The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-04-28
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I'm my jurisdiction alone sixty-flve
| United States marshals have been mur-
dered while attending to their duties.
Wilson, who was connected with the
Star gang, a man who boosted that he
had killed twenty-nine people, was one
OF the men I sentenced to hang: 1t was
no cruelty to do this, in view Of his
record. One of the early cases that
came before me was that of a young
Chattanooga physician who moved West
| with his young wife, and located In the
Arbuckle mountains.
1.-TWO negroes who haunted the neigh
borhood waylaid the doctor and tied
him to a tree, leaving him there to
| starve. He could not free himself and
went to the little home among the fir
trees, where the young wife was anx-
! lously awaiting the return Of her hus-
band, and told her that he had fallen
from boWlder high up among the
mountains and hda broken his leg.
They would guide her to him. She
went with them and to her death. for
they killed her and threw her into an
old we'll sixty feet deep. Months af-
forwards her skeleton was found. One
of the murderers boosted Of his crime
and was soon captured"
Condemns Sentimentality.
Judge Parker condemns in unmeas-
ured terms the maudlin sentimentalism
that leads women to carry flowers and
jellies to much advertised criminals.
These ladies mean WELL" he said.
There is no doubt Of that. But
what mistaken goodness! Back of the
sentimentality are the motives of sin
cere pity and charity, sadly misdirect-
ed. They see the convict alone, per.
haps chained in his CELL They forget
| the crime he perpetrated. There Is too
much Of this kind Of thing all over the
country"
Judge Parker's court held session
lasting from o'clock in the morning
until dark. There was so much Grim
inal business the court had to work
overtime. The tailer and hangman were
naturally busy men.
The jailer was J. D. Berry, a brother
Of United States Senator Berry, of Ar
kansas, a deputy marshal. Between
the two they had bought hundreds Of
yards of rope for executions and knew
the kind that would do the grewsome
work without breaking.
Must Buy Strong Ropes.
1--WE buy ropes that are ropes" said
Jailer Berry. Those officers who trv
to hang men and let the ropes break
as the trap falls ought to be indicted,
1t is their business to see that the ropes
are strong enough, and the onlv wav
they can do it is by testing them with
dummies. as we do. We don't run any
risks The ropes are softened with
| linseed oil before being used on a man.
In addition to the tests they get from
the dummies.
People write me from all over the
United States for pieces Of rope we
have hanged men with and pieces of
i1I,
| ed We can't oblige all these people-
| and we don't try. because no man is
made any peter by handling such
| grisly objects"
| George Lawson, the FIT. Smith hang
man, had pulled the iron pin that
| dropped nearly 100 men to death. He
was known far and wide as the coolest
man who ever pulled trigger from
under q. criminal.
Dreamed About Dying Man.
| He sale that the Hrst time he did It
he dreamed about the dying man for
! weeks afterward, but he soon got over
! that and cared nothing for assisting in
putting away tho hardened characters
sentenced at Fort Smith.
He really thought ne was doing them
a favor. He had hanged five men at
| one time and never finched as thew
saot through tho trap and struggled a
Jew minutes until relieved by uncon-
soiousness. It was Lawson who pulled
tho trigger on the Buck gang, the
toughest act OF men in tho Southwest,
Five OF them were strung up at one
time. They were part Indian and part
negro, ans1 their leader was Rufus
Buck. Nobody knows how many peo-
pie they id kill or how many rob-
berries they committed.