The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, August 12, 1915, Page 2, Image 2
LAST XKiHT IX DEATH HOUSE.
Experiences as Related by Roland II.
Molineuv, Who Was Released.
Lieutenant Charles Becker, formerly
of the New York police force, was
electrocuted a few days ago in the
death chamber at Sing Sing prison.
Roland B. Molineux was tried for
murder, convicted and spent several
months in the death house, an occupant
of one of the little cells where
Becker spent his flnal hours of life.
Molineux wrote 01 ms
there in a book, "The Room With
the Little Door," published by Dillingham.
He gives this description
of a man's last day and night; the
few remaining hours before the little
door opens to admit him to the
; execution chamber:
There are unwritten laws and canons
for all important occurrences in
the death chamber. 1 do not mean
the prison rules; but the way "we"
have of doing things. For instance,
the new arrival, after he has passed
through all formalities at the officials'
' * " -" ? ?
hands, ana tney are many, i? iuhioicu
by "us" on the first night passed in
our society.
, .
This is an ancient and honorable
custom, and like all initiations, a secret.
These fixed ceremonies occur
all through his long and brutal life in
the death chamber. Long, for even
a short stay in it makes him old:
brutal, because his punishment is?
death. Is that not enough? And to
add thereto years of solitary confinement
is to kill him not once, but over
\ and over again. The system is all
wrong. Oh. the years in the death
chamber! The loneliness, the quiet!
Hell must be a quiet place.
When at last it is drawing to a
close, when the governor has refused
to interfere, the officials proceed in
this manner: On Saturday the "fortunate
one" on stepping from his
bath is ordered into a new cell?the
nnp next to the "little door" leading
^ v - - to
the execution chamber. Here he
receives everything new: new bedding,
new clothes from head to foot,
and then his knickknacks, pipe, tobacco.
boxes, books, and the package
of letters from home, ragged and
blurred from reading and re-reading;
all have been carefully searched. He
receives something else, for this
change in itself is his notice that one
week from the following Monday he
rag
will be moved again. No questions
are ever asked: he has seen it all bef}
fore; hut should he ask, the only reply
will be "I don't know."
From that moment a certain unwritten
etiquette among us is never
violated. His own way in everything,
as far as we can possibly comprehend
it, is our law. Does he ask for a
song or story, his demand is acquiesc.ed
with at once. Will he play checkF&
ers? He may choose his opponent,
and he will always win. We send
him our oranges, the top layer from
the box of cigars one has purchased.
We do anything, everything, we can
to please him. Has there been a
quarrel between him and another, it
is completely forgotten. On his part
he must make the ghastly regulation
* ? 1 ? ? *1.. ' (' h O
jOKes auriug tut? vvccn. a UCoc
two in number, one with the keeper
lV about the new suit of clothes: "I supfpose
you will be wearing this week
after next." Number two is with the
barber: "Don't forget to cut my
hair short on top." From now on the
"death watch" (two keepers) sits in
front of his cage every night. During
this week occurs the greatest horror
we are called upon to bear. i. e.. to
hear the last farewells of our com'
i panion to mother, wife, sister, or
child. While listening to their cries
we anticipate the agony in store for
those we love. My heart bleeds
when I remember what I beard in the
t death chamber. It is unspeakable.
I cannot write of it.
Then comes the last night. Everything
must be done very exactly now.
Our code prescribes for everything:
nothing must be omitted, no custom
may be violated. The early evening
passes as usual. Generally he asks
for songs, perhaps he will sing one
*
himself. That is as it may be. But
a* midnight the last rites among us
of the death chamber take place. The
keeper comes to my cell carrying,
perhaps, the little paper box my departing
friend has kept his tobacco
in so long: one that he made and
decorated himself.
"Keep that to remember me by." I
hear from the direction of the little
door.
"Thank you," I reply.
"Good-bye. I hope you have luck
and get out." is the next part of the
ritual.
I must respond. "Thank you. Goodbye.
and God bless you."
This is repeated with each one separately.
He gives everything away.
books, pipe, all. For six months he
has been turning over in his mind
just what treasure each of his companions
shall receive when the last
night comes. The responses never
vary. They are now as they were
ten years ago: they will be the same
twenty years from now if that hell on
earth is still in existence.
No one speaks to him or to any
one else after that. He is reading
A (THIOL'S SITUATION*.
Plenty of Water, But There Were Xo ;
Boats.
When in a spirit of tame adventure
I started out to make an inland i
voyage down the .Mississippi from St. I
Paul to New Orleans, says W. A. Ayl- i
ward in Harper's, the first fact that 1
confronted me was that it could not 1
he done: that the traffic on the ex- 1
treme upper river was of such a fugi- i
tive and excursion-like nature that it <
disappeared absolutely with the first 1
hint of coming autumn.
