Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-05
HkNGMEN NOT SCARCE.
Applicants for Legal-ki'Ier's Job are
Plentiful.

Fxec1tioners in this the twentieth CEN
tury when the effects Of clEllIzaion. SUCH
as cduca ton and environment, haze solt-
enpd and refined mans nature I" the cN-
tent that the dark and horrid things, the
accessories OF Il judicial death. prove an
horrrnt to them. are not very dtairable
acquaintance: il fact. they are n gentry
to be avoid, d. but for all the conventional
DreiUdicc<. Captain Archie Kenny son, the
governor OF the parish prison, where at
present among other culprits. FIVE men lie
in the condemned cells. awaiting sloonlly
the dark Friday when they are to be SUM-
moncd to the scafTold. numbers among the
people he knows no less than six public
hangmen.
The latter day Jack ketchers." the
laws hired stranSlerS and breakers OF
human neckS, are not acqualhtahCes OF
the captains seeking, however; the!
forced themselves on him, as c!SlsteHt
applicants for employment i'll their par
ticular line Of buaint s.: they haunted nus
office different hours OF the day anc
night, they cNp@ tiated upon IN alr clever
ness at making nooses and of giving male
"a ,t1:s a speedy exit from this world OF
chances into the land Of shadows. ara
even rela led. for his sole benefit. grew
some little incidents connected with their
careers.
Last year, when George Thompson the
negro VINO killed Bill Draws, the blaci.
bully. was 10 be executed at the parish
prison. the hangmen in droves, TO use Il
liS'IatiVe Term. beS;eged Captain Renny-
;oD Of giving Thompson his quietus that
they cut the price usually charged Tor
such service. and competition was br1sk.
However. The newspaper reporters, ana
and the courts, managed to secure
Thompson a Communication of sentence to
lie imprisonment. and the prospective
hangmen We're beaten out of their job.
Now that almost the last hope has dis
appeared for Charley Foley, who killed
Richard Flynn, and Moses Lewis, who
outraged Elizabeth Neintz. and il seems
inevitable that the men must die on the
eallowS ana alSo as the presence of the
other condemned Lyons, Spare and Sc
iours. up in the death gallery. proves Il
temp ting lure, Captain RennNSon expects
to soon have his creepy visitors back
again. full of fresh insistence. ana more
anxious than ever for a chance at their
trade.
Why, Paris. back in the days of the
Red Terror when Samson and his as
siStantS made so many OF the doomed
aristocratS 'SneeZe III the sack, under the
sharp urging OF Nine. Guillotine. or Lon
don, in the Eiizabethan period. when so
many gallantS. for reasons of state, went
to the block. could hardly have done bet
ter in the line of producing headsmen
than New Orleans can today, in the line
of producing hangmen. said captain
Rennyson, as he grew reminiscent. and
his mind recalled the last years expert
ence.
Whenever there's the chance of the
scaffold being used out there in the yard
he continued, pointing through the bars OF
the office window, you'll see a bunch OF
hangmen laying for him at the gate. There
are all sorts and all kinds of them. White
men and black men with an occasional o
orally the first on the scene, and the most
persistent.
Hanging is n queer calling for any man
of any race to follow, Captain Rennyson
said, but he had noticed, he explained,
that nearly all of the applicants for the
job Of killing a fellow-creature appeared
morbid bioodthirsty impulse than for the
money there was to he gained.
Some Of the hangmen, when Captain
Rennyson had his dealings with them.
urged their skill in always breaking the
victims neck and causing little pam;
others set forth their years Of experience
at the business. while others admitted
that they didn know much about hang
ing men. but were ready and willing to
learn.
one executioner-a yellow man, who
had record OF sixteen hangings in Mis-
.isslppi and other neighborng states
carried around with him model of the
gallows he used, small counterpart OF
the engine OF death made of cigarbox
wood, and htted up with any amount OF
cords and nooses, to demonstrate how the
ropes worked.
Tbs hanEn1an presented Captain Ken
nyson with his model, rather he left the
ghastly-looking thing in the prison gov
ernors office. thinking doubtless that its
many PROJECTIONS would soon or late dawn
on the captains mind and secure Tor its
maker the task of hanging the next CON
demned
The miniature gallows long stood in
Captain Rcnnysons office, and dust and
cobwebs accumulated on it, until at last
the captain, firing of seeing it, gave it to
a police reporter. The reporter wanted
to bring the gallows home and keep it
as curiosity among the other relics.
gathered at the morgue and in the station
houses. but his wife wouldn't hear of the
unslghtiy acquisition to the museum and
SO the prison governors gift was de-
clined.
Captain Rennyson has in Jail several ne
groeS who are longing for a chance to
play hangman, and when the criminal
court was awarding the laws heaviest
penalty with such a lavish hand last win
Ter ana spring, one of the prisoners called
MIN TO the window and in low voice,
SO that the other culprits gathered in the
YARD couldn't hear him, pleaded for the
opportunity OF acting as eSecutioIer the
hrst chance that presented itself
The negro said that he didn't '.zackly''
Know how to build a gallows. but ne
guessed If the captain would have the
tning erected he could knot the ropes ana
right
when the governor sets the day for the
executions, Captain Rennyson Is satisfied
that he will be able to take his pick OF
hangmen and will have trouble in keeping
clear OF the surplus stock.