AVERSION TO THIS MODE OF EXECUTION WAS CAUSED BY AN INCIDENT WHICH
HAPPENED AT BELLEVILLE ILLINOIS, YEARS AGO--THROUGH THE TRAP WITH A
MURDERER.
In my younger days I was a firm believer in hanging as a means of
capital punishment, but I do not hold the same views now, and have not
for a long time. As my friends have often asked me what caused me to
change my mind on this matter, I am now going to take them into my
confidence, and tell them all about it.
Several years ago I had some important business to transact with Sheriff
Ropiequet of St. Clair County, Illinois. I went to his office in the
Court House at Belleville. The deputy in charge informed me that the
sheriff was over in the jail yard putting the finishing touches to
arrangements for hanging a negro named Johnson, who had been convicted
of killing his wife in a most brutal manner. The deputy further informed
me that if my business was important, I had better go to the jail at
once, as the sheriff would probably be too busy later to see me until
after dinner. Acting on this tip, I at once went to the jail and was
admitted. The sheriff told me he was too busy at the time to attend to
the business, and would be until after the hanging, and invited me to
witness the execution, which was to take place in a few moments. I cared
nothing about this, as the witnessing of executions had long since
ceased to be a novelty to me, but under the circumstances, I accepted
the invitation.
The scaffold had been erected in the yard surrounding the jail. The
platform, which was about eight feet square, rested on four upright
posts, about six and a half feet from the ground. The trap door, which
was about three feet square, was located in the center of the platform,
and fastened to one end by two hinges, opening downward. The other end
was fastened on the underside by a bolt, or trigger, the pulling of
which would allow the body to drop down through the platform. On the
center of the trap door was a soap box, on which the culprit was to
stand while awaiting the arranging of the noose, one end of which ran
around a pulley fastened to a cross-beam above the platform, so that the
rope could be adjusted to the proper length. A stairway, about three
feet wide, had been built from the ground to the platform.
Within a few minutes, the sheriff and condemned man, accompanied by a
priest and a deputy sheriff, appeared at the door leading from the jail
to the yard in which the execution was to take place. As they marched
toward the scaffold the sheriff commanded me to join the procession,
which I did, following the party up the stairway to the platform. The
condemned man appeared cool and walked with a firm step. I took a
position to the right of him, while the sheriff stood at his left. The
priest and deputy stood just back of us. After the man who was about to
be hanged had taken his position on the box on the trap, he was asked if
he had anything to say, as is usual on such occasions. The negro made a
complete confession of his guilt, but claimed that the drinking of bad
whiskey was the real cause of his committing the crime, and admonished
all within the hearing of his voice to beware of strong drink. At the
conclusion of his talk, the deputy bound his legs and tied his hands
behind him, while the sheriff adjusted the black cap. The negro had an
exceedingly long head and neck, and as a result the cap did not cover
all of his neck, there being a space of an inch or two between the
bottom of the cap and the top of his coat collar. Just as the sheriff
placed the noose around the condemned man's neck, but before the
officers had time to tighten the rope, it came in contact with the bare
place on the negro's neck, and he fainted. The sheriff grabbed one arm
and I the other to keep the fainting man from falling from the platform.
In doing this we both stepped on the trap. The deputy became rattled and
pulled the trigger at this moment, and all three of us started down
through the trap together. Now the sheriff was a very large man, and I
was no infant myself, so when all three of our bodies reached the level
of the platform we became wedged in the opening. The noose had become
taut, just enough to strangle the negro a little, and he commenced to
kick and squirm. Finally his body squeezed on down, relieving the
pressure on the sheriff and me, and we both, too, fell through to the
ground. We were not harmed and were soon on our feet. Because of the
fact that the rope had not been adjusted to the proper length, the
negro's toes touched the ground, thus preventing the breaking of his
neck. He strangled to death, however, in a few minutes. Since this
incident I have been opposed to hanging as a means of capital
punishment.