SENSATIONS ON THE SCAFFOLD.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1190, 19 December 1884, Page 3

SENSATIONS ON THE SCAFFOLD.

Thefollotring narrative recently appearedIn tliekswcastle.iftmfd:---' , " "

“ t'was'present the other evening at a : certain . social gathering,' when Professor Baldwin, the eminent thought reader, who was one ofthe party, was called upon to contribute an item to the -'eveniiigV enter tainment. He did’ so in the fallowing wonts, asfar; as I can renolject• The other night one of the gentleman present ask me to tell you a good. American, Jie as my contribution to ihe evening’sprpgratome. L don’t know that an American. lie is any. different frOm an English lie, a Germhn iie, or a French lie; but what I ; am going to tell you is a true story of something that occurred to myself many ’years ago ' ’ The facts arc so terrible, or were so terrible to" me at tjie time, that they wanted nothing, added io them, to heigh ten, their effect. The ktory was brought to my mind by'A lady, expressing her' wonder how a certain con-'" dimmed criminal felt when op the scaffold.' Well, thaatcuy I.am ahout to,relate ia.of’a man who wasisentenced, to be hanged ;;whp jiad the rope roup-1 His heck, and who was inly saved from his dreadful death. by, a. miracle. I was that man, and so far .as ,-1 am .oorioerped t can answer tjie questinghow',a .man sentenced to he hanged feels-on the ’scaffold. It'was during the time of the. great rebellion, gome twenty years "ago. I was attached to the Northern Army, and in’ -the course of events it. fell to.my lot, when in'tho Sthtp of, Ohio, iff proceed to one ofthe Soul Kern towns for the purpose' of oh-' taining a plan of their fortifications. 1 wan to act as -coat, or,-as you call it, a spy. But I,was not successful. .1 was arrested by the confederates, was tried by a drum head Court-martial, an I,- the proofs being so plain against me, was within the-next 5 minutes, sentenced to be hanged. ...The execution was lb take place within a few-hours A clergyman was sept to me, and ho ad' ministered spiritual comfort—which, under the circumstances, and the way it was given, only proved a bore 1 was asked whether I had any last request I said * No,’ and awaited my fate with calmness. The execution was J® lake place, in the afternoon. It was a lovely day, and the sun shone gloriously. 1 was led to the soaff ild; which had been hastily constructed. There were some hundreds of troops present, and- a number of private detectives had' come Out to see the fuff. T remember when the executioner spoke to me, I gave him some directions hj nv to fasten the rope. I told him to put the knot close under my Iqft ear, my knowledge of physical science le ichihg me that in this position, when 1 fell, my neck was far more likely ,to oreak than if the knot was behind, which often leads to 4 comparatively lingering death by Strangulation, The man did. so. "then iny hands were fastened behind me, and there |[ stood separated from eternity, as 1 thought, by but an instant .or two of time, I have Tea-1 (and doubtless you have read also) of ihe feelings vvh’ch come upon people under Ihesft’circumstances—how scenes of their plat life,’long forgotten, rise up before them with ihe-clearness of a panorama or kaleidoscope, and the rapi lity of lightning Put it was not so with me. My principle feeling Was an intense desire that my strength Would keep up till the, final scene, that I Would no f faint or show the white feather ; find [ whispere I to the ekecutioneer not tc farther delay. 'But at that -time-1 felt conscious, as it were, of two distinct beings— One with my, hands tied behind me as tiiey actually wt-re ;. the- other with my .arms folded across my breast gazing far into the distant plain. I cannot account for it, but so it was. Nothing of my past life rose up before me ; bufthe one absorbing thought anil fear was, as I tel! you, that I might not be able to keep up my spirits to the end. Then, as 1 looked into vacancy, as it seemed to me, there arose a cloud of du-t, and a second or two aftorwardjt there came tearing towards us two horsemen, wlhout either saddle or bridle nothing but a rope twisted round their horses’ months, and their horses a mass' of foam and sweat. We all looked cfnrionsly on the scene before us. an I ray practised eye showed me that .among the cloud of dust was aholy of cavalry. Then 1 prayed them to hurry to its close the awful ceremony in whieii I was the civet .figure; for I th-ught the approaching troops were only coming to add to the a) eady large number of spectators, and I wished to deprive them of the pleasure of seeing me executed. Quicker than I can tell you, there was a flash in the midst of that cloud, and a shell exploded over our heads. At the same instant two civilian horsemen, who were now close upon us, cried out in a voice of shrieking terror that General Wils m and 50,090 Northerners were upon ns. At once the scene was changed. I was apparently forgotten, and a general stampede of both tro >ps and ormvil took place. Then a great levutsimi cam - over me. My heart beat fast; the b'ood coursed fiercely through my veins, and now there was a chance of life I feared to look on death. The mpe was still about my neck, my hands bound behind, and T stood upon the trap—the bolt once drawn would launch me into eternity. The people were running pell mell around and underneath me, but'l feared to attract attention, lest by accident or design one of those now stampeding away might do for me what th« executioner would have done in another moment but for the alarm d- scribed, I tried t-i sh : ft my posilim from off the trap, but 1 could not move, for I felt paralysed, then I tried by moving ray head to shift the knot to the back of my head, so that if t fell my neck might not break. 1 might hang and . choke, it js true, but the approaching host might cut me down before the life was actually out of me. 1 heard the treait ok many horses as the clond came down upon me, heavy squadrons, too, ac eompanied by artillery, for their guns flashed again" and thundered on the ear, and their death-dealing missies hurled through the air. But none touched me. I wasjike a man in a dream, and in a state of dreadful terror for fear my deliverance might nnt he carried out—that the bolt would yet be draw", and the fall through the trap follow. Then someone —I could not see who, for my eyes were cloudy, and colours of blue, red, and green fille d them sprang upon the scaffold, cut the mpe which bound my hands, and placed a knife in them. From that day to this I never knew who did that kindly act. 1 tried to raise the knife and cut The ropo from round my neck, but co”ld not rise my hands, then a vision of many forms swam before me, there was a loud cheering, as it seemed to me, and, praying for relief fr on death, for my head was .dizzy, and my brain was whirling in hope and fear, I fell forward, and only came to myself at the end of seven weeks, during which time 1 had suffered from brain fever, brought on by the intense excitement through which I had passed. I was then among -friends and Northerners.’ ”