was
known as "the professor" He was
very gentle, 'the quietest man of all,
almost affectionate one would think
-
ed small mouse, to which he seemed
devoted" For months ''the professor"
was patiently trying to catch the little
animal. With his stocking for a trap
he finally succeeded. He tanned the
mouse, taught it tricks and made it
sleep with him. One morning the war
den of the prison received the death
warrant for "the professor" That same
day the mouse died. 1.-The professor
took to his bed. The prison doctor
came, winked at the keeper and said:
Fright; let him alone So they let
the professor alone and he died; but
when they went into his cell they
found the cause of his illness had not
been fright at all. 1t was erysipelas
Over his breast were scratches, deep as
little teeth could make them, and fiat
tened down on them and tightly bound
lay the putrid remains of the little
dead mouse"
Death Chamber Musica1es.
Sometimes the men who were wait
Ing for death in the death chamber
would sing. America" was a favorite.
The selections were of varied char
acter, however, including "the last
popular song which had been waited
to our desert island" Molineux writes
that hours were spent in singing
when we happened to be in the
mood" But" he adds, there was
one song ever in our minds and in our
hearts that never came to our lips,
and which not one of us would have
dared to hum. Everyone thought of it;
no one ever suggested it. You know
the one l mean" The author, it APP
pears, occasionally sang a solo at the
death chamber musicales and joked
with the keeper about the effect of
music on the emotions.
One of the most entertaining chap
ters in the book is that in which the
author describes the experiences as
editor-in-chief and proprietor of the
Murderers' Home Journal, sometimes
ioVingly referred to as the Deadhouse
Squealer." The paper was "as artis-
Tic as black and blue pencils could
make 1t. We all contributed what and
when we pleased. Everyone in our
community read 1t, and no other. 1t
contained real poetry, jokes, essays
on our neighbors' behavior and news
local news). And the leaders How
proudly 1 referred to myself as we
Every proprietor admires and praises
MS own publication can saw with