Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-07-30

floor Tor minutes at a time. Dawn
found MIN seated on the edge of his
cot carefully pinnjng photograph Of
his wife ON his white shirt just over
his heart. Then. as if he desired to
have her all to himself, Becker put on
q Thin black alpaca coat, which he
tightly buttoueG The photograph was
NOT saen by the witnesses until the
prison physician opened his cot as he
sat in the death chair.
Executioner Unknown.
Becker was put &c death by the state
eAecUu0ner whose name is unknown
TO the public. This man succeeded
State Electrician Davis and he said he
would not take the job unless his name
was kept secret. He lives in a little
! town upstate and went about his
work brlskly
becker'H eNecufI0ner said that in
his opinion the man had died Instantly
ut the first contact.
An autopsy on the body of Becker
was performed. according 10 law. i'm
ueaiaJeig after the execution. After
. Beeker's body had been removed from
/ the electric chair, Samuel Haynes, a
negro murderer, was brought into the
execution room and elecrocuted. One
. Of Backers last requests to Warden
/ Osborne was that he be put to death
before Haynes.
History OF Case.
Herman BoseHthal, tine gambler
F for whose murder Charles Becker was
/ sentenced 10 die in the electric chair,
/ was shot TO death By hired gunner
+ in the early morning Of July Is, 1912,
+ in front of the Hotel Metropolis on
/ F0rty-third street, a few steps from
Broadway. The murder was the swift
. elimination Of sensational charges
made a few days before by R0senthaI
+ against Becker in which RosenthaI
asserted that Becker. then head of the
strong arm squad of detectives. freely
sold police protection and had accum-
uIated thousands OF dollars Of graft
money.
Rosenthat went further than that.
( He swore that Becker was his silent
partner in a gambling enterprise that
failed and that Becker. angered by
losses where he had expected large
profits, raided the Bosen1haI estab-
GsEmeut ana drove RoseuthaI out Of
. business by stauoning uniformed po-
. Hcemen on his premises day and
night
These charges were published ana
District Attorney Whitman began an
. Investigation of them. He summoned
. Roseuthal to the Criminal Courts
building and listened to his story An
( appointment was made with RosenthaI
. for the next day. Before the time
4 came, BosenthaI was murdered.
( When the assassins had done their
work, they ran across the street.
jumped into a grey automobile which
was waiting at the curb and whirled
away uptown. a bystander caught the
( license number of the car.
District Attorney Whitman. notified
f by telephone Of the murder, reached
( the police station where RosenthaTs
body lay before dawn. He aroused his
detectives from their sleep and spread
. a dragnet over the city for the murder
( car, Il was found before night. It's
. driver, Louis Shapiro. and Louis Lib
hey, part owner, were arrested and
Mr. Whitman asserted openly in an
emphatic statement that the police
had abetted the murder.
New York city, already interested id
. the charges Of police corruption. re-
sponded 10 the news Of the murder as
ii call TO arms Becker, who had
been the chief target OF Bosenthal's
+ accusations. was openly suspected. He
+ was relieved Of his command of the
strong arm squad and transferred 10
! the Bronx Jack Rose, his graft col
. Iector. walked into the Criminal Courts
building the day after the murder and
surrendered to the district attorney
+ declaring he had nothing TO fear
Harry WALTON and Byidgie Weber.
( gamblers and friends OF Rose and