The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, August 04, 1915, Page EIGHT, Image 8
SUNDAY SCHOOL
"Lesson VI.?Third Quarter, For
Aug. 8,1915.
v JHE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.
~Text of the Lesson, I Kings xii:6-16.
Memory Verse, 16?Golden Text,
r Prov. xvi, 18?Commentary Prepared
I by Rev. D. M. Stearns.
I
In this record of the division of the
kingdom and its cause we still see God
over all controlling and in all working,
for He has foreseen everything from j
the beginning and provided for every
so called emergency and always tolls
the final outcome. This division of the
kingdom has never been healed till
this day, but it will be in His time, according
to Ezek. xxxvii, 21, 22, "I
will make them one nation in the land
upon the mountains of Israel; and one
. king shall be king to them all, and
they shall be no more two nations,
neither shall they be divided into two
kingdoms any more at all." The immediate
cause of this division is found
in chapter xi, 9, 10, "The Lord was
angry with Solomon because his heart
was turned from the Lord God -of Israel,
which had appeared unto him twice
and had commanded him concerning
this thing that he should not go after
other gods." Therefore was the kingdom
rent in twain. Departure from
God and disobedience to Him is back
of all trouble, as a rule, and the devil
is back of that, but the time will come
when on this earth there shall be no
more trouble, and from this earth and
this atmosphere the devil shall have
? i o. ?i i/i.l
gone xorever iiiev. i.v, iu, a.\i, .i-x,
xxlW 3-5). Whether it be providing a
king for Israel, as we have seen in the
case of Saul, and David, and Solomon,
or dividing the kingdom, as we ar4
about to see, the Lord generally works
;by ordinary human instrumentality.
In our lesson story today we see
Hadad Rezon and Jeroboam and Ite.lioboam
and old men and young men
all doing seemingly as they saw tit,
' but behind the scenes is an unseen
hand controlling. "The Lord stirred
-nn an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad,
the Edomite." "God stirred him up I
another adversary, Rezon, the son of
Eliadah."' "Thus saitb tbe I.ord, the
God of Israel, Behold I will rend the
kingdom' out of the hand of Solomon
and will give ten tribes to thee." "The
cause was from the Lord, That He
-might perform His saying, which the
Lord, spake by Ahijah, the Shilonite.
unto Jeroboam, the son of Nebat"
"Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go
up nor fight against your brethren, the
^children of Israel: return every man to
his house, for this thing is from Me."
(I Kings xi, 14, 23, 31; xii. 13, 24).
Even the devil cannot touch a child of
God without God's permission, as we
see in the case of Job and of Simon
Peter.
The believer who aims to walk with
God in humility and obedience may
live In continual peace and quietness,
assured that all things are God's best
for him and that no real evil can ever
befall him. But if there is disobedience
or willfulness God will in love
and wisdom ohasten for our good. Solomon
being dead, Kcboboam. his son.
?* 1 * - oil T ovo aI hnrinfr
xeigueu ill ills* aicau, ttii lotuvi ?
made him king at Shechem txii, 1; II
Cliron. x, 1). When Jeroboam heard
in Egypt that Solomon was dead he
returned and, with a deputation, waited
upon Reboboam with a request that
he would lighten the burdens which
his father's magniflc-ent reign had
caused to be placed upon them. He
asked for three days to consider their
request, and meantime he consulted
first with the old men and then with
his young men. The former advised
moderation and that he speak kindly
to the people, but the latter advised
Increased severity. So when the third
day came and Jeroboam and-the people
came again for his reply he spake
to them as the young men.had advised,
for the Lord was by their evil counsel
working out His purpose (verse 15), as
He also wrought by the counsel of
TTnchnt whinh was evil toward Absa
lom, to overthrow him. "The counsel
of the Lord standeth forever. . the
thooghts of his heart to all generations,"
but all other counsel or device
He bringeth to nought (Ps. xxxill. 10.
11). "Whatsoever the Lord pleased
that did He in heaven and in earth, in
the seas and all deep places" (Ps.
cxxxv, 6).
