The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-11-30

>. .. thompson, of Little Rock. and
Mrs. j. F. Bethea, of Latta
rear entrance to the death cham
per TO room 25 by IL feet in the
basement of the prison.
Automobiles containing the news
paper correspondents pulled up in
front Of the prison. A few white
men and women drove along in
morse carriages. A couple of hun
ared OF curious persons, black and
whlte, lined up on the sidewalks
and waited in a slashrng rain for
they knew not what.
No Assistance Needed.
AFTER final handshake with the
ministers, young Beattie at 9.19
O'Clock started on his 2OO-foot walk
from his cell to the death cham
per. The clergymen, with heads
bowed and prayers on their lips,
preceded him. Two guards held his
arms lightly, but apparently he
needed no assistance.
In corner of the room, diagon-
ally from where he entered, sat the
twelve witnesses. They were IN
darkness, because the only light
shlnlng was one over the chairs OF
the prison physicians, DR.. William
1. Oppenheimer, and his brother,
Dr. st. Julian Oppenheime.r
At the door the guards relaxed
their clasp, and each minister pat
ted farewell upon the boys
shoulder, then stepped back and
out.
Smiles as He Sees the Chair.
Beattie walked steadily forward
for a few feet, then caught sight
OF the chair, and-whether it was
from bravery or from an opiate
none could tell, stopped for an in
slant, smiled in the direction of the
doctors and the witnesses, and
seated himself in the big oak af-
fair with its ghastly arm and leg
clutching divices.
Ele was as calm as a man rcpos-
Ing himself in his library, though
there was a pallor to his face and
a glaze over his eyes
He did not smile again. His lips
made no movement either of prayer
or farewell. His left hand seemed
to clutch the chair-arm fiercely
while the right extended in limp
fashion over its end.
Quickly Strapped in.
At 7.2O, just a minute after he
had left his cell, he had been strap
ped fast in the chair and the cleo
trodes had been adjusted by three
guards, working from the speed
gained from weeks of practice.
The lower part of the headpiece
| (like a football players hemlet)
covered his eyes. He could see
nothing. The witnesses could be-
hold .nly that the remainder of
his face was immobile His last Wis
lor was upward and his last vision
J M 1T,
a"ainst the panes of the death
rooms one window.
few seconds later the full volt
age-about 2,000-was turned on
by shadowy figure, which slipped
In noiselessly behind the chair.
The body lurched forward abruptly
against its confining straps. Then,
as usual, the current was lowered
TO the minimum of 200 voltage and -,
alternately increased and decreased
for about two minutes.
Beattie Pronounced Dead.
At 1922 the physician brothers
examined the limp form in the
chair and at 7.24 pronounced Henry
clay, Beattie, Jr., dead.
After the body had been re-
moved to an anteroom some of the
old prison attendants recalled an
incident OF several years ago. Young
Beattle, with several youthful
friends, drove up to the peniten-
tiary is his motor and they were
shown all through the institution
He saw, of course, the electric
chair, then just installed, and re-
marked, Isn't it awful"
AS soon as the official pronounce
ment was made Superintendent
Wood, of the penitentiary, step
pen to the front door and an
nounced to the rain-soaked crowd
outside. 1T is all over. Henry
Beattie is dead" The men and
women dispersed in silence.
Family Claims Body.
At O'Clock the body was claim
ed on behalf of the Beattie family
by the Rev. Mr.. Fix. James Morri-
sett, the undertaken who took it
in charge, was, curiously, a play
mate and chum of Henry in his
boyhood days. 1t was taken first
to the undertaker's shop, then la
ter to the Beattie residence II
Richmond.
Once the news of the avenging
OF Beattie's crime became known
throughout Richmond the univer
sal querry arose:
Did he confess, or for his old old
fathers sake did he 90 to his
grave with his lips sealed?"
1t was soon settled. The clergy
men telephoned the newspaper cor
respondents that they would meet
them in one of the hotels at IL
o'clock. At that hour they gave