The Poole Telegram. — 1883-12-07 (Poole, Dorset, England)

STATEMENT OF EMS.  Late on Monday night, Binns, the executioner, made a statement with reference to the alle;ed bungling at the execution of the Liverpool murderer. At the time he made the statement Biuns Was perfectly sober, quite cool and collected, and was evidently wishful to throw what light he could on the dreadful subject. He said : I arrived at the prison at ten minutes to seven, and went to the °bid warder. I had made all my preparations, and at eight minutes to eight received the convict, pinioned Mai in the usual way, and had to remain ou the scaffold four minutes.—What was the reason that you had to remain on the scaffold that time? It was the governor's fault. He told me to wait until his signal was given to me. Every arrangement was made on my part. The drop was 81t. ffiu., and not ift. wait Ai for the signal, but he did not give it, aud I took it upon myself. I asked law twice. It was not usual to ask the governor to give the signal; he should give it himself. I asked Min three times distinctly for it. I had then to step behind the man twice, as he was fainting. When I had stepped behind him I said, "Now, are you ready ? " and the governor replied, " It's not eight o'clock." I said, "Are you ready?" twice, and he again replied, "It's not eight o'clock." I then said, "I am ready." Then I dropped him.—Did you leave the gaol immediately? did the governor say ans• thing t 3 you? Nothing at aff.—You went away and thought nothing further would be said or done in thy matter? Nothing. I arrived at Dewsbury at 12.4, leaving Liverpool at ten and Manchester at eleven. It is not true that I was the worse for drink. I got straight up out of bed, partook of no breakfast, and went to the gaol. No man can say they ever saw !Anus that morning or the day before take a drop of drink. The rope was a new one anci pliable. The middle strand of the old rope was broken, and I had the new rope purposely made for fear the old one would not stand the strain. Ic the rope any thicker ? No ; it is an inch rope. and not as stated in the papers, an inch and a half. He considers the length of the drop given to have been adequate, and says all would have gone off well if the governor would have let him pull the lever the Met time. It was only natural, he said, for the culprit to move his head about and faint when he had to wait for four minutes for the signal to be given. If required, he would have been only too willing to give evidence at the inquest; but, as after previous executions, he caught the first train home. He had inipected the rope, and found it to be similar in every respect to the one used at Durham; and it seemed to him almost impossible for the noose to widen after being once adjusted, owing to a leather washer fitting tightly on the rope, so tightly that, after being once placed close t 3 the eyelet-hole, it required a strong effort to move it back again. In measuring the drop, he found It to be exactly 81t. 10in., and, pulled tight, would be !idly 9ft. The executioner states that he used an Inch-thick rope, because he was wishful to avoid any possibility of it breaking, as the case was some years ago at Leeds. As a contrast to the alleged bungling, Binns points out the efficient manner in which he had conducted the four previous executions; and his sole aim, he says, is to despatch an unfortunate convict as quickly and painlessly as possible.