However people may associate themselves
against Him or take counsel together
against His people, all shall be
broken to pieces and come to nought
(Isa. vill, 9, 10). For "the Lord of
hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I
have thought, so shall it com? to pass;
and as I have purposed, so shall it
stand." (Isa. xiv, 24). He maketh the
wrath of man to praise Him, and the
remainder He restrains. He saith to
the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but
no further; and here shall thy proud
waves be stayed." (Ps. lxxlv, 10; Job
xxxviii, 11). If our hearts are whole
toward Him He will hold strongly
with us and cause others to see and
know that He Is with us; but if we
are self willed and rely on huAian wisdom
He will work against us and
< overthrow us, though He may bear
'.long with us. He has a purpose for
^every individual life of His redeemed,
as well as for the church, which is
His body, and for His people Israel
and for all nations; and He will accomplish
His nuroose throueh His will
ing people individually and coHectively.
"We never heard of anything so great
-as the love of God.
vi .
BECKER PAYS DEATH PENALTY.
(Continued from page 1.)
current pulsed through the body.
The shock lasted seven seconds.
After a hasty examination, Dr. Farr
asked that a third shock be given.
This last five seconds. An examination
that took several minutes followed.
Three physicians among the
witnesses then made an examination
and Dr. Farr, at 5.55 o'clock quietly
announced:
"I pronounce this man dead."
During the night Becker penciled
on a piece of paper what he captioned
"My Dying Declaration." It was
take^ to the warden's office, where ^
two copies were typewritten, which
Becker signed in a bold hand with ^
his fountain pen. To Deputy Warden
Johnson, who had charge of the ;
execution in place of Warden Thomas
Mott Osborne, who does not believe
in the death penalty, the one '
time police lieutenant gave his fountain
nen as a erift. "It is the last ,
thing that I have to^give away and I .
want you to give this statement to .
the newspaper men." j
Becker's message read:
"Gentlemen: I stand before you
in my full senses, knowing that no
power on earth can save me from the
grave tha^ is to receive me. In the
face of that, in the teeth of those
who condemned me, and in the pre- J
sence of my God and your God, I proclaim
my absolute innocence of'
the foul crime for which I must die. P
You are now about to witness my :
destruction by the state which is organized
to protect the lives of the
innocent. May Almighty God par- 1
don every one who has contributed !
in any degree to my untimely death. !J
And now, on the brink of my grave, 1
I declare to the world that .1 am
proud to have beea the husband of
the purest, noblest woman that ever,1
lived?Helen Keeker, lhis acknow- <
ledgement is the only legacy I can 1
leave her. I bid you all goodbye..
Father. I am ready to go. Amen.
(Signed) "Charles Becker."
After his wife had said fdrewell,
shortly after midnight, Becker maintained
a casual conversation with
Deputy Warden Johnson, who sat beside,
the screen in front of his cell.
Sometimes he smoked cigars, after
which he would let his head fall upon
his hand and gaze reflectively at the
concrete floor for minutes at a time.
Pinned Wife's Photo Over Heart
Dawn found him seated on the
edge of his cot carefully pinning a
photograph of his wife on his white
shirt just over his heart. Then as if
he desired to have her all to himself.'
Becker put on a thin black alpaca
coat which he tightly buttoned. The '
photograph was not seen by the witnesses
until the prison physicians '
opened his coat as he sat in the death
chair.
r> ~ i. x~ J i.t_ i j.r. _
.Deliver was put iu ueuui uy me
state executioner whose name is un- :
known to the public. This man sue- :
ceeded .State Electrician Davis and <
he.said he would not take thfe job :
unless his name was kept secret. He i
lives in a little town up-state and <
went about his work briskly.
Becker's executioner said that in ]
his opinion the man had died instantly
at the first contact. ,i
An autopsy was performed, ac- :
cording to law immediately after the :
execution. After Becker's body had
been removed from the chair, Samuel
Haynes, a negro murderer, was
brought -into the execution room and
electrocuted. jl
One of Becker's last requests to 1
Warden Osborne was that he be put :
to death before the negro. j.'
Mrs. Becker's last effort to save
her husband was made yesterday
when she appealed personally to Gov
ernor Whitman for a reprieve so that
an appeal may be taken to the state 1
court of appeals. Missing the governor
at Albany, Mrs. Becker met him
at Poughkeepsie. The plea was fruitless
and the untiring wife hurried to
Sing Sing to bid her husband farewell.
