The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-07-30
BECKER TO DEATH.
TContinued from Page One.l

This lasted five seconds.
An examination that took seVerdi
minutes followed.
Three physicians among the W.T.
nesses then made an examination, ana
Dr. Farr at 5:55 o'clock quietly an
nounced, Il pronounce TINS man
Dead
During the night Becker penc1ied
on q piece of paper what he captloned
my Dying Declaration.
1t was taken to the warden's oiIlce
where two copies were typewriter
which Becker signed with his FOUNTAIN
pen in a bold hand.
To Deputy Warden Johnson, who
had charge of the execution in place
of Warden Thomas Mott Osborne, who
does not believe in the death penaity,
the one time police lieutenant gave MS
fountain pen as gift.
cit is the last thing Whlcn nave
to give away and 1 want you to nave
it, 1 want you to give this statement
to the newspaper men,
Becker's Dying Statement.
Becker's message given out just be-
fore he went to his death read:
'sGentIemen: I stand before you in
nv full senses, knowing that no power
on earth can save me from the grave
that is to receive me. In the face OF
that, and in the teeth of those VINO
i'condemned me, and in the presence
of my God, and your God, l proclaim
my absolute innocence of the foul
crime for which l must die. Y GU
are now about to witness my destruc-
ton by the state, which IS organized
to protect the lives of the innocent
May Almighty God pardon every one
who has contributed in any degree to
nv untimely death.
And now on the brink of my grave,
I declare to the world that L am
proud to have been the husband of the
purest. noblest woman that ever lived
Helen Becker. This acknowledge
ment is the only legacy can leave
her. 1 bid you all goodbye
| Father I am ready to go. Amen
(Signed.) CHARLES BECKER.
Smokes in Calm Reflection.
After his wife had said farewell
shortly after midnight, Becker main
| tanned a casual conversation with
Deputy Warden Johnson, who sat be-
side his screen in front of his cell.
Sometimes he smoked cigars, after
which he would let his head fall upon
his hand and gaze reflectively at the
| concrete floor for minutes at time.
Picture of Wife Over Heart.
| Dawn found him seated on the edge
of his cot, carefully pinning a photo
graph of his wife on his white shirt
| Just above his heart. Then as II he
| desired to have her all to himself,
Becker put on a thin black alpaca
| photograph was not seen by the wit
nesses until the prison physician
opened his coat as he sat in the
death chair.
state executioner, whose name is I'M
| known to the public. This man sue
ceeded 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 briskly.
Becker's eXecutioner said that in his
opinion the man had died instantly at
the first contact
An autopsy on the body of Becker
was performed, according to law i'm
mediately after the execution
Execution of Negro Follows.
After Becker's body had been re-
moved from the electric chair, Samuel
HAYNES, a negro murderer, was
brought into the execution room and
electrocuted. One of lockers last re-
quests to Warden Osborne was that he
be put to death before the negro
Haynes
Unusual Resistance to Current.
DR.. w. O. Stillman of Auburn, who
assisted in the autopsy, said thai
| Becker showed unusual resistance tC
the electric fluid. After the autopsy
DIR. Stillman said:
Il noticed no unusual effects upor
Becker's vital organs. The way he
resisted the strong current was re-
J markable, showing him to be an un-
J | usually powerful man.
,
will be removed some time today t.
New York, where funeral services vii
) probably be held on Monday
Mrs. Becker Near Collapse.
New York, July 30.-Returnins
/ from her last visit to the death house
) at Sing Sing prison, where she hat
5 taken her farewell of her husband
J Mrs. Charles Becker arrived at the
, , Becker home in the Bronx at gao a
! m. today. She was accompanied b1
i one of Becker's brothers, who car
ried her into the house.
3 Mrs. Becker showed evidences o.
l the deep distress she was undergo
: ing.
No effort was made to question he
& about her visit to Sing Sing.
s She was met by her sister. Mis-
, Mary Lynch.
RosenthaI Shot by Hired Gunner.
/ Herman Rosenthal, the gambler 70
{ whose murder Charles Becker wa
. sentenced to die in the electric chair
. was shot to death by hired gunner il
: the early morning of July 16, 1912, il
6 front of the Hotel Metropole on Forty
6 third street, n few steps from Broad
q way. The murder was the swift cul
q mination of sensational charges mad
3 a few days before by Rosentha
Y against Becker in which Rosenthal as
g serted that Becker, then head of tn
/; Strong Arm Squad of detectives, freel
s sold police protection and had &C
. cumuiated thousands of dollars o
! graft money.
= Rosenthal went further than thai
n He swore that Becker was his silen
S partner in a gambling enterprise tina
Is failed and that Becker, angered b
Z losses where he had expected larS
y profits, raided the ROSentha1 eStah
y lishment and drove Rosenthal out C
K business by stationing uniformed pc
IS icemen on his premises day an
IS night
10 These charges were published an
\ District Attorney Whitman began a
. investigation of them. He summone
~ Rosenthal to the criminal court