San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-02-19
JAIL INMATES
CRY OUT WHEN
TRAP TESTED
Another Soul Gone to
HE'LL" They Yell as
Gallows Inspected.
READY FOR HANGING
Apolinar Continues to En-
Joy Meals and Seems OBJ
livious to His Fate.

SO delicate is the adjustment on the
trap which Oh next Friday will send
Clemente Apolinar. convicted of muir
der, TO his doom that but a fraction Of
a second will be consumed in speeding
the man on his last journey. This was
determined Monday morning when
Sheriff John W. TobiD. during an in
spection of the Bexsr county Jail, test
ed the mechanism which controls the
death dealing device. One touch Of
the lever and the iron doors cOnstitut-
ing the death trap fell with a clang
and twelve feet of open space yawned
underneath.
Another soul gone to hell" was the
startled exclamation CT prisoners on
the second floor as the noise broke in
upon their chatter. The silence which
fell upon the group continued even
after they had realized that no man
had shot into space but that it was
only the executioner testing his death
trap.
Will Not See Hanging.
The prisoners on the second floor.
although they witnessed the testing Of
the trap will not be allowed TO witness
the hanging SThis spectacle IS TOO
gruesome even for hardened criminals
and many Of those confined in the
Bexar county Jail are mere youths,
some serving sentences for their first
offcnses. On the morning Of the hang
ing they will be removed to the third
floor, on which the death trap is To-
Gated, but TO part OF the Jail from
whence they will be unable TO see
Apolinar when the black cap is adjust
ed. They will be kept there until the
task is completed and until all evil
dence of the awful tragedy is removed
Then they will be returned TO their
cells, to discuss in whispers what has
just transpired.
Despite that less than four days
stand between Apolinar and the gal
lows, he seemed oblivious Monday to
the fate which awaits him. He ate
breakfast as usual and gleefully re-
ceived his ration of fruit for which he
calls every day. Neither did he seem
to know remOrse for the terrible crime
he committed, the Staying of Theodore
Bernhard. a 14-year-old youth, near
the SaladO creek. Although the con-
demned man apparently is sane, being
capable of carrying on a conversation
in English. there are those who insist
that he has been insane all his life and
particularly irresponsible since he was
convicted of insanity in 1907.
Appeal TO Governor.
What action Governor Neff will
take on the petition now before him
for a Communication Of the mans SEN
tence is r matter of considerable in
terest here. Many signed the petition
| believing that the man is insane and
that the death sentence SHOULD not
have been imposed as a enlistment
| for his crime. Others insist that If he
were confined in an asylum he would
eventually escape and commit an
equally heinOus Offense. Two juries
have nassed on his sanity, it is pointed
out and they were the judges of his
mental condition.
With the final inspection by. Sher
if Tobin Monday, everything is II
readiness for the hanging. The rope
has been carefully prepared, has beer
tested to insure that it would moi
break under the mans weight and the
knot carefully tied 20 insure the break
ing Of Apolinar's neck when his plunge
through space brings him to the END
of the hempen coil.
Many Want Pass.
Although hundreds of applications
have been received by Sheriff Tobin
for passes TO the Jail to witness the
execution Of Apolinar, so far the
Bexar county sheriff has refraineG
from issuing any. Whether he still
believes that Governor Neff will com
mute the sentence or whether he
wishes to wait until the last moment
to deal out passes for the gruesomIe
spectacle. he has not said. Due to me
limited capacity of the jail Sheriff
Tobin has said that he would not Is
sue a large number of passes.
One of the most unusual requests &c
reach the sheriff's office came last
week when man applied for pass
for himself and his wife. Chief Deputy
Alphonse Newton suggested that thS
spectacle might not be pleasing to
woman. at which suggestion the mar
laughed. The pass was not granted