She was with him for an hour, j
leaving the death house at 12:30
o'clock this morning. She left soon i
afterwards for New York, outwardly
displaying no effects of the severe
mental strain. John Becker, her
brother-in-law, and John Lynch, her
brother, accompanied her. i
'A lengthy statement to Governor
Whitman was given out by Becker
late yesterday. Becker reiterated
his innocence and declared he never
had offered to plead guilty to second i
degree murder.
Mrs. Becker Plans Exposure. [.
A statement credited to Mrs. Beck- \
er was given out here shortly after \
her husband's death.
"I shall ne'ver rest," she was quot- :
ed as saying, "until f have exposed i
the methods which were used to con- |
vict my husband. Whether he was t
guilty or innocent, there was no jus- ]
tification for the means employed to j
convict him. ]
"I would rather lose all the other
members of my family, as dear as <
they are to me, than lose Charlie. No .1
one can take his place. In all of the 1
I i
;en years of our married life, I never
lad occasion once to regret that I
vas his wife."
"Charlie was no angel. H* made
10 pretense of being one. H<? was
ust an ordinary human bein,; -and
jerhaps that is why I loved him so.'"
Dr. W. O. Stillman, of .t*nurn,
vho assisted in the autopsy said that
Becker showed unusual resistnnce to
;he electric fluid. After the autopsy,
Dr. Stillman said: "I noticed no urjsual
effects upon Becker's vital organs.
The way he resisted th? ?tvonw
:urrent was remarkable, showing him
;o be an unusually powerful man."'
It was expected that Becker's body
vould be removed some time today
;o New York, where funeral services
probably will be held on Sunday.
Becker went to his death three
pears and a day after his indictment
and arrest, and slightly more than 15
months after the execution of the
four gunmen convicted of the actual
murder of Rosenthal.
Becker is the first man who left
the death house when granted a
new trial, to return there and suffer
the death penalty. All others who
have left Sing Sing's death house after
being granted a new trial have
" -'1 _ i 1. _ A xl ?
raueci to return mere lor sume reason
or other. .
Gunmen Kill Rosenthal.
Herman Rosenthal, the gambler,
for whose murder Charles Becker
sentenced to die in the electric chair,
was shot to death by hired gunmen
in the early morning of July 16,1912
in front of the Hotel Metropole on
43d street, a few steps from Broadway.
The murder was the swift culmination
of sensational charges made i
a few days before by Rosenthal j
against Becker in which Rosenthal |
asserted that Becker, then head of i
the strong arm squad of detectives, |
freely sold police protection and had j
accumulated thousands; of dollars of
graft money.
Rosenthal went further than that.
He swore that. Becker was his silent
partner in a gambling enterprise that
failed and that Becker, angered by
losses where he had expected large
profits, raided the Rosenthal establishment
and drove. Rosenthal out of
business by stationing uniformed policemen
on his premises dayi and
ni^ht.
These cnarges were published and
District Attorney Whitman began an
investigation of them. He summoned
Rosenthal to the criminal courts
building and listened to his story. An
appointment was made With Rosenthal
for the next day. Before the
time came, Rosenthal was murdered.
When the assassins had done their
work, they ran across the street,
jumped into a gray automobile which
was waiting at the curb and whirled
away uptown. A bystander caught
the license number of the car.
First News of Murder.
District Attorney Whitman, notified
by telephone of the murder,
reached the police station where Rosenthal's
body lay before dawn. He
aroused his detectives from their
sleep and spread a dragnet over the
city for the murder car. It was found
before night. It's driver, Louis Shapiro,
and Louis Libbey, par owner,
were arrested and Mr. Whitman asserted
openly in an emphatic statement
that the police had abetted the
murder.
New York city, already interested
in the charges of police corruption,
responded to the newd of the murder
as if to a call to arms. Becker, who
had been the chief of
tiial's accusations, was openly suspected.
He was relieved of his command
of the strong arm squad and
transferred to the Bronx. Jack Rose
his graft collector, walked into the
criminal courts building the day after
the murder and surrendered to the
district attorney/declaring he had
nothing to fear. Harry Vallon and
Bridgie Webber, gamblers and
friends of Rose and Becker, were arrested
as witnesses. ' The grand jury
began its investigation.
Rose lay in prison 12 days without
word from Becker, and, believing his
chief had deserted him, confessed.
