Show k J I I SCHOOL FOR FOB t ri r Training ning Prescribed for Public Executioners Executioners Exe Exe- rr in Great Grea Britain S An n interesting IlU insight irit Into the he meth r t i od of the Hangman s Tr Training SCho School l It f f is given by a Sussex newspaper which v.- v. comments on the recent recent demand for a aS a'S i S I. 4 professional assistant nt executioner 0 which was supplied by bythe the a appointment I aft after r due examination n of ot Mr John Ellis El El- I l lis draper of Rochdale Despite the un un- 0 1 j pleasant nature of the work more ap- ap 0 were received than would J. J 4 comfortably supply the United Kingdom In dom 1 1 and all the col colonies The artistic knotting knot knot- IV O ting of ofa a rope and t the e sliding of ofa a small r t Iron bolt seems an easy way to make makeS S money and th the more nore gruesome side of the work apparently does not affect the majority of applicants Hangmen however are made not born and the making thereof is an InI in interesting In- In r I process No state secret ecret was ever more Jealously guarded than the course of Instruction whereby novices j are are officially transformed Into capable executioners execUtioners The authorities do not feel 0 inclined to boast about this form of government gov gov- 0 ment training at t. least But then nen said a hardened case-hardened though philosophical i ical teal prison warden recently there must be hangings as long as there are capital crimes Why not have the Job done 4 t right Of course men must be trained 1 for it or there would be frightful bungling bun bun- gling The dean of the profession is 0 of ot course Billington But Billington Is not ubiquitous and his inability to hang two different murderers In different parts of Engl England nd at the same time has hasI i I made the appointment of an assistant necessary Vh What t Billington doe doe not know about official methods of putting men to death is hardly worth knowing r and It is the mOt most reasonable thing in inthe 0 the world that he should be selected as S chief instructor in the School of Api Applied Ap Ap- Ap- Ap i plied Hanging r. r I An execution means more than the LI rj J t. t mere tying of a noose and collapse of a 0 trap door The hangman must make certain nice calculations how calculations how much of ofa a fall is required to produce instantaneous ous death and how to adjust the gallows to meet the requirements in each particular 0 ular lar case Every detail from binding I the malefactor in his cell to adjusting S the fatal cord is conscientiously gone 5 5 through with for the benefit of the 0 novices k A weeks week's instruction is none too much A time Is chosen when the head exe executioner i 1 is not busy for a few IS' IS days and then under his supervision fi j mock executions it is said take place within the prison walls As a sort of post-graduate post course a a warder sometimes enacts the role of the condemned man He is bound in the j most approved fashion and then led to the gallows Just as though he was 0 about to suffer the death penalty Sum Sum- 1 dent clent to say however 0 great care Is r taken V taken that the trap door keeps In place 2 t t while he is put ut upon it Skill is required tir to deftly secure a prisoner about to take a t the te e fatal drop The hangman must show no nervousness or clumsiness He must I be able to adjust the straps quickly and I 0 securely The students who are care care- fully tully drilled 1 branch of ot the work I i go over and over each detail and a mis mis- b take must be followed by increased practice 0 The warder who acts as lay figure I during this pleasing process must pos pos- cess sublime patience No instance is recorded of any prisoner condemned or 0 otherwise offering himself as a a. subject 0 Thus the School of Applied Hanging Hanging- suffers in not possessing the same fa facilities fa- fa 0 for study as a school of medicine 0 or dentistry After the final examination examina examina- tion of the candidates by the prison i t 0 commissioners before whom the entire 1 1 of ot an execution minus the drop is carried out candidates who i I have bave passed it is said are granted licenses by bj the home secretary 0 To many people this businesslike l 1 A method of training p public bUc executioners 5 may seem repugnant It is necessary i 0 however in order to avoid distressing t scenes on the scaffold The present InS InI increase in- in S I crease in applications for employment S as hangmen In England Is due largely to the unusual number of executions pending in several parts of England 1 St 1 t The dean of ot t the p school will be a very busy man for the Hie next few weeks and 5 0 in a number of northern prisons he will 1 0 r be a Christmas holiday visitor bringing 0 anything but peace and good cheer London Express 0 |