The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-06-01
LEGALLY
HANGED
BY CHARLES LEWIS PlllPPS
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.

ed Wilcox. the celebrated criminal law
yer. has most excited your interest %
{ THAT Of Mathews, who was accused
OF murder"
I WAS he innocent or gulty?"
''Innocent.'
I lid you secure his acquittal:" n
No" .Sf
"Hanged?" nay
Yes: legally banged"
What DC yol mean by that?"
'I'n Tell YOU. Mathews was in the
employ OF Henderson, the man who
was murdered | don't care to 30 into
the details of he ease; | will only say
/ that there was 50 pluch circumstantiaI
+, evidence against him that from the
first despaired of saving his neck. /
+, knew he WAS Innocent though lie could
No more explain the circumstances that
pointed to his guilt than | could"
| How did you know he was in
! nocent. 4
by both experience and intuition, ]
| defy any Of my clients to deceive me
in this regard. | simply look them in
| the eye. and that tells me the story,
There was everything about
= Mathews ease to interest me He was
a younger son of British country
gentleman and in loye with the daugh-
| ter of another British gentleman His
mother had no knowledge of his hay-
! ing been accused of crime, much less
! having been convicted for | could do
nothing to prove him innocent He
slowed me his mothers letters. and it
| was distressing to read them. His
/ betrothed was also writing him with
out any knowledge that he was under
! sentence of death A week before he
was to be hanged a letter from solic-
itors In England was handed him, in
forming him that bachelor uncle had
died and left him a large fortune"
Upon my word. 1t was an inter
esting case. wasn't it?'
Il should say so, If ever there was
q man who had everything to live for
Mathews had. And to be judicially
executed without ever having wronged
any one in his life was Simply awful
You have no idea how having a life
on your hands wears on man. and
this case nearly drove me insane.
But | braced myself for u gigantic
effort After comforting with Mathews
decided to cable the solicitors in
England, giving them the situation
and asking how much funds they
could cable me within "A few days.
They placed 100000 to my credit, and
with this sum ] went 10 work. There
was no use in trying to secure delay
or n new trial What | must do was
to interest the sheriff. | had long
secret conference with him, but could
not move him to act for money,
though | so far secured his Judgment
that he must do an official wrong in
hanging Mathews that he consented to
wink at any game might practice.
provided it could be kept secret.
II got a friend of mine who was Il
professor in a medical college to APP
ply for the body of Mathews as soon
as he was dead This enabled me to
gain possession of the condemned
man the moment the hanging was
over Then | fixed" every official
who was to be present at the hanging.
Mathews put in request that there
should be no spectators present. |
could not even be present myself.
But there was not one of the officials
to whom | paid less than $1,000, aud
the haugman got $4,000 My friend
the doctor was the only one present
who got nothing. He had coffin
ready for the corpse as soon as 1t was
taken from the gallows and hearse
to cArry it to the hospital.
Wei. that night went to the hos
pital and found Mathews locked in the
Doctors room"
But how was the hanging man
aged%'
II don't know; | never asked There
were half dozen men paid by the
state to see that Mathews was hanged,
and paid every one Of themi-in all
S100l000-to go through the process
without hanging him All know is that
| paid the money and found Mathews
alive in the doctors room. Some burnt
cork, q woolly wig and suit of clothes
procured from Jew tailor fixed him
so that no one would know him. |
had a steerage ticket for him in an
outgoing steamer, and early the next
morning he was on his way TO Eng
land
He must have been very grateful
TO vou'
Grateful! should say SO. Before
parting with me he made me promise
that I would come over as soon as
possible and see him. | couldn't 90
for a year and then souud him In
possession of 10000 a year income
and married to the woman he loved
lie met ME on the steamer, and the
first thing he did was to Impress 1t
upon me that neither his mother nor
his wife nor any one living except his
solicitors knew that he was judicially
dead in America. He had often tried
TO bring himself to unburden his Sc
cret to his wife. but had always failed
Matthews entertained me royalty
and begged me to suggest some way
for him to pay the debt he owed me-
even II II required every cent Of his
fortune, I assured him that 7 took
more comfort IN his case than IN al
the cases had ever won though | had
IAe. .