The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-03-19
The Exc cution Conducted With
# the Utmost Order by The fssS
Civil Officers. y
BRUTE's NEG K BR0K KEN 5s';.
AND DEATH G AME QUICK
The Crime for Which {illiah1s
Died Legally Was Criminal VI
A Assault y pom Mrs. Alice ss
Shields and Cruelly y Beat @ 81
\. ing Her and Burning IA
Her Child. s'''ss3EEssssI
tstaff sC,orrespont1ence.1


III ROANOKE. AZ, II arch is.IIsnryaE
Williams. the singer-cake colored Vlr.s
gina negro, who on the 3oth ~ day o.
January last. crin1inally y assa ulted md
cruelty beat and almost nllrdered IAfrs.ssss
Alice Shields, young wife OF George "
Shields. Of this clty, Is dead. He waa Ss
legally hanged and slaisSneck broken Ut s1i 81
So' clock to- day upon q gal lows erected siil
tho Roanoke "a n ~.
sance sent te1,ce o'inced
18th. $ s a
E Forty yseisht days ago, nt q lock ins$
the day time, the crime was connitt ted. .sa
To-day at IL 20 clock the criminal IS mack
was legally broken, and the victim OF
the das tardly crime has not been Q 81 b. -
ijected$ to trying ordeal on the Syyi ness
IS tand. .s s3ss
NJ Here is an object lesson. IIcreB Witt
Justice, legally adm MIST red. Sure 1,dkss
lynch has Il 81 Reuse u to Lon gsy.S abidssI
old onnoke has
5.l o Odious Compariso ons 81
III has been esl,lli on
last II, field ohto?s Read-Sss
well. & 9sff,9
What has Il 30 eli going on + onr oss
and Virginia thin the asst Tor rt1s-els hEs
d avs 5t Rea ders b & Tho Times Dispat tcll
are familiar nj Til he leR
SOho picture. then X on he FNs
pictures Sc morbid allsts . ..
North, and tell us which Is ne bril-
the purer, the bett Vhtch speople. Eiss s
tho more law a biding, the more lor;;s
suffering the nobler. 4... Roanoke has SCI
ans example to-day that II Vrstnia al u
the South, should be proud Of. ss .s 4
4. II. Tillett. the sheriff of Roanoke.
said yesterday he could 80 to Isynchpurgss
slngle-handed and alone, get the prison.
er. bring him to Roanoke and legally
hang him without the aid of a guard or.
even q +, gular deputy. He could shnysy4s
done It., too, 55 But let the pea kss
for itself. .. I'M NJ
The Prisoner Comes.
& About s 30 O. clock this morning. wllilo
t,e rain was coming a doW-nS I'M torren ts.3
5tha delayed train from nchbur 81 H on.
which we're Sergeant r llett. his guar Il
and d half E dozen nj eH sparer men y'1 NJ
tie prisoner Henry w llltams, pulled N g Z.
stho station. They were me Il by q srnitl I'M
squad ct pollce ana pro obab bly, ~ hundred
men and boys a xlous to get q 81 pstsS
of the condemned nan " hotg lad & oeallSs5
s,,ch al cost tly ward Of the ma ton. = W
a smaller crowd than uslla lyl a ssem oies
at the Roanoke depot on he arrival q q fiss
ttrains The prisoner, " no had been tn Az
tive and fippant all The way from sI.ynch-Ss
burg, BECAME excited as the strai 5slo!yetNs1
IN for Roanoke and when he was ta gen Il
off the train he showed every 8 gns 81 t$fs $fss
fright, but there was no cssio q fcf VI
I'll pha people Of Roanoke had hea rke enuda " VI
3to the voice OF reason. Their ndignat ton sssa
had not subsidized In Il he least a nd Il they y
we're still Of the opinion that 4 hanglt n
Was entirely too mild plinis shments fer 81
the creature who s5 had commit q 4 tne II
crime OF forty-eigh days so, but ti i tas n
law and the court had spoken, and TIE ~
GOOD name OF Roanoke was IT sta ke.fT T. b
people did not intend t hat that good ma me-
should he tarnlshed With another lync H.
ing within the borders. The law has ss5
spoken and the judges and tho offlc ers e'f ss
the city had 5besousht tho people TO re S}Ss
strain their emotions and 10 GU Y hellss VI,
indignation and let tho law be supreme
They had promised to do SO. Z and Henry
Williams was as secure from MOI Ylo-
lence as Was the godly priest who was Il. 4.
praying for his soul sSs
The prisoner was taken directly to the
jail and In ten minutes a fter the train VI
had pulled In at the station he was lspe eel
ing at a couch In one of the cells PR y-It;
ing. and by the light ofgan electric lam
reading the well worn cp techisEn whlct i h
the priest had given him. 853
The Execution. 81
Willlams late but little of the good II
breakfast that was furnished him az Is . &
O'Clock and was apparently light ed
when Rev. Father Lynch and Rev. ia ther4.g
AicHale, the two priests. came M to3 81 n
the last spiritual service. "a he prlest tas II
we're alone with him quite q hile. qtietssss y. sss
the sheriff, at 1890 clock, read the me igls 4
death warrant, the procession that ss
marched from the cell ~ the salloWa II II
was formed, and with the priests IN front N Il
sof him, holding aloft crlciflSes. Henry
Williams marched firmly and steadiiy
to the gallows. the priests chanting the q 9
death service provided IN their rstial@ @ IA
for such occasions. The preliminayr.lls.s's g .' s II
on the gallows took up less than fixe NJ
minutes OF time. When the trap WaHsS
sprung Henry Williams's neck WAS brolt vsss
on. he WAS pronounced dead ssrY soon
his bod MAS turned OYER 20 4 doctor it,i,s 4
most noriem examination, and The "
rr,,esome business WAS r,pee by tsl, Iailts
,,tss past II o'clsck.. That's ~ tlf III
course. there were gruesome detail q frsli a
start la finish. and some of them MOI w Ia
have delighted the morbidly eurlo hslts
4 ...griples. ntiifstsA Sssadsls - R9f = s9k