The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-12-11
FRANK Z. HOWE. Editor and Publisher
The Execution OF Mary Rogers,

| ot tho wary Aoscfs caer curing thc
past three years that The sabieei MAJ
nos ~ell 10 allowed 70 drop, but, 10.
fore closing Tho chapter IL may be ~ell
W reslew 10 Of The facts connected
~iih tho ssecuiloI. aud especially the
connection Of tho newspapers uhsre.
With.
of The apz ards Of thirty newspaper
reporters 81 Windsor last Friday oaly
three -ere admitted 10 Tho execution
but these throe ~or. asked aud Ia fact
directed 10 give out tho facts fairly and
completely IA all the papers that dc.
sirrd facts.
Tho arrangsa.sni did not satisfy tho
Representatives 81 tho Boston Ameri.
can, tho Boston Post, tho Mes York
American aud World aud. &C regrv,
10 say, tho Boston Herald which. can.
trary 10 iis usual custom, got do-n In
The mud wilh the yellous. After oficr.
ing a. high - 200 for ticket 10 tho
execution or = chance 10 smuggls In q
fakir. aud failing, Tho reporters OF
ihose papers publicly announced their
ini.nilon. hours bciorc the execution.
OF disloriing every Incident 10 make
Tho affair discrcdilable 10 the state Of
Vermont.
Tho "lady" representative OF the
Boston American informed The writer
that she should "roasi hell out Of
Governor Bell and the state 81 Yer
mont" that she didn't carr a d-n
how the execution vas carried out she
should paint IL In such colors that IL
would make Governor Bell, Supt.
Lowell and Sheriff Peck So
tired that they will -lsh they had
gone 10 bell along with Mary Rogers.
"And Clark Fits too" she added.
"hc IL the son Of u gun that has tried
10 turn down the American all through
this case. will gei even with him II
have 10 come back up To this little
nasty state Of Vermont aud stay
month" The reporters Of the other
papers mentioned expressed q similar
intention In only little less vigorous
language.
The result was exactly what the
writer OF this article expected. The
reporters who desired 10 Willy YER
mont seized the only peg they could
fnd and magnihed Il until they could
use Il TO hang q swarm OF lies on.
The truth Of the matter IL, however,
that the hanging was done as decently
as possible and IL was probably a. de.
void OF gruesome features as an exc
cution ever Is. When the drop fell
Mrs Rogers feet did not come any
where near Che floor, comparatively
speaking, clearing by several inches.
This Is true OF the entire period OF her
death agony lasting several minutes
during which could be seen the convul-
sive twitching of her fingers and
very slight movement Of her ieet.
After all visible motion of the body
ceased IL could be seen that the con-
slant strain on the rope had stretched
it slightly. Mrs Rogers had grown
heavy in person and probably weigh
ed fully 10 pounds. Moreover as
death came on, her body relaxed and
her feet dropped nearer the floor.
Naturally nervous 10 doing some.
thing they had never done before, tw o
OF the deputies climbed the steps TO the
scaffold and pulled the rope sideways
against the edge OF the platform TO
keep it from stretching further. The
action was entirely unnecessary, Mary
Rogers was already dead. The
doctors say that she was dead from
the drop which broke her neck.
Moreover the action of the deputies
was really uncalled for and due on'y
70 their nervousness and anxiety to do |
heir sworn duty. Her feet did not
more than brush the floor and If they
did that it was fully eight or ten
minutes after the drop fell and when
The doctors we're merely waiting to
make assurance doubly sure before
officially declaring the woman dead.
An execution is terrible thing,
the hanging of woman,
40 matter how low and degraded. 1t
1oes not need grotesque falsehoods
,onjured up by the whiskey strength
,ned Imagination of Eleanor Ames
md her kind to make it painful and
The writer of this has no knowledge
If any attempt to conceal the facts.
lie has told them fully and freely to
VII who have asked him, including
wen the reporters of some of the
papers above mentioned. He and the
,ther two newspaper men present did
make an effort to get them to confine
to the facts, only to be met
~ the statement that they didn't care
! blank for facts, what they wanted to
10 was to make Vermont squirm.
In this connection the Banner is