The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-16
WHITE MAN
 IS HANGED Andrew Thomas Pays Crimes Penalty. KEPT HIS NERVE TO LAST Execution in Early Morning Hours Foiled the Morbid.
 -e-- The Mobile Uxcrcide Was Calm and Collected, Eating Unusually Hearty Breakfast and Assins for
 More Eggs.
KEPT HIS NERVE TO LAST
nY JOHN Y. CARTER. JR.

mI 6OHN ANAs<t~s "A~e
 Mobile. March 15 Especial )--An- drew Thomas paid the penalty for hav- Ing killed his wife this morning at 5.55 o'clock.
 Very quietly 1t had been given out that the execution would take pace a few moments before o'clock, while the outside public was given to un- derstand that the hanging was sched- uled for some time between and o'clock This was done so that no crowd wouId gather about the jail yard, so that there would be no morbid sight seers to disturb the last moments Of the condemned man. This had all been done at she expressed desire of Thom- as himself.
 Thomas spent a very quiet night, having partaken of a hearty meal at supper and later calling for hot cup of coffee. Early this moruing. when he awoke from q light sleep, an hour before the time set for the execution, he was given a breakfast. one which was quite enough to suit him. and he called for two extra eggs. The time after this he spent in praying and In talking with Father Gerlach, who at tended him all during the past few days The Sisters of Mercy also were with the condemned man and gave him the comfort of the church to which he had joined his faith In the last week on earth.
 Read by Candle Light.
 At rrecisely $40 o'clock. Sheriff Cazalas and hIs mon went to the cell. where the death warrant was read by the light of a candle, during which time Thomas sat stolidly on The cot. listening and smoking the while. When 1t had finished he arose. and was ready for the execution.
 Unaided though accompanied by one of the deputies, Thomas climbed the steps leading to the gailows, where he stepped on the trap. and the Jailer handcuffed him. bound him hand and foot. and at the word from Thomas, placed tho black cap over his head; moment later, at the signal from the jailer, the sheriff sprung the trap Thomas dropped to. the end. 9f the rope. his neck broken. where he hung fnss forrteen and one-half minutes be- fore being pronounced dead.
 without a doubt Thomas was one Of the rerviest men who has ever been executed in the State of Aiabann. At all times reticent concerning the kill ing. save to his most intimate friends he kept strict silence and was ready for his death with a resignation rarely exhibited. At no time was there the slightest show of fear, or of grief, or concern about his future. or sorrow for the deed which he had committed. It is claimed by some that Thomas con fessed to the crime, but this is stoutiy denied the man always claiming that he was not responsible for the firing of the pistol.
 the coffin, after which it was taken in charge by undertakers, who prepared it for burial. The funeral will be held tomorrow, the relatives seeing to the disposition of the body.
 Andrew ThOmRs's Crime.
 Thomas killed his wife on May g. 1906, near midday. at house on Spring Hill Avenue. two east of Pine Street
 He said he killed her accidentally. jury of twelve men said he purposely committed the deed, To this time Thomas and his wife had been married about two years. She was conducting a small restaurant on Spring Hill Ave- nue, near the place where the Pure Milk Plant Is now located, when he was e county prisoner. This business evidently did not pay, because she quit it. Later she accepted work at Fred cries Dye Shop on Dauphin Street, and her husband objected to her working. and this is how the trouble first start ed between them.
 The presumption is that he suspected his wife of wrong doing. for one day, after dark, he went on Dauphin Street to look for his wife. She came out of her place of work and met man on the street, Wltu bue Wdihtu OOWH the street.
 At Dauphin and Jackson Streets he confronted his wife with the strange man, and started to touch his wife, when the man with her grabbed him. He told the stranger that the woman was his wife, and the unknown man, who was probably a good match for Thompson. got out of sight. This oc- currence led to the separation of Thomas and his wife that night, and the woman took the child to the home of Murdock Wheeler, where she was shot to death the next morning.
 wheeler had a small restaurant and fruit shop at his home. The next morn ing. after the street scene, and subse- uuent separation, Thomas went to the house where she and the child were stopping. She had evidently seen him coming, for she was at the door and would not let Him in when he announce ed himself When his wife would not let him in the house, he knocked down the front door and a scufle followed. His pistol was discharged twice in rap i'd succession and both bullets enter ed her breast, killing her instantly. Thomas claimed in court that he did not pull the trigger either time; he swore that 1t was all an accident. The man claimed he went to the house after his child to place her In an institution.
 When he saw his wife bleeding and dying at his feet Thomas did not try to escape Instead he passed the body and entered the house. Tn the mean lime the police patrol had been called, and when it arrived he was in his wifes room alone Officers Murphy and Lacy entered the house. aud Wheeler. who was downstairs. showed them where the klaver could be found. Thomas was taken in charge and put in the patrol wagon. The body of his wife was also nut Into the patrol wagon, the officers moi taking any chances on whether or not she was dead. The body was taken to the morgue and afterward disposed of in the proper way. The man was locked up and never had his freedom again.
 Trial and Conviction.
 On May 1i, Thomas had a prelimi- nary hearing on the charge of murder Aafnra JudEe Clarke in the Recordsr