Newspapers / The Asheville Times (Asheville, … / July 30, 1915, edition 1 / Page 1
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n ft THE GAZETTE-NEWS Ha tba Associated Pre Berries, It Is In Every Respect Complete. Member Audit Bureau Ctrcnlsrton, WEATHER FORECAST, if lime WPT" FAIR : ".Sffia-XT mm m mm m VOLUME XX. NO. 144. ' ASHEVILLE N. 0., FRIDAY, AFTERNOON, JULY 1915. ,; . - - PRICE 2 CENTS 1,0 ... . - , . , , -,. . ..... ' . . I . . , ' Meeker y L, omposedand Fro testing I nnocence Goes to His : Germans Pl$i TWOM DENIAL OF THE (Leads W ay to Own Execu tion; Dies With Wife's Picture Over Heart. DIED AT 5:55 A. M. AFTER Xalked Throughout Night With the WardenPays Touching Tribute to Devotion of Wife In One of Statements. ing Sing Prison, Ossining, C. Y., Charles Becker was put ;'to death in the electric chair . , this morning . for the murder of Herman Eosenthal, the New ; York gambler. The former New York police lieutenant re J;tained his composure and pro is tested ihs innocence to the last. Becker went to his death iwith the photograph of his wife pinned to his shirt over his I 'heart. Three shocks were given the condemned man be- fore the prison physician an- nounced his death at 5:55 t,- o'clock. ' ,: Becker led the way to his own execution. He sat up all j night on the edge of his cot talking calmly with Deputy Warden Charles H. Johnson. "I. have got to face it and I will gd to meet my God without troubling anyone," Becker ' Baid. - ' ' Shortly after 5 o'clock the first witness began to assemble outside the prison walls. When the witnesses were seated, Deputy Warden Johnson nod ded to Principal Keeper Fred Dorner and left the rooiu through a small wooden door which led to the death cell be yond which Becker was pray ing with his spiritual adviser. Becker rose to his feet when be saw the deputy Warden and took a crucifix from the hand of the priest. To Father Curry his spiritual adviser, Becker had given his last message as he took his place at the bead of the little file of men and marched to the death room. The message was written with a pencil and read: "I am not guilty by deed or conspiracy or in any other way of the death of Rosenthal I im sacrificed to my friends. Bear this message to the world ind my friends. Amen." Hesitates Briefly. The oue-timo police officer , hesitated as he entered the ex Kmtion room. It leonied to the i ritnoRSfs as though ho were ftartled when be saw theleath tfiair so nenr him. IIo looked ckily at the doullo line of 3 SHOCKS witnesses and glanced at the floor, swept with bis eyes the white walls of . the room,' and then: suddenly as' if coming to himself walked briskly over the rubber mat and eook his seat m the electric chair. , Behind -Becker came the prison priest chanting the prayer of death which was re peated by the condemned man. Deputy Warden Johnson half turned his head and the execu tioner jammed the switch. "My Dying' Declaration." During the night Becker pen cilled a message which ,he cap-ti-aed: "My Dying Declara tion." , The message read: "Gentlemen: I stand before you in my full senses, knowing that no power on earth -can save me from the grave which is. waiting to receive me. In the face of that, in the teeth of those who have condemned me I go to met my God and your God f proclaiming my absolute innocence of the foul crime for which I am to die. "You are now about to; wit ness my destruction by the state which is organized to pro tect the lives of the innocent May Almighty God pardon anyone who has contributed in any degree v to my untimely death. , . . "And no-v on the brink of the grave I declare tp the world that I am proud to have been the husband of the purest nob lest woman that ever lived HeW Becker. This acknowl edgement is the only legacy I can leave her. . ' "I bid you all good-bye. Father I am ready to go. Amen." After bidding his wife faro- well, shortly after midnight Becker, maintained a casual conversation with Deputy War den Johnson who sat benind the screen in front of his celL Wife'i Last Effort. Mrs. Becker made a last ef fort to save her husband yes terday when Bhe appealed per sonally to Governor Whitman for a reprieve, go that an ap- Death 1 CHARLES BpCKEfte peal could be made, to the state