Middletown transcript., 1914-04-18
.GUNMEN CALMLY
. GO TO THEIR DEATH
Four Walk to Their Doom Declar-
ing Innocence.
"GYP" FIRST LED TO CHAIR
4DagO Frank" Who Was Expected
To Weaken and Confess, Main
tains Silence To the
End

Sing Sing, N. Y.-Harry Horowitz,
Gyp the Blood; Louis Rosenberg,
Lefty Louie; Frank Cirofci, Dago
Frank, and Jacob Seidenshner, Whitley
Lewis, shortly before 6 o'clock Monday
morning, marched in turn through the
little green door leading to the death
chamber and paid with their lives the
penalty exacted by the State for the
murder of Herman Rosenthal, gambler,
on July Is, 1872
All four went to their doom with
stole fortitude, although there had
been indications of breakdown dur
ing the night. Small injections of
morphine, administered by the prison
physician for the purpose of lessening
the resistance to the electric current,
probably had the effect of partially
stupefying the condemned men, al
though all were able to respond to the
prayers of Father Cashin and Rabbi
Goldstein and Rabbi Kopstein, who
marched with them from the cells to
the death chamber.
Dago Frank Would Not Confess.
Up to the last moment it had been
expected that Dago Frank would
weaken and confess knowledge Of an
other phase of the crime than that on
which he was convicted and thus win
a repTive. In order to induce the con-
victed gangsters to make a confession,
his aged mother journeyed to Albany
to obtain from the authorities
promise that the execution would be
postponed if her son should be able
to give testimony of real value to the
State.
The last hours of the condemned
men were passed in restless, ftful
slumber. Up till midnight all four
divided their time between prayer and
protestations of innocence. Whitley
Lewis, who had shaken off the stolid-
ness that had marked him since his
arrest, two years ago, appeared to be
the strongest figure of the quartet and
managed by the force of his example
to keep up the tagging spirits of his
associates.
81 am going off an innocent man."
he repeated continually.
Dago Frank lay most of the night in
semi-stupor, answering in a dazed
way whatever questions were put to
him from time to time.
Gyp the Blood spent the early part
of the night lying on his bed starring
at the Lars of the door of his cell.
Lefty Louie Most Reserved.
Lefty Louie" formerly the most
taIkative of the four, had become the
most reserved, sitting for hours at a
time on the edge of his bed with his
head in his hands. "It's all right,
Whitley" he exclaimed after one of his
companions outbursts. I'VE done all
we could. What's the use of talking.
It won't get US nothing. Let's think of
other things"
Hans Schmidt, the Catholic priest,
convicted of the murder of Anna Au-
muller, Joined in the prayers of the
four men during the night and by his
fervor served to uplift their depressed
spirits.
Only once during the night did the
condemned speak of the approaching
they asked one Of the
guards about the order in which they
we're to ''go of" The guard was IN
able to enlighten them, this matter be-
ing left to the discretion of the war
den.
On account of the number of per-
sons who had a right to be present in
the execution chamber the warden de- |
cided to admit IL witnesses at a time,
changing the IL for each execution.