Vallon and Webber corroborated his
story. He t6ld of his long associal:
Ii.L T> ? ?1 - * -
liuu wim cei'Ker, oi police COITUption
which existed as Rosenthal had
charged, of thousands collected by
Becker for police protection and,
finally, of his commission by Becker
to arrange to .have Rosenthal killed
by gunmen?a commission he executed.
That night, July 29, 1912, District
Attorney Whitman summoned the
1? 1
gianu jui,y uy tcicpnuiie ana teie?raph,
laid his evidence before it and
within two hours obtained the indictment
of Becker on a charge of murder.
Four East Side gangsters were indicted
as the actual murderers. Rose
had testified that these men were assigned
by "Big Jack" Zelig, a gang
leader who had ' been arrested by
Becker's men on a trumped-up
charge, to do the murder. They were
to receive 81,000 and Zelig was to be
released. Zelig's orders had been is
sued from the Tombs to the gunmen.
These gunmen?known in the ~
streets of the East Side as "Gyp the
Blood" Horowiui, "Lefty Louie" Rosenberg,
"Dago Frank" Cv$fici and
"Whitey" Lewis?were rounded up
one by one. The last two were arrested.
"Gyp ;he Blood" and "Lefty
Louie" were not found till September,
hiding in a Brooklyn flat.
With them were found their young
wives, who, to divert suspicion, had
died their light hair black. *
To give standing to the testimony
of Becker's three accomplices who
had turned informers?Rose, Webberr,
and Vallon?a corroborating
witness, who was not implicated was
needed. Sam Schepps, a dapper little
gambler who had fled the city,
was the man who could do this. He
was found at Hot Springs, Ark., and
brought back to New York and the
people's case against Charles Becker
was complete. It went to trial on
October 7, 1912.
Verdict of Guilty Returned.
A verdict of guilty of first degree
murder was returned at midnight Qctober
24, 1912, after the jury had
deliberated reven hours and 57 minutes.
Becker was sentenced six days
later to die in the electric chair during
the week of December 9, 1912.
Within less than a. month the four
gunmen were placed on trial as the
actual slayers, found guilty and sent
to the death house.
More than a year later, on February
24, 1914, the court of appeals decided
that Becker should have a new
trial. The gunmen's conviction was
upheld and they paid the penalty
with their lives on April 14, 1914.
One of the number, "Dago' Frank,"
confessed the guilt of his three associates,
but maintained his own innocence.
His confession, made on the
eve of the execution, became known
the day they were put to death.
Becker was brought back to the
Tombs. His second trial was begun
May 6. 1914, and ended May 22, with
a verdict of guilty. He was sentenced
to die during the week of July
fi. 1014. An arneal was filed, hilt
the conviction was upheld by the
higher court in a decision handed
down May 25 last, and the date of
the execution was set for the week
beginning July' 12.
Shortly after the court of appeals
denied Becker a third trial, W.
Bourke Cockran became Becker's
chief counsel. He appeared before
United States Supreme Court Justice
Hughes and argued for a writ of
error, which was* denied.
"During the week previous to that
in which Becker was sentenced to die
Gov. Whitman granted the condemned
man a reprieve of two weeks as '
he had learned, it was stated, new
motions were to be made in Becker's
behalf.
Becker's Final Effort.
On July 20, a 15,000 word statement
by Becker was forwarded to
the governor. The statement was
said to contain new facts and made
public mention for the first time of
the name of the late Congressman
Timothy D. Sullivan in connection
with the case. The governor de- ]
clined to commute Becker's sentence
after reading the statement. Beck- 1
er's attorney thereupon appealed to
Supreme Court Justice Philbin for a
third trial and on July 23 the justice
signed an order for District Attorney
Perkins to show'cause why a new 1
trial should not be granted. The or- :
der was returnable before Supreme i
Courfe Justice Ford on July 26. The
justice reserved decision and devoted
nearly all of his time for the next j
two days to going over papers in the
nnc,* CUaUI.. 1 A ->-1 - -1 il
i>aoc, unvi ui; m lci iu u uiock on me
night of July 28, Justice Ford announced
he had denied the applicat- 1
tion, and Becker's only hope remained
in possible executive clemency
by Gov. Whitman.