court of appeals, r She missed the governor at . Albany and met him at Poughkeepsie. Her plea was fruitless. Then she returned to Sing'. Sing to bid her husband farewell. ' - Mr. Becker was with her husband fr an hour, leaving: the death house at 12:30 o'clock a. m. She left soon afterward for New '" Tork without displaying noticeable effetcs of mental strain. - . . , John Becker, her brother-in-law, and John Lynch, her brother, ac companied her the prison. In a lengthy statement to Govern or Whitman given out by Becker late yesterday, he reiterated his Innocence and declared he had never offered to plead guilty o acond dgree mur der. Father James Curry, of New York. who has been Becker's spiritual ad viser ever since his first conviction, vilsted the doomed man during th day. He left him a prayer book and Testament marked with cos ollng passages, which the prisoner prom ised to read. ' Dr. Charles W. Parr, the prison physician, and Dr. Henry Merenese, his assistant, made a customary phy steal examination of the prisoners at noon. They reported his pulse norm al. 1 ' ' Becer seems to name a strong grip on himself said Dr. Carr.""When we entered his cell, ha half smiled and said 'Well, I suppose you've come to ay good bye. ' , Ist night Becker seemed coldly resigned to his fate. The prison offl dais reported that while he awaited the arrival of his wife somewhat lm patiently his eompoaure was remark able. "He wag seated In his cell smoking a cigar," said Leon C. Welnstck, commlslsoner of prisons who saw the prisoner In the deat hhouoe at aoout 1 o'clock, ' - .i He was as cold as Ice. When I re marked that he efmed to be taking It easy he said: "What else can X do? I've got to faoe It, haven't IT" ' Vo Direct Offer. Albany, N. T., July 10. Charles Becer never made' a direct offer to plead guilty to murder In the second degree and never offered dlrctly to Implicate others In graft xposurea, for 'Murder o to Warsaw CRIME IX.CTi2.C Ctf "sXR. Governor yesterday. Whitman . declared here Becer Is right in. Baying he never made a direct offer, fosF '?EWvHiot spoken to him since the night Rosen than was murdered," - the .governor said.. "He can well say that for he personally never made any proposl tion to me. It Is a 'well known fact that his , counsel . offered, to Implied e others In graft disclosures and named five persons. It, was only : a - short time ago that Becer'a counsel in New .York city said that It was up to me. to same1 the men. No New Facts. New York, July 30. Nothing was brought out by Becker In his fight for a third trial that' Gov. Whitman did not know on either th first or second trial, but he could not introduce those matters recently revealed, under the rules of .evidence on the lines laid down by the Court of Appeals In the first verdict, when the Injection of politics Into the case was strongly de preciated, Many women throughout the sta'.e have been urging the Governor to commute Becker's sentence on the plea that Becker's family life was pure. This appeal, however, has not Imnressed Mr. Whitman. First Wlfo Died Suddenly. 1 le New York district attorney's office has known that Becker's first wife died suddenly In a bathtub, and that his second wife obtained a dl vorce from him on the ground of cruel and Inhuman treatment and Infidelity. Hhe is now living in Denver with a child that Becker, refused to support even thodgh he had $68,000 In the bank. The district attorney's office, the governor knows, Is confident that the Rosenthal murder Is not the first with which Becker was concerned. Gov. Whitman ' wanted It under stood that Martin T. Manlon, Becker's Llawyer In the second trial, acted hoil vraniy an mrougn me iriai, ana mat. while Man too believed Becker perhaps as vile a grafter as New York City has seen In many days, he did not believe him guilty of murder. The governor knew , of the Circle theater conference on the Sunday night before Rosenthal murder, In which Sullivan and Becker participat ed. But this could not be Introduced In evidence for the reason that Becker refused to take the stand Becker, It was learned Wednesday night, was ready at any time to plead guilty to murder In the second degree. The reason Becker, acoordlng to th district attorney's