The Columbus journal., 1909-11-03

s-ss' s-ssi . $500
sheriff read the death warrant, Blount
stood on the trap door. He was the
most composed man in the crowd.
There wasn't tremble of his hands or
legs. He gave me glance of recog-
milton. l was mere scared than he,
and the sheriffrs hands could hardly
hold the death warrant.
I had talked with Blount frequently
during the two weeks of the trial.
Every week or so during the summer,
I had visited him in the parish prison
in New Orleans, where he was for
safe keeping: He was always sending
for me, his idea being to get stories
printed attacking the character of
those who testified against him.
How does q man feel who has been
sentenced to death? I often ask my.
self that question, and wondered every
time l visited Blount. He was always
full of hope. It is human nature to
cling to hope, no matter what the law
has said. Blount did, and all others
do, even until the last moment. Fit
hadn't been for whisky, Avery Blount
would haye escaped the trouble which
cost him his life, at the end of nine
feet Of rope.
Because the sheriff was nervous, and
had trouble in adjusting the moose,
there was delay. Blount stood on
the trap ten minutes. Condemned
men almost invariably have . certain
look; certain paleness that suggests
fear, agony, dread and misery. Not
90 with Avery Blount. His complex
ion was pink as the day he was arrest
ed; the day after the killing.
I don't understand how men can
walk to the gallows. I studied the
man. He almost seemed defiant. It
occurred to me once that possibly
after all, although the moose was being
put around his neck, he would yet
cheat the gallows. Many other
thoughts flashed through my brain.
l could not help wondering how he
felt; how he could so coolly stand on
the gallows. He was not more than
3 feet from me. And I kept think.
ing: HE is strong, healthy man;
in a moment he will be dead" Blount
evidently was thinking about other
things. After the rope had been put
around his neck, Avery kneeled to the
floor of the trap to pray. The sheriff
asked him to pray out loud. He said
he couldn't. Adeputy prayed for him.
Then he stood erect. His hands were
handcuffed behind him, and his feet
schackled. The black cap was put on.
Still he did not scream or yell. He
stood there as composed as ever.
Everything was ready. The sheriff
stepped back to pull the lever. 1t
seemed an age before the fatal click
was heard.
When the trap doors fly out from
under man, the body seems to re-
main there the fraction of q second.
Of course it doesn't, but it looks that
way. Then the body drops; it seems
almost to shoot, or fly. Blount's body
did not move q muscle. 1t was as
clean a job as is possible. The only
delay was the ten minutes with the
man on the trap. That suspense was
terrible; terrible for all but Blount,
who cried when he bid his relatives
goodbye, but there were no tears in
his eyes at the last. If he had broken
down, I don't know what I would
have done. I think I would have
cried, too, and begged for him. He
was as cool as though We were al tax.
ing part in an amateur play, as though
Blount's part were no more danger
GUS than the parts played by the off,
GERS, witnesses and reporters. And
when he fell, it was sickening. I felt
as though the rest of US had fooled
Blount; that he had met death when
he no more expected it than the rest
of us did.-Atchison Globe.
q rdhnard Takes Qualities ~ Natal