Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1896 — HOLMES IS HANGED. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOLMES IS HANGED.

ARCH CRIMINAL PAYS THE DEATH PENALTY. The Author of Many Crimes Exe* CP ted in Moyamensing ■Pr;aon,T*hila» ' delphia—On the Scaffold Protest* Innocence. End of a Fiend. H. H.Holmes, convicied oncircumstantial evidence of the murder of Benjamin F. PitzCl, was hanged in Philadelphia Thursday. The fxeculion took place in the Moyamensing County jail. The drop fell at o'clock. It was not until a half-hour later that he was pronounced dead. His neck was broken by tlie fall. The marvelous nerve of the man never deserted him to the end. Even on the scaffold he was probably the coolest person in the solemn assemblage. In a few 'well-chosen words he proclaimed his innocence of any murder, including that for ' which he was convieted, and ha-aged.—Ho—-declared that the onljr wrong-doing in the taking of hnman. life for which he could■ be held responsible consisted in the death of two women who had died as the result of, criminal operations at his'hands. He did not name these victims. Holmes spent the greater part of his last night on earth writing letters. At

midnight he went to bed and slept soundly until G o’clock in the morning. It took two calls to awaken him. Promptly arising he received a visit from his spiritual advisers, Fathers Duly and Macpeak, of the Church of the Annunciation. They administered the last sacrament and did not leave him until nearly 9 o’clock. During their absence he ate a hearty breakfast of eggs, dry toast and coffee. At 10:02 o’clock the Sheriff called together the official jury, and after each man had answered to his name and subscribed to the certificate the' solemn march to the gallows was begun. As the gathering stood in intense silence before the gallotvs Holmes, accompanied by the two priests mounted the fatal scaffold. A moment of»• prayer elapsed and then Holmes stepped to the front of the scaffold and, resting his hands on the rail before him, 1- made his statement of innocence. It was received iti absolute 'Silence. Two minutes late? he had finished his valedictory. Then at a silent signal from the priests he bent to his knees, his_ eyes fixed on the crucifix clasped In his hands. Until 10:12 the prayer continued. Immediately afterward he arose, shook hands with the priests and his lawyers and in a firm voice bade them good-by. Without an instant .delay his hands* were bound behind -him and the black cap adjusted. Sheriff—Clement placed the noose about his neck and after an instant of terrible stillness the crack of the bolt rang" out like a "pistol ‘shot am! the ninU had fallen to his doom. Consciousness left him instantly, said the doctors, although his heart Continued' a feeble beat for fifteen or twenty minutes, After an examination had been* made by several physicians Holmes was pronounced dead and the swinging corpse was cut down.

H. H. HOLMES.