TAHI KAKA EXECUTED

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 145, 21 June 1911, Page 7

TAHI KAKA EXECUTED

DEATH INSTANTANEOUS. .CONDEMNED MAN'S LAST UTTERANCES. [HI THLEqUABH-^PBESS ASSOCIATION.] j AUCKLAND, This Day. ' The Maori ytttifJi, Talii Kaka, for the ntttrder of John Freeifian, at Whaka- j para, on sth. April, ' was hanged at Mount Eden.' Gaol this morning. Death was instantaneous. Jost before eight o'clock the hangman entered the "condemned" cell and pinioned Kaka's arms behind him. The mournful procession then commenced, the Rev. Mr. Hawkins reading the first three sentences of the burial service in Maori as it wended its way to the scaffold. Kaka, dressed in prison garb, walked firmly between two warders. He ascended the thirteen steps to the scaffold and took hie stand on the drop without assistance or the slightest tremor. The Rev. Mr Hawkins then recited the Lord's Prayer, which Kaka in a steady voif» repeated. Asked by the sheriff if he had anything to say, he replied, firmly : "I hope I am the last man to be hanged, anyhow." As the hangman pinioned his feet he said : "You are pretty smart at your work." Just before the lever was pulled, he said : "Hooray 1" The bolts were withdrawn, and with a slight tremor of the rope Kaka had paid the full penalty of his crime. The time from hia emerging from the ?3,te till the final scene was exactly 4min 6 2-Ssec. The whole proceedings were without a hitch. The scaffold was in a corner of the punishment yard, and those present, were the gaol officiate, the sheriff, the gaol surgeon, the Revß. Hawkins, Budd, and M'Pheraon, and representatives of the press. As Kaka came to the scaffold hie boyishness was painfully apparent; his short-cropped hair, smooth face, and altogether handsome appearance were stamped on one's mind. The condemned man, from the time of his sentence, was resigned to hie fate. He ate and elept well, putting on just a etone in weight. At the time of his execution he weighed 1601b. For the past few days he showed signe of restlessness, and 1 spent most of his time waiting He was visited at 11 o'clock last night by the Rev. Mr. Hawkine, who remained wfth him some time. He was persuaded to go to bed at ten minutes to 1, and slept fairly Bound till just before 6 o'clock. He did not ask f* any breakfast, and H.H the warder in charge left his cell he said, " Good-bye." To another warder he «aid, "1 will meet you in •the next world. Just before reaching the scaffold Kaka shook hands behind his back with one of the warders in attendanca, and, with a. coloured picture of the Crucifixion' in hie hand he met his fate. The resigned manner in whiclt he took his sentence is attributed by the Rev. Mr, Hawking to his belief. He had made peace with hk Maker, and would be forgiven in the next world. The Revs. Hawkins and Budd eater an emphatic protest about the manner in which the scaffold was erected — within sight and hearing of the condemned cell. The customary inquest was held and tho usual verdict returned. A later message states that when the hangman, a. slightly built young man, who did not wear a mask, proceeded to bind Kaka'a ankles, the condemned man brought his heels briskly together, and straightened his body like a soldier on parade. As the executioner stepped forward to place the white cap over •Kaka'* head and face, there was no «ign of fear. The impression among the official witnesses was that there was no callousness, but sheer strength of mind to go unflinchingly through the ordeal. A moment or two wai occupied in drawing th* bolt, during which Ihe condemned man's lips uttered a word,.which i&anded like? "A_ue" -(fa-re-w.dl).