There was the river in its best sea- i
son. placidly reflecting the rich color I
nf a crlorinns SeDtember dav. There <
was plenty of water, the channel was <
clear, but as a steamboat riian lugu- <
briouslv remarked, "It takes some- <
thing more than water to run a 1
steamboat." And, that something be- <
ing lacking, the boats had stopped, i
Along the bank they lay with their i
stacks canvassed over against the ]
still far-off winter snows, hauled clear I
of the ice that would gather later, <
and ready for their long sleep. i
Well might the inhospitable signs
on the raised stages have read "Keep i
Off the River." for it was strangely <
deserted, and as I made my way from <
. point to point in stuffy, overheated ;
trains no human life disturbed its ]
surface for hundreds of miles save i
an occasional pearl-fisher, a ferryboat 1
crawling -crab-fashion from shore to <
( shore, or perhaps an excursion barge i
making its way to winter quarters af- <
, ter a season of "exclusive dances" at i
fifty cents a head. i
It was significant, too. that the i
towboat which had the barge in its 1
charge was a powerful and wellknown
"raft-boat" whose trade had 1
disappeared with the rest, and the i
thrilling sight of a million or so logs '
floating to a 'destination a. thousand i
, miles away "as peacefully as though <
, each log had a propeller and rudder
of its own" is one thing more that has
, become a river tradition. (
? i
The Iiight Husband. i
???? <
i "So you think Katherine made a '>
very suitable match?"
"Yes. indeed, you know what a <
; nervous, excitable girl she was. Well i
she married a composer."?Boston 1
j Transcript.
! and re-reading each of those letters 1
for the last time and destroying them. '
We hear him tearing them up one i
by one. "Swish, swish, swish." Then I
it is quiet, very quiet in the death <
chamber. I am not sleepy; the oth- 1
er fellows do not seem to be sleepy, i
They are reading. I sit up and write <
this; tomorrow I will write the other ]
half J
I have often read in the newspa- 1
- J (
pm & tuc au];puacu mcai pai iancu wl
by the departing guest "furnished *
from the warden's table." No news- '
paper reporter seems to be able to re- (
sist a description of the last break- c
fast, and no two papers ever pub- f
I lish the same one. Did the wretch 1
| gorge.himself to the extent indicat- i
ed, indigestion and not electricity 1
would carry him off, and justice
would be cheated. No, he is not even
stimulated to the extent of a cup
of coffee, and for a good reason; a (
full stomach is not a good conductor. c
You will read that "the man was in- t
different." I will tell you he was
glad to go. "That he made no a
trouble." Why should he? "Our i
horror." how we are affected by our ^
companion's death, is fully portrayed. v
As a matter of fact, we envy him. c
Anything, everything is better than t
existence in the death chamber. t
During the night, if you have lain t
awake, and one has been known to r
be so foolish, you may have felt a <]
very slight vibration, perhaps it was c
imagination: perhaps it is the dvna?,?
if vmi have slpnf and do not s
hear the death watch draw down the s
curtains in front of all the c^lls when
the night outside turns gray, you will
surely be awakened by the noise of v
many feet. It is the priests who have j
entered. Their ordinary shoes on tile t
flagging of the corridor sound like f
thunder, thunder moving away. Now i
it subsides to the murmuring of Lat- a
in prayers. As you lie in your cell
(the drawn curtains make it resem- F
ble a little box) wike awake, you 1
know that the last confession is being t
made, the last sacrament is being ad- r
ministered. This is another reason f
why no breakfast is given to the trav- 1
eler. I saw it all one morning: the I
curtain was not quite down to the i
floor. I made myself as flat as pos- s
sible. I saw the priest bless and kiss
him: held up the cross before his t
eyes: bid him have faith, and then *
back out of the cell. "He." who is|>
soon to be "it" followed. Then 11 *
heard the procession march rapidly -
I llliu Hit? UCM I vutn. ^
I the hungry little door as it closed. t
What happens in there, and how it
| felt three minutes later. I cannot tell
: you: but I came very near finding
| out. Will you believe nie that this ]
| day is a loas one? You fellows outside
can do much to divert the mind j v
j from disagreeable thoughts: Ae havei]
breakfast, and s>t down to wonder.c
j which one of us will be the next to go. j a
ELECTRICITY.
Some Facts About This Wonderful
and Puzzling Medium.
Here are some of the known facts!
ibout electricity that will enable j
;hose who know nothing about it to
jnderstand how it behaves. It mustj
!>e understood that no one knows:
.vhat electricity is. Only through its |
Pehavior can we arrive at an idea of \
ts nature. The following facts are|
condensed from an article in the
Electrical Experimenter:
All substances, from the heaviest
netals to the lighest gases, are elec:ric,
but they differ widely in their
jlectric qualities. Electricity is callid
positive when it exists or is exited
in any body in an amount in
excess of the amount natural to that
podv. It is called negative when it j
?xists or is excited in any body in an I
imount which is less than the amount i
natural to that body. All electrical!
phenomena in nature depend upon'
the tendency of electricity to find an'
?quilibrium between its positive and
negative states.
