The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-06-05
ScaROld FareWellS.


dressing for the last time:
Il don't need much clothing for
such a short Journey" Just before
he was executed he caught glimpse
of the crowd in the distance, and
cried: "Ah, is it not beautiful thing
to see a man in agony"
And that was the man who thought
it a joke to see others in agony!
Those dreadful few minutes before
a man is launched into eternity have
been responsible for many dramatic
and ghastly scenes. The wild desire
to prolong his life, if only for few
terrible seconds, is irresistible.
When Charles Peace was on the
scaffold, Marwood, the executioner,
stepped forward to place the white
cap on the criminals head. "Stop a
minute!" cried Peace excitedly, Il
want to address the reporters.
He was allowed to bound,
shivering, and almost bloodless. At
ter he had spoken, Marwood again
stepped forward, but Peace repelled
him, and hoarsly asked for a little
water.
No attention was paid to this re-
quest and the executioner drew the
white cap over his head. The con-
demned man, from under the cap,
again asked for a cup of water, and
cried out that the rope was too tight
and hurt him. At that moment Mar
wood drew the bolt and the scene
was over.
Neil Cream, the doctor who sent a
number of women to a dreadful
death by strychnine poisoning, suffer
ed terribly during his last moments
on earth. At the very last moment
he tried to gain a little longer lease
of life. AS the executioner pulled
the lever which released the bolts,
Cream hurriedly cried out, stop a
|
minute am Jack the
The sentence Was never finished,
though to this day many people be-
lieve that the American doctor was
| the author of the outrages that sent
a wave of terror over the East End
of London in 1888.
One of the most dramatic scenes
on the scaffold in recnt years was
enacted when Dougal, the Moat Farm
murderer, was executed in 1903.
Ellington adjusted the white cap,
and, after final glance round, grasp
ed the lever. At that moment his
attention was drawn to the chaplain
| who had pushed his way forward to
the very edge of the drop, and was
motioning to him to stop.
With his hand on the lever, Bill
ington waited.
"Guilty or not guilty, Dougal?'
asked the clergyman, in a shrill,
nervous voice.
There was no reply.
"Guilty or not guilty?" again asked
the clergyman.
This time Dougal replied. His head
turned in the direction of the voice
and from beneath the white cap the
diving man replied hoarsely:
"Guilty!"
At that moment Ellington pulled
the lever, and the heavy doors fell
down with crash.
One of the last executions attended
by Calcraft was that of James O'Con-
nor for the murder of James Gaffney.
One of the journalists present at the
execution described it afterwards in
terrible sentences.
81 could not turn my eyes from
| !!!etaoin. 'dSr MO eta eta ia ao----
the drop. A crash! A thud! The rope
flies loosely in the air!
with a vault; Father Bonte (the
followed him. Propped up against the
wooden partition lay O'Connor, the
broken rope around his neck and the
white cap over his eyes. The good
cleric at once drew off the cap and
loosened the moose. Selling my arms
with his two pinioned hands, OCon-
nor exclaimed:
"I stood it bravely, didn't I? You
will let me off now, won't you?"
Think of the horror of that ap-
peal! But the lew must be obeyed.
A new rope was procured, Calcratt
again pulled the lever, and James
O'Connor was dead"
Among the last words of great
criminals, Palmer, the prisoner S,
The sentence is just, though the
evidence is false" Bush's who muir
dered Mr.. Isaac Jenny and his son,
Don't hurry-take time, take time;
Fauntleroy, the great bankers, "Now
for the Great Secret" and Mrs. FER
| oov's "Right1y convicted. but on un-