Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1905-12-14
WAS THE HANGING sorcHep 7
Stories Of Two Deputies Concerning
Yellow Newspaper Reports.

newspaper men, all OF Vermont They
were Frank L Greene OF the ST. Adams
Messenger, Frank E. Howe Of the Ben
nington Banner and f. H. Clark of Wind
sor, representing the Associated Press.
There were something like fifty cor
respondents Ct outside papers who were
not admitted. These had TO depend for
their stories upon the Vermont reporters
who saw it, and who furnished them with
a brief account Of it Immediately after
ward. One can imagine how il must have
CALLED these representatives Of the metro
polltan press To take their copy second
. hand IN this way. They were i'm an ex-
: eeedingly ugly mood and disposed to
roast everybody connected with the
hanging, II there was possible opening.
And there was. One incident of the
! execution, concerning which close eye
witnesses differ, which the press reporters
present either didn't note at all or didn't
think worth while mentioning, inasmuch
\ as II had no effect on the execution itself,
came TO them, was eagerly seized upon
[ and, with eXaggeratlOns, made TO serve
I the yellow journals-and some reputa BILE
ones-as the basis for blaring broadcast
i that the hanging was botch, was brutal
and shocking TO the spectators. One
saffron sheet had a picture of the sus-
pended form Of Mrs. Rogers being held
from above By the rope about her neck
Ia the grasp OF two fiendish looking
/ deputies, with a text announcing that
when the drop fell the woman's feet
/ touched the floor and that the men lifted
her up and held her there while she
slowly strangled to death
so was the metropolitan press reyenged
for its slight in Vermont
Now what was there to this report any
wayG just enough TO serve the purpose
OF the sensation dispensing press, and
well did they work it. This paper has
4 been TO the pains of interviewing two Of
! the officers who were on or near the scat
| fold. One was Deputy Sheriff Paul G.
finkham Of Rochester, who was pictured
as one OF the strangers Of Mrs. Rogers.
Here is his story.
~ stood on the scaffold, / think the
nearest Of any body to Mrs. Rogers when
the drop fell. After a minute or two, on
looking down through the drop, il seemed
to me there was danger that the rope
would sag enough So that Mrs, Rogers
feet would touch the floor. So stepped
to the rope, as did Deputy Sheriff Bond Of
Chester at the same time, and We pressed
II 20 one side In such a way as to shorten
il a little. Nobody told as to do this.
Nobody spoke a word IN regard to it. We
were at the time the only ones on the
platform as the Others had stepped down.
We held the rope in this position until she
was declared dead We did not lift up on
il except as described
"Mrs Rogers neck was doubtedly
broken v hen the drop fell, Tor she made
only one or two slight movements after
ward and the doctors, when the body had
been taken down. said that il was broken.
am very positive that Mrs. Rogers feet
did not actually touch the floor al all.
"rhe rope used was a new one, half-inch
in size, and had not been tested, J think.
A a. Nan aHaFr NaH nit d
another rope, but this was a different one.
The other end Of the rope from the moose
end passed through pulley on the scat
fold arm above. then was fastened to a
heavy spring attached TO the upright tim
Der from which the arm extended out. /
understood this was the same continuance
used at previous executions there.
w. II. Sprague OF Chelsea, sheriff OF
Orange county, witnessed the hanging.
He says
~ stood about ten feet from the scat
fold, on the floor Of the corridor and
where could plainly see the position OF
Mrs Rogers body with reference to the
floor When the irOp fell, / think the toe
Of one foot just barely reached and grazed
piece Of 2xi that was laid on the floor.
being part Of the support OF the scaffold
above and being to one side OF the bottom
OF the drop opening. II afforded her not
the slightest purchase and she quickly
swung clear of it and remained there, with
her feet fully three inches above the floor.
II was not where / could see what the
deputies above me did, but my eyes were
on the woman's form and ! went up with
the doctors each OF the three times that
they examined her and until they pro-
nounced her dead a. minutes after the
trap was sprung. During all this time
did not notice that the body rose even
particle as il would have il it had been
lifted. II was absolutely motionless save
one or two convulsiye movements and
slight turning once or twice just after the
drop fell"
Here is what the st. Albsns Messenger
said Saturday, concerning the alleged
botch made in hanging Mrs. Rogers. IL
was written by Editor Greene, an eye
witness.
at is only just to the men that had to
perform the awful task imposed by law
upon them, il is due the good name of
the commonwealth OF Vermont, to en-
phasize with the utmost weight of the
authority that can come only from eye
witnesses that the execution OF Mary
Rogers in the state prison at Windsor
Yesterday afternoon was not bungled in
any way and that there was no incident
connected with 1t any more CHASTITY or re-
voting than Is to be expected OF such an
event even under normal circumstances.
UCertain sensational newspapers pub
lished outside the state are industriously
reports that the feet of the
woman touched the floor as she fell
through the trap and that it became nee
essary for two deputy sherifis to quickly
catch up the rope and hold her body from
touching the floor until she slowly stran-
gled.
This is not true. The execution was
performed successfully. The drop of her
body through the trap and the quick
bringing up OF the rope broke the
woman's neck instantly and the execu-
tion, so far as the direct cause Of death is
was a finality right then ana
there. IL was at once discovered, how
ever, that the rope had stretched to an I'M
usual extent even after very liberal al
lowance for this contingency had been
made by the most experienced eXecutioner
in the state The dislocation OF the spine
and the consequent stretching OF the
womanis neck also heightened the reach
Of her body and her toes were barely graz
ing the floor. OF course, the settling
would continue, and so as most natural
and instructive precaution, the rope was
raised few inches and the body held thus
suspended while the physicians made the
customary occasional examination of the
heart until life was pronounced extinct.
q