office, advised "Big (Continued, pa page 10). FOOD SHORTAGE Situation So Acute That U. S. Government Will Urge Car ranza and Zapata to Aid . Transportation, CARRANZA REPORTS CAPTURE OF PACHUCA Claims Victory Clears Villa Troops From Central Mex icoReports Rout of Villa Army. Washington, July 30. So serious had the food shortage become at Mex. ico City that the United States will make Immediate representations to Carranza and Zapata urging them to permit the transportation of food sup piles to the capital. Stories of alarm lng conditions have reached the state department, dated July 25. Secretary Lansing said the first direct officials Advices, received from "the Mexican capital In several days regarding con ditions there had been brought by courier to Vera Crus and showed that the food shortage was desperate. Representations to Carranza at Vera Crus and to Zapata whose forces are said to be scattered along the railway leading, to Vera Crus and In the city will go forward probably to day. Reports from Mexico City say that some of the Zapata forces in the city have gone northward to meet Carran za troops. Carranza has cabled his Washing ton agency that after six hours light ing his troops have captured Pachuca and routed the Villa flying column which was working south to re-enforce Zapata near Mexico City. The Carranza dispatch la the first word 10 come from behind the veil which has covered the operations about Mexico City for almost two weeks. When Gonzales and his Carranza army evacuated the capital July 17 after occupying It a week. It was an nounced that the Carranza troops were going to meet the Villa troops moving south. The Villa agency announced that a column under General Flerro had gone to join Zapata and retake the capital. Since then the capital has been cut off from, the outside world. Cachuca, which the carranza forces claim to have taken is an important point north of Mexico City. The Car. ranza authorities claim the Victory eliminates Villa as a force In Central Mexico. THE R0UH1ANS WILL ATTEND BOARD MEETING Announcing that the members would gather next Monday afternoon and march In a body before the city commissioners to urge that the mat ter- of Issuing bonds for a new High sehooi building of Ashevllle, which will come before the city board at that time and eoceptlng an Invitation extended by Fted Kent to hold the next meeting on his farm In West Ashevllle, the Ashv411 Rotary olub held a most Interesting meeting yesterday at the Woman's exchange. The' members of the club have fav ored the proposition of securing a new school building for the city and the Issuing of bonds with which to pay for It and recently passed reso lutions to this effect. Row that the club, as a body will be present at the city commissioner meeting. It Is ex pected, thst other organisations In the city will also take similar steps within the next few days. At the next meeting, which will be held Thursday, at the farm of Mr. Kent, as ststed, Albert Cox, president of the Raleigh Rotary dab will be present as guest of honor of the local club. On August 10 the Raleigh club will entertain Rotarlans from sevoral cities and President Cox will visit Ashavlll with a view of secur lng a large representation of Ashevllle Rotarlans at the meeting. Several members wer admitted and an alaborat luncheon was .served.. M f Rosenthal RUSSIAN IS ABANDONING POLISH CAPITAL JUDGE BOYD SAYS HE INT RETIRE Thinks It Is Dishonest for Jur ist to Quit His Work Excellent health. (By Parker R. Anderson). wasmngton, July 30. Those gen tlemen In North Carolina who have been hoping that Jludge James H Boyd, of Greensboro, would retire from the bench and mae room for a good democratic lawyer are to be disappointed. It can be stated as a fact tbat Judge Boyd has no Inten tion of retiring, e Is enjoying the best of health, considers that he is better qualified aow to fll the fed eral judgeship tha nat any time dur ing his orty-elght years as a lawyer and, furthermore, he deems it dis- Jteneat for a Juuaeto rVLne from he bench until after he becomes unfit ted for the discharge of his duty. The federal jurist stopped In Wash ington hursday to pay his respects to Commissioner Oeborn. Judge Boyd and the commissioner are neighbors