New Britain herald., 1914-04-13
Statement By "Whitey LeWis' Cut Off in Mid dle of Sentence By
 Current.

All Efforts Fail to Save Convicted Ro-
 senthal Murierers-Reporte "Dago
 Frank Made Confession to Warden
 Clancy and Father Cashin.
 Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, N. Y., April 13.-The four gunmen convicted of the murder of Herman Rosenthal died in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison at the break of dawn this Easter Monday morning. None con- fessed his guilt and none mentioned the name of Charles Becker, the for mer police lieutenant, found, guilty of i1istigating the murder, but saved by the court of appeals reversal.
 Of the four who died, Frank Seiden- sinner (''whitey Lewis") made the orly statement Even he did not flat
 y assert his innocence.
 'sWhitey Lewis '' Statement.
 "Gentlemen," he mumbled, as they strapped him in the chair, T did not shoot at Rosenthal. Them who said I
 did was perjurers. For the sake of
 justice, gentlemen, say didn't. The witness, Stannish -
 "Whitey' did not finish the sen-
 tence. The strange harness had been
 adjusted and the current shot his
 body forward in the chair. He had
 meant to say that Stannish, waiter
 and a witness at the murder trial. had
 lied; but death intervened.
 Se1denshner was the second man to
 die. "Dago Frank Crank Cirofci)
 came first, "Gyp the Blood (TIarry
 Horowitz) was third and Lefty
 Louie" tLouis Rosenberg) last. Tn
 forty minutes fiat all four were
 despatched. This time would have
 been shortened had it not been for the
 overcrowding of newspaper reporters.
 Their numbers necessitated a. shifting
 of witnesses for each execution There
 was no untoward incident throughout
 the procedure. All walked quietly to
 their doom and only their quaking
 knees and the sickly green pallor of their faces attested that the realiza- ton of death was upon them. Priest and Rabbis Present. William E. Cashin. Roman Catholic chaplain of the prison, accompanied "Dago Frank" to the chair. With
 "Whitey Lewis and "Gyp the Blood''
 was Rabbi Joseph iGoldstein of New York. Rabbi Mayer Kopfstein, long. the spiritual adviser of the Rosenberg family, stood by. Priest and rabbi alike averted their faces from the
 chair of death, meantime struggling to control their choking utterances as
 they intended prayer for the dying. "Gentleme ' said Rabbi Goldstein, as he left the death cham Der, eff you ask me whether the Jewish boys l were guilty, will say I do not know. They did not confess to me. As for 1 the Italian, I do not believe he was at the scene of the crime. I do not
 think any of them should have been convicted on the testimony offered" An anaemic moon still hung in the sky when those who were to witness the executions gathered in front of the prison. The air was chill. and a raw l wind swept across the Hudson which
 binds the prison at the west. Faint lights glimmered at corridor ends of the buildings but no sound came from within. The hideous noises which convicts have been said to emit when one of their number is to die, were spared those who waited.
 Witnesses Are Admitted. Dawn was just creeping over the hills when the witnesses were ad- mitted to the bare court yard of the death house. Many were ashen faced and trembling. From 8 printed list clerk read off the names of those who were to see the first man die. A moment more and the door of the death chamber had closed behind them. warden Clancy had announced l that "Gyp the Blood'' would die first, followed by Lefty Louie." "Dago l Frank and '.Whitey Lewis,'' but as 1t l transpired the man who first came through the little iron door at the right was 'Dago Frank" He had 1 shown signs of collapsing and it was 1 deemed expedient to shield him rom ] the ordeal of waiting.
 ] State Electrician Davis carefully 1 tested the electric current by send l ing it through series of incandescent lights that glowed brilliantly on a
 board which lay across the stout l arm of the electric chair.
 I 1.-TWO of these men have told me ] that they will make a statement" an-
 nounced Warden Clancy, "and under
 no circumstances must any one ask them any questions
 seDago Frank First. 1 The head and leg sponges were l then wet. and Head Keeper McIner- ney, acting on a signal from the war den. went to the death cell There l he found Cirofici in prayer with 1 Father, Cashin. The condemned man clutched crucifix in each hand as he was led into the presence of death. He had to be supported by two keep CTS.
 In the death cells could be heard the murmur of the other slayers in their applications.
 The warden and attendants stepped back from the rubber mat. "Oh, God, I meet my God" gasped the Italian
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