Wife Wa? Loyal.
Throughout Becker's troubles his ]
wife remained loyal to him and was
his constant adviser. She labored apparently
without tiring in his behalf, <
assisting his counsel in every way
possible. She appeared to be crush- <
ed when the court of appeals upheld ,
his second conviction, but soon turned
her energies toward eleventh hour
work to save him. It was largely at ?
her urging that he joined in the plan
to ask Gov. Whitman, his prosecutor,
for clemency.
mere was one other woman who, (
if reports are true, followed Becker's
career through the courts as closely
as his own wife did. This was Herman
Rosenthal's widow. Soon after
Becker's second conviction she
disappeared. Not long ago she was ]
found, broken in health and spirit,
and living with an oldtime friend.
"I am living for only one thing,"
she was quoted as saying, "to see the
day that Becker pays the penalty."
Never the Right Road. i
It's plain enough you get into the
wrong road i' this life if you run ]
after this and that only for the sake 1
o' making things easy and pleasant ]
for yourself.?George Eliot i
V
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STANDARD OI
Washington, D. C. (New Jen
Norfolk, Va. (BALTIMC
Richmond, Va. >
REUNION OF ORR'S REGIMENT j
Westminster August 19 and 20,
Program for the Occasion.
?J
Following is the program for the ^
reunion of Orr's Regiment, August .
19 and 20, to be held at the ischool ?
s
auditorium in Westminster: ^
Thursday, August 19.
8.00 o'clock- p. m.?General reunion
of veterans at town park. s
Aiimiat 70 n
10 o'clock a. m.?Call to order by *
/ice president. *
Invocation by chaplain. T
Music?"Dixie." a
Address of welcome?Mayor H. B. 1'
Gilbert.
Welcome by Chapter?Mrs. J. M. ?
Bruner. ^
Music?Quartette. J
Response to address of welcome?
Col. J. C. Stribling. h
Address by H. R. Hughs. Subject: a
'The Confederate Soldier?His Service
to Us; Our Duty to Him." ^
Adjournment for dinner.
2.00 oclock p. m.?Business session.
Election of officers. n
Memorial service. I
Music (solo)?Mrs. T. Reden An- v
ierson. d
. Music (solo)?Mrs. D. L. Mulkey. r
Address?Gen. M. L. Bonham. j,
Song and recitation?Miss Maggie
Abbott. \
Dismissal with prayer?Rev. R. L.
Duffie. c
P
Average Normal Nation.
The object of the average normal
nation is to have more prosperity to ^
raise more taxes to build more battleships
to seek more markets to tl
sell more goods to have more prosperity
to raise more taxes to build ^
more battleships to seek more mar- ^
kets to sell more goods to have more
prosperity and so on until something a
unforeseen happens.?Life.
MM?in m\ mu - 3MB??|
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Charleston, S. C. ... (I. " *
5RYAN SAYS AMERICA IS WITHOUT
RIGHT TO ENTER WAR
San Francisco, July 26.?William
F. Bryan said in address last night at
he First Congregational church that
hose who are looking for "the big
[tick in the scriptures would think
he writers of holy writ were molly:oddles."
' ' ' '
"There is a phrase about speaking >
oftly but carrying a big stick," said
tfr. Bryan. "The man responsible
or that phrase never found it in the
Jible and his reputation as a wise
nan could nftver HptiptiH on
ilone. If he gets a> big stick, he
oses his soft voice." . ,
Mr. Bryan declared the United
States had no warrant to conceive
yar against Germany or any other
luropean power. ... '
"To 'go to war with Germany now"
ie said, "would be like challenging
,n insane asylum."
VILSON TO PLAN
DEFENSE OF NATION
Washington, July 24.?Official anouncement
was made at the White'
louse to-day that President Wilson
nil take up the question of national
efense with Secretary of War Garison
and Secretary of the Navy Danjls
on his return from. Cornish.
This statement was issued at the
Vhite House:
"Of course the President has been
onsidering every phase of this imortant
matter and intends while
way to give much of his time to a
all consideration of it. Upon his ream
from Cornish there will dobut?ss
be conferences between him and j
tie Secretaries of Navy and.War.
"The purpose of the conferences
rill be to procure information upon
'hich he can base a fair, reasonable
nd practical program of national
efense."
'