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Show ! TOD NEGROES HANGED ON THE 8IE SCAFFOLD IN KANSAS CITY JAIL i . I One of the Men Collapsed and Was Carried on to the Trap They Had Assaulted I .a White Woman ! j Kanses City, Mo., Feh. 8. From a I rlnle scaffold, George Reynolds and Jolm Williams, two negroes, w-rro I hanged idmultaneously in the county J ill here at 6:30 o'clook this raornlnc. ) The crime for which they were exe-J exe-J cnted was assault, this making tbo first death ptnalty that has been as-! as-! se.ssed in Missouri for this act. Ry-j Ry-j nolds was pronounced dead in ."e!n ( minutes. WIlHaraa lived nine minutes. I ' County Marshal Joel B. Mayes spnmj J tho trap. j Reynolds collapsed n fw hours before be-fore the execution, and it was 7ieces-fary 7ieces-fary to carry him in a chair to the trap. When the chair wa6 removed he fell limp on the trap door, moaning moan-ing pHeously. Officers lifted him from the floor and adjusted the nooso about his neck. ' God knows I never committed the i awful crime with which I am j charged," waa his constant wail. 1 Williams, who haa been known for ' years as a desperate character, remained re-mained brave to the last. Even whilo ) i4;indlng on the scaffold ho forced a I smile. A priest held a crucifix to tbo I I negro'8 lip. At first bo refused to j j" hiss it, but as the priest pushed It ' I closer, the condemned man touched it with Ids lips. I For a week prior to the hanging j Reyuolda had not touched food. le- lleving he could cheat the gallows by j starvation. Williams chatted and laughed tt all times. I Y. H, JackBon, husband of the woman -upcm whim ' the" 'nssnult "ns I committed, wtnissed the hanging. I The crime lor which Reynolds and Williams was hanged was committed on the night of December 23, 1909. Mrs. Jackson, who is an expert vlo-i vlo-i linlKt, was returning borne from a j charitable institution, where she had Kiven a concert, when she was at-j at-j ticked. The negroes dragged her Into a secluded spot and assaulted ber iu n terrible manner, j Pasaers-by frightened the woman's i assfl Hants away. With difficulty Mrs. j Jackson reached home and told her 1 story. The police captured the negroes ne-groes a few hours later. They confessed con-fessed their crime. ( Intense feeling was aroused against ' the negroos. There were many threats i nf lynching. Convictions were ol-I ol-I lained in a trial that lasted but two J flays. City prison inmates celebrated in a riotous manner when they learned the verdlcL In passing sentence sen-tence upon tho men, Judge Ralph S, I.abau said: "I shall not desecrate Friday, tbo il:y upon which legal hangings usually usual-ly take place, by ordering your execution execu-tion on that day. There Is at least a r.pat k of manhood left in almost every' nan who is executed by the state Hut tberc is no manhood in either of you." |