Year: 1870

The great city or perhaps more properly
the small town, of New Castle is at present
laboring under somewhat of an excitement,
caused by the fact that two colored men who
are now in the county jail under sentence for
the commission of rape upon white woman,
will tomorrow pay the penalty of the crime by
the sacrifice of their lives. This offense II may
be remembered, according to the laws of that
triangular plot of ground known as Delaware,
is punishable with death.


Though the town is in somewhat of an excited
condition, and though the coming event is the
subject of general conversation in all quarters,
the people generally, both white and black,
appear to take the matter quite coolly. The
general opinion is that the parties richly deserve
the punishment, and that protection to citizens
demands its execution In the ma jority of cases
no more personal interest is manifested than
desire to see the execution, and this desire Is
prompted by mere curiosity.


Appearance of the Prisoners.


The names of the two culprits are Joshua
Jones and Lewis Carpenter. They are both
colored laboring men, and nothing very peculiar
is noticeable about the appearance of either.
Jones is the principal offender, and is charged
with the actual commission of the deed, the
other being only an accessory. He is young
looking man, rather under the medium height,





face usually wears peculiar grin, and he is deci
dedly jokish in his disposition under existing
circumstances. He has large mouth and lips,
and speaks with a strong dialect Lewis Car
penter, the other culprit, has more of yellow
complexion. He has thick bushy hair parted
on both sides and standing up in the middle. He
is not as lively as his companion, and usually
trembles very much when he is spoken to-


The Prison and Cells.


The place where the prisoners are confined is
the New Castle county Jail, in the city of New
Castle. 1t is fine brown-stone building of
comfortable size, situated just in the rear of the
Court House and public offices. 1t is well kept
and presents neat appearance both externally
and internally. The condemned men are con-
fined in separate cells, from which all unneces-
sary furniture has been removed, to prevent
them from having access to anything which
could be used for self-destruction. A feather
bed is in one corner of the cell, and in another
a stool and spittoon, which articles together
form the whole outfit. The prisoners wear
heavy iron bar riveted around their ankles to
prevent them from escaping, but their hands are
entirely free. For convenience in moving
around the cell string is attached to the bar, to
be held in the hand of the wearer by means of
which the weight of the iron is in great mea-
sure removed from the feet. They pass most
of their time in smoking. The two
men are watched constantly through an
iron grating. They have no work to
do, and are at loss for means to pass the time.
Books and tracts have been furnished by the
visiting clergyman, but they do not appear TO
have been much cared for by one prisoner,
while the other, Carpenter, is unable to read
them. He is not as bright in his intellect as his
companion, though since he has been in prison
he has learned his alphabet, and knows it
almost perfectly. This might seem poor pre-
paration for the death which almost certainly
awaits him, but it has been learned only from
want of something better to do. The other in
mates of this prison are allowed at certain
times to leave their cells. They are employed in
various industrial pursuits, such as carpet-weav-
ing and carpentering.


How the Crime was Committed.


Jones and Carpenter were employed as
laborers on the farm of Henry McCrone, in the
neighborhood of New Castle. The injured
woman is named Mary Meredith, and was house
keeper for Mr. McCrone. She is white married
woman and has been the mother of twelve
children Seven of them are dead, and of the
five remaining two are now living with her
These are young children one five years of age,
and the other six-months' old baby. Her hus-
band is laborer employed on the farm who
was away from home at the time.


The prisoners, on the night of the 18th of Sep.
tember last, we're returning from visit to a
neighbor or a frolic of some sort, in company
with another colored man, one William Moore
They were perfectly sober at the time, and had
not been drinking at all. Jones, being in
festive humor, proposed that the party should
commit some devilment. This was agreed to
when the visit to the housekeeper was proposed
This was about 10 o'clock at night. The party
Moore included, then went to the farmhouse
from which all the other inmates were absent
and entered the room of Mrs. Meredith. Mrs
Meredith was choked until she was insensible
Moore has turned States evidence and is allowed
TO go entirely free.


The Trial.


On the Saturday following the commission O
the deed Mrs. Mary Meredith sued Joshua Jones
whom she recognized as being in her room by
patch on his pantaloons, which was visible II
the moonlight. Jones vigorously protested hi
innocence when accused by the woman befor
Mr.. McCrone, the owner of the house, and sal
that If he had done such thing he would g
and chop his head off. How this skilful opera
tion was to have been performed does not ap
pear. He was arrested along with Carpente
and Moore by the constable of Wilmington, an
they were all lodged in Jail to await their trial
On the way to the prison Jones asked the cor
stable when he thought they would hang him.


The constable in reply said to the prisoner
''You admit, then, that you are guilty3"
might as WE'LL" he returned, ''the way thing