In Greensboro and the closest kind of personal friends. When asked if he Intended to re tire, 'the judge asked If he lookel like a sick, man or a man who was unable for duty. It must be admitted that he neer looked better In his life and certainly there Is no reason to bllere that he Is suffering from old age. Some of the democratic leaders It Is claimed had already selecte the man who was to suocee Judge Boyd If he retired from the bench tA1A. if he retired when he reached the age limit. That time arrived last March; but there Is t obe no vacancy on the federal bench for some time If Judge Boyd has to retire volun tarily to mae such a vacancy. Judge Boyd has been spending his vacation at Atlantlo City and return ed to Greensboro last night. JAPANESE CABINET Toklo, July 30. The Japanese cabinet, headed by ount Okuma as premier, has resigned. The act fol lowed the resignation yesterday of Viscount Kanetako Oura, minister of the Interior, after an Investigation by the ministry of justice i Into bribery charges resulting in th March par liamentary elections. Viscount Oura's resignation was sanctioned by Emperor Yoshlhito af ter he had received a report of the slttiatron from Count Okuma. Premier Okuma believing he should be responsible for th acta of the members of hi cabinet was th first to tender his resignation and the ther ministers tmmedlaately follow, ed his example. After receiving the, resignation of Count Ouma th emperor summoned the eder statesmen for a conference. Th cabinet change la unpopular be cause of th war. Mr, and Mrs. 8. P. Ravenel leave today for Highland, talng with them as their guest Florence and Lewis Harrison. Mrs. Becker. MEMBERS Home. Bearing Up Well New York, July 10. Mrs. Helen liecker, according to her brother, John Lynch, 1 bearing up wall after th strain of yesterday and last night. Mra Becker is resting today at her horn and Is not expected to see any one except the member of her fsmlly. An undertaker ha been, alapatched ARMY Germans Are at Very Gates, t. and Russians Decide Fur- ther Resistance Would Be Unwise. PROBLEM NOW IS TO SAVE ARMIES INTACT; Menaced From South by Aus-tro-Hungarians and More ' Seriously From North , By the Germans. London, July 30. Warsa-w, - the third city of Russia and th goal for which the Germans have heen striving since last flnlnhor is of loot in tnft thrnAS 6f 'aVaiidonmeht: ' The" Germans in overwhelming numbers are -at the gates of the Polish capi tal and dispatches both from the city itself and from Petro grad say that further resistance would be unwise. T? J. . J A. l' Jl ' 1 uiscuonie anoi oniy wrougu France and Great Britain but by Russia herself, the all of the city is expected hourly and the problem now is to remove the Russian armies intact, threatened as they are from the Bouth by the Austro-Hun-s garian forces, and more seri ously from the north, whertf the Germans are aiming at the railway between Petrograd and Warsaw. The latter menace, the Brit ish naDers admit, is imminent. and the hope of the allied coun tries is for continued cohesion of the Russian armies. The Warsaw postoffice has al- point to the east and the popu lation has ben warned to re main calm, l'resumably the Russians during the last few days have stripped the city of everything of military value. According to German ad vices the invaders have plan ned for tfh trijimnrinl pntrv into the city of Emperor Will iam ith his consort. A. J. Carver, of Leicester, In a con test conducted by a rural weekly newspaper published In the middle west, was the successful winner of a Ford automobile. Mr. Carver stood fourth in a list of fifty of the leading contestants, the number being scatter ed through many states. The Ford will be delivered to Mr. Carver by the fihaw Motor oar com pany of this olty. Resting at to Oeslnlng to gA th body cf Chart Becker, who was executed this morn ing. Th funeral It la announced, will take place on Monday. A solemn hli h requiem mas wfll be said at in Church of fit Nichols of Tolrn'i" by Rev. Nicholas J. Murray. The l terment will be at Woodiawa c tery,
The Asheville Times (Asheville, N.C.)
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July 30, 1915, edition 1
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