INVITEI3 TO. A HANGING. ,

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8925, 5 November 1890, Page 4

INVITED TO A HANGING.

After exhausting, the other sights in the little South Carolina town) we went over to the gaol to ( ,see^a murderer who was to be , hung one ; jweel^ from that day. Hewasa jVl«t| 'hipnjlaijout forty years of age, ana heTiad killedhis wife with an. axe because they differed in opinion. - Jt a wife will insist Upon- differing with her husband she must be prepared for the worst. > Husbarids ;V/ill suffer long and _giye.no sign, b, ut-there is such a ( thing as 'driving them r fo' desperation. '* ■KWhen -we^" entered ; the 5 corridor" the Sheriff was f engaged.-- in j. soaping the hangman's rope..* It was a new one, and he. was in a hi^rry to render it smooth 'and' pliable, 1 and have 'the job'" off -his hands.-ihHe took thpirope. along in his hand as -we entered the "cell of the condemned, and/alfer a formal, introduction the" gehflemah who was so soon to go 6n an excursion reached for the -rope,, care.fully inspected it, and observed — " Bill, you are doing a' slick iob on that." "Well, I'm trying hard." /If I can.hdpyou in any way just, call out. • I might as well be soaping' r the rope as sitting" here doing nothing." j** - .a. We sat down for a smoke and a talk. [Some chaps in his situation would have been so stuck up that you would have felt your littleness in their presence, but this one made an earnest effort to put us at ease, i He exhibited, considerable interest in the project to get him out of the way, and his conversation proved that he had given the matter considerable thought, i "Ever seen a man hung ?" he inquired of me, in a kindly voice. " Yes." "How did he take it?" - • "He seemed discouraged from the very start." " " ' "Yes; some go that way."" 1 have mapped out a" little programme to be followed, and I'd like to heaV your opinion of it. Here it is : " " Rise at 6 o'clock a.m. on the eventful morning. " - ~ . "Put on my clean;' shirt and my Sunaay suit, so as to appear respectable " Breakfast at 7 o'clock. A " Receive friends fr0m~7.30 to 8.30. \ ■ s "From 8.30 to id indulge in final preparation, and take leave of Bill and the boys. - " - : '• At 10 o'clock proceed to the'gallows, giving Uill as little trouble as possible.; " Make a speech about half-an-hour in ■ilengthjfAvarnin'g all young men to abstain from nftarriage, and all wivies to obey •their husbands, f ':*•' Probably some singing. '''"Take my place on the trap^and Bill swings'me off.- • . ; a Curtain."; r , '. I told him' that ! I had seldom* seen a more carefully prepared programme, and that if he stuck to it he could not fail to come out with flying colours. His orthography was defective in certain instances. He realised this and asked me to amend it ; and when we had gone over the programme with a pencil he returned his heartfelt thanks.- ■ ["There were*- one or- two little things •that annoye'd'hTm; For instance, he' had never made a study Of oratory, and tKgre was danger of his breaking down in- the xhiddle/ofHis speech. Then, too, his voice was rfof'in, good trim, and the sfLectatbrs on--thei back seats might feel prut out- because they could not catch his words.- He would be thankful for suggestions from a newspaper ffltin. I tojd.him not to try to.make a hit on oratory, but to tell a.plain story and drop in the' gestures where; he thought they would?count. The crowd would excuse his voice, knowing that he bad been shut lip for the last, six months. His countenance clearecfJuV' at once, and;' he insisted that he was^ n>y debtor. There was another thing. two brothers and one sister. They;; had thrown put hints that they would be on hand to see him swung off. Withjnja day or two, he had begun to doubt thej?iopriety of such action. He didn't want to disappoint them, but_ would it be just the projaer caper for them to show up on such an occasion ? I replied that he had better leave the matter for them, to decide.* Some ' people" enjoy seeing a brother hung ;-'others^vouldn't go a rod to witness such a spectacle. It really made no difference to the;condemned, anyhow, as he would be hung all the same. : , "That's so, that's so," mused the prisoner. "I guess I'll leave 'em to'follow their own bent. Say, how soon' do you leave ?" " To-fnprrow.» "No ! And you won't be here [at the hanging ?" ' " I can't be, though I regret it." \ T "Now that's too" bad! Can't you stop over to' oblige me? I'd like to have you see the affair come off. ' ' r " ' { I excused myself on various' grbufods, 1 and as we rose to go he held out his h^rid and said — ' ' ' * ""''",. " Well, if you can't you can't,' of course, though I'm real iorry. I'm" glad -you called, dnd "if you should change yotur mind and'conclude to take in the hanging, just telegraph; to me."