Electricity resides in all substances;
ind is, perhaps, an essential ingredi-j
cnt of their conditions, so every!
change in their state, whether from!
heat to cold or from cold to heat,
from a state of rest to a state of motion,
from solid to liquid or to aeri-1
form, or vice versa, or whether sub-j
stances combine chemically or are
chemically separated ?in every j
^Vionoro tho plpftrical eouilibrium isj
disturbed, and in proportion to the(
degree of disturbance is the force exerted
by electricity to resume its j
balance.
Electricity seeks to gain its equili-j
brium by passing through substances ;
that are favorable to its diffusion.)
These are called conducting or non-j
conducting, according as they favor
or oppose the passage of the electrical
current.
Among the conductors are metals,
charcoal, animal fluids, water, vegetable
and animal bodies, flame,
smoke and vapor. Among the nonconductors?also
called insulators?
ire rust, oils, phosphorus, lime, chalk,
rubber, camphor, marble, porcelain,
dry gases and air, wood, silk, glass,
transparent stones, wax and amber.
Some of these become conductors j
when wet.
When electricity in considerable >
Force, seeking its equilibrium, meets
with insulating bodies intense heat
md light are produced, in the evolution
of which the electric force becomes
expended. When the electric
Force is checked in its course by an
nsulator a spark is emitted if the
current be strong.' When currents
?ass toward each other along wires j
it the ends of which charcoal points j
ire placed and these ends remain in I
contact, the electrical communica-!
ion is uninterrupted and no light j
s emitted, but the instant the char-j
;oal points are separated a layer ofj
iry air, a nonconductor, is interposed,
and the electricity is forcing its
vay through that nonconductor
wolves intense heat and brilliant
ight. Such is an arc light.
The I*resident\s Sleep.
It is sleep, plenty of it, that Dr.
Jrayson believes must, in the main,
institute Woodrow Wilson's vacaion.
"Eight hours' sleep is enough, I'll
idmit for most mature persons," says
)r. Grayson, "but not for the presilent.
Mr. Wilson uses up so much
itality, such a tremendous amount
if nerves and mental energy, during
he day that it takes much more than
he ordinary amount of sleep for him
o recuperate in. Three nights runting
in which he does not get his full
luota of rest means a depleted presilent.
"But how he does sleep when he
leeps! I never saw such a good |
leeper! But lie does that-as he does
iverything else?hard, hard, hard!
"And we have to play him hard on
acation or he is thinking about the
ob. Woodrow Wilson's mind has got
o he full of something and if it isn't J
illed with play, it is going to crowd
n enough hard thinking to pad out
ill the empty corners.
"I know sometimes when I am
(laying golf with him?and I generaly
play with him myself only because
hen I know he won't be talking busiless
and will consequently be giving
lis mind and body the complete reaxation
it must needs have?he will
>e thinking about something he has
>een working on and will make a bad
itroke.
"Una's me mailer Willi me. autor?"
he will say. 'I can't play today
it all.' 'No.' I will reply, of course
ou can't with your niind in Europe
ind your body m New Hampshire!"
md back he'll come to the links with
i jerk!"?From Cornish. X. H., leter
to Roston Advertiser.
Why He Laughed.
Wasn't that funny story you
ausdied at very old?"
"Yes. But the man who told it
ras so important and dignified that
lis condescension in telling any kin 1
if a fiinni <tnrv struck rue as hiwhlv
kmusing."?Washington Star.
\
i
H. M. GRAHAM, Pres. N. A. HUNT, 1st Vice Pres. J. E. NEWSOM, Cashier
ROBERT BLACK, 2nd Vice Pres. %
ENTERPRISE BANK
Bamberg, S. C.
Dear Sir: 'h
The war clouds are thickening and the outlook for the future is not so
bright. We have the greatest abundance of eatables, of things to wear and of vS
money to spend. Would it not be wise to open a savings account with us?so
/ v '
that in case we should have a real panic in the future vou would be on the
i
safe side. There is nothing so uncomfortable as to be without money when
yJS?:
you need it most. There is nothing so comforting as a bank account when
money is at a premium.
In order to encourage those that would provide for a rainy day we have de
i i _ r i n _ . i l _ i?i_ j.1. ? i.1 ? ~ _ xl-.i
ciaea ro pay o per cenx. 011 an savings accounts leri wuii us iur uiree munms ui |
longer.
^ . '.
i
We are the first in this section to pav 5 per cent, on savings accounts, apd
r ? '
if the money at interest in Bamberg county at 4 per cent, was increased to 5
/
. per cent, and the difference given bv the depositors to our several orphanages,
there would be manv a little soul made happv. Suppose we trv it. We pre.
4 " . : Wlsm
diet if this is done that Bamberg county will be the best advertised county in
- - - -
South Carolina and such an advertisement as this will be worthy of imitation,
and will be followed by other counties. Let our county lead the other coun- :
ties in good deeds.
It is our purpose and desire to have on deposit in our savings department by
1st February, 1916, at least fifty thousand dollars, and we want you as one of
our depositors. It will help you and it will be appreciated by us. If you have
an account with us now open one for your good wife or your children. It is
wonderful how an account in the savings department will grow when started,
and one dollar will start this account.
Yours very truly, , \ ,
ENTERPRISE BANK.
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And we have just received the
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