OLD PEDESTRIAN IN TOWN AND EXECUTION OF WILLIAM LAKE

Taylor Hall block on Main Street as it appeared in 1899.

Cortland Evening Standard, Friday, April 5, 1895.

OLD PEDESTRIAN IN TOWN.

Calls to Mind the Walking Fever of Twenty Years Ago.

   Any person in Cortland who can look back twenty-five years, and who resided here at the time, as well as many in McGrawville, Homer, Groton and this vicinity, may remember a young man who was about twenty-two years of age at that time who lived in Newark, N. J., and New York. He was a fast professional walker, and had walked a great deal in and around Newark and New York, also having walked in Chicago before the big fire, and walked from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., on time in 1869.

   Forrester, for that was his name, came up to Cortland and McGrawville twenty-five years ago to take a vacation and to visit some friends, and while around this vicinity gave some walking exhibitions in halls in various towns, including Taylor hall, Cortland. He gave interesting exhibitions and exhibited the various walking gaits as adopted by himself, and Weston, and other noted American and English pedestrians. He also made many practice walks in the company of personal friends who used to like to accompany him to and from the various towns in this section; and made many trips to McGrawville and back, starting from the Messenger House, making very quick time on several occasions, considering the hilly and rough nature of the roads.

   "Yankee" Griswold, the tinkering jeweler, who used to go around with a clock in his hat and who is now serving a term in Auburn prison for shooting Dennis O'Shea, had had considerable walking on the roads and was considered quite a "tough man on the walk," so that there was at that time much general interest all over the country in walking and pedestrianism.

   The friends of Griswold and Forrester were all anxious for some fun, and wanted to see a race between the two to see who was the better walker. So Taylor hall was the scene of the contest, and they had a big audience, who wanted to see the race and speed of the contestants, and the excitement was intense, and the applause and cheers were in great abundance!

   It was a five-mile heel and toe walking race, and Forrester conceded Griswold some odds, and at the call of time—the pair started off to win. The excitement ran high, as the race progressed, and the music made things more lively, and spurred the walkers on to "do or die!" Griswold's walking was of his own special style, and history never recorded such a gait, for it was a shamble, a leap, a lay over and a good share of the time a common out and out plain run!

   But Forrester said "Let him run all he wants to, he can't keep it up around these many corners, and I'll beat him anyhow." Forrester walked a fine, upright, scientific gait, and as easy and regular as clock work, putting in an occasional burst of speed and spurt for a lap or two that would bring out much applause, and also put him in advance of Griswold, who lost the race. Forrester was highly complimented on his good walking and general fairness and good behavior.

   He kept up walking, and gave many exhibitions, and walked a number of hard races, defeating the celebrated English champion James Adams in a fifteen-mile race, and during the last year of his walking, which was 1879, he gave odds in all his races, and won them all. But he suffered from sunstroke in August of that year, which injured his health and vitality so that he had to withdraw from the field, and he has been traveling on the road constantly ever since. He dropped into Cortland Wednesday and is taking the opportunity of seeing some of those he met here long years ago, also some good personal friends in McGrawville.

   Mