Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-09
NATHANIEL GREEN
SHANGED TODAY
Second Man to Pay Penalty at
District Jail for AssauIting a
Woman Since 1904.
ASSISTED BY GUARDS
UP STEPS OF SCAFFOLD
Blamed Liquor and Dope" for His
Act and Hoped Execution Would
Be an Example to Others.

Nathaniel Green, colored twenty-three
years old. who assaulted Mrs Adelaide
r. Grant last Christmas night. paid the
penalty for his crime shortly after IN
o'clock this morning. Green was hanged
in the northeast corridor of the jail
Ten minutes before he was executed
Green made statement. blaming liquor
and dope for the act ne committed
He was very nervous all night. sleeping
only fitfully. After ne had seen Father
Michael Gallagher. who administered
communion to him. Green braced up and
ate hearty breakfast He was told he
could have anything he might desire.
but wanted only the usual jail break
fast
Green seemed to be very weak. due to
nervousness and had to be helped up
the steps to the scaffold by two guards.
1t was exactly four minutes after ~
O'Clock when he stepped on the plat
form. Forty seconds later the trap was
sprung in the presence OF nine members
of the jury who convicted him and rep
resentatives of the press. Besides Of
ficials Of the Jail and physicians. these
were the only persons permitted to be
present. although numerous persons ap-
piled for this privilege.
When he was questioned Green said
that he hoped that his execution would
prove an example to others When he
stood on the trap OF the scaffold he
started to speak. but his voice failed him.
The trap was operated from a cell in
the same corridor. The window was COW
cred. and two men stationed in the cell
were able to see only the Jail official who
signaled to them to pull the rope to re-
lease the trap.
Two Ropes Used on Trap.
Two ropes were used one to be pulled
by each Of the men in the cell. One of
the ropes actually released the catch on
the trap. the other one being attached
| only to weight. BY this system the men
are unable to tell who actually released
the trapdoor. and is always done as a
safeguard to the peace of mind of the
two men assigned to this sruesome duty.
| Their names are being carefully guarded
by Jail authorities.
The scaffold on which Green was hanged
| is the same one used in the execution of
| President Garfields murderer. Charles
Giteau, who was hanged June 30. 1882
and marks the thrty-first time this scaf-
/; fold has been used.
AT 1912 stethoscopes We're applied to
| Green's heart. and it was still beating
| family. Six minutes later the physicians
in attendance pronounced the man dead
and he was removed from the scaffold
half an hour later.
The only other man who has been
| hanged at the District jail for similar Of
fense was John Wesley Burley, colored.
executed August 26. 1904. The execution
today is the forty-fifth in the District of
Columbia since 1857. The first execution
in the present Jail was that Of James
n. w. Stone. who was hanged April 2
1880
Dr. Louis F. Zinkhan. superintendent OF
Washington Asylum and jail said today
| that he had received nearly hundred
requests for permission to be present
but none was granted.
Nine members of the jury which con
victed Green. with the recommendation
og capital punishment. who We're wit
nesses to the execution today. are Roy
{. Haynes. William Smith. William F.
Smith, William F. Fisher. w. III. Duna-
! win P. d. Holmes. George w. Dechard,
Carl H. Osborn. William Smith and C.
III. McGlassen.
Crime an Atrocious One
Green was put to death for one OF the
most atrocious crimes ever committed in
the District OF Columbia. the police say.
and so indiGr ant We're many persons over
the apparent delay i'm executing him that
a petition signed by many women was
sent TO the Court of Appeals urging
speedy ending of the affair.
Mrs Grant. widow and empioye of the
local government, was attacked as she was
passing along street southeast while on
her way to pay a Christmas night visit
at the home of her father-in-law on
North Carolina avenue southeast.
Only few minutes before she was at
tackled she had visited friends residing on
C street. and expected to participate soon
in a Christmas gathering with her hus-
bands relatives at the family home
While on her way there. however, Green
regarded as more brute than human
grabbed her. dragged her into an areaway
and so seriously wounded her that it was
feared she would die.
Persons residing near the scene Of the
attack heard her cries and summoned
Policeman Wall. He soon had Green In
custody and took him to Casualty Hos
pital. where Mrs. Grant was under treat
ment. for Identification.
AS the result of the treatment she re-
ceved at the hands of her assailant Mrs
Grant has been unable to -et urn t. office
sioners granted he: all the cons:d. IA ton
they could unde. the law, and Congress
granted ncr a six-montn leave Of alb
sance with pay. An additional leave of
absence was recently granted 'er hs Con-