The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-19
COMMUNICATED.
! .||. !. SOUL ! ] |.
IAl',t.t;stifil Johnson Not Not Il. Tearing.
Tho-,seSWho5 Destroy sp{ o;ill
.9.$s g., T.;fs,
Will 4. APPEAL 10 GOVERNOR % ! / R


&e'n"rhey cnhiatake my life If they want
Ito, bit, thank Goo, they can hive my
soul. II am M Innocent; man-just as In
#nocent us You nrc, as anybody catl \ pc.
III Il was standing before Jesus Mt this
moment, Iswould tell Him I was innocent.
And HcS knows 1t. ] haven't got anything
g,ngainst anybody, and I am going to say
5on the scafforld just:awhat I nm saying
now. A But those who testified against mo
fnnd took MY life will al one day have
10 stand before tho Judgment bar Of God
and say what they said against me"
,s,rl1usS spoke Austin Johnson, tho young
negro lnSsIlenrico county Jail. who Is to
Z hangcdRfor criminal assault next Monday
jGf.t8wolld slikeito see the Governor about
" cnsc.n,f said the condemned mun--this
appearing to DO an afterthought .5i
4. Mr. Edgar II. English, attorney for the
negro, did not llenrs from the Supreme
Court yesterday In the matter of grant
Ing d writ OF error In the case.
Governor Montague will be presented
with a5pctitlon this week, signed by
many Henrico county ofliceholders, and.
n strong effort will be made to have the
sentence cot1muted to life imprisonment.
That Austin Johnson Is innocent Of tho
charge there nrc scores WHO believe. At
least there Inns been HraisedSa sufficient
doubt In the minds Of many to ask that
the dca til sentence be set aside and that
instead the negro be taken to the peni-
Tertiary. a .t%
esquire james T.. Lewis, who heard the
preliminary trial Of the negro, will sign,
a petition to- the Governor asking for
communication 6of sentence, and It Is said
that the members Of the juryzjwould not
object to this gncton being taken.
Il In his cell &nt the HenrcO jail the con-
.demned man. spends the days In prayer
and song. Two negro men who were con-
,victed Of wife beating and imprisoned In
the Jail, stand outside of the cell and
sing hymns with Johnson. The notes OF
NEARER. My God, to Thee. waited
through the jail corridors, where a hetero-S
genous conglomeration OF blacks and
whites congregate came ITO the ears OF
the attaches of the office while n re-
porter was there The three negroes sing
wcll--stng In that swinging strain SO COM
mon OF the negro-and the music is good
1t sounds strangely weird in tho place.
Wrote Pitiful Letters Home.
d Herbert Lee James Delay and Willie
Ballard, small white boys from Norfolk,
were arrested yesterday morning by n
special officer for the Richmond. Fred
cricksburg & Potomac railroad and
charged with trespassing They were
given a hearing before Squire Angle and
ordered to pay II fine Of $3.50 each OF
spend sixty days in jail With the costs
each fyoungster, was asked to contribute
something oven six dollars Neither had
that much and they Earea.now III jail.
Each of the boys yesterday wrote home
to their relatives }and:ltheir letters wer>
really pitiful. y, "a a.
Involuntary Guest.
Putting the price Of tho two chickens
at ninety cents, or forty-flve cents each
james Anderson Gathright, negro ar
rested In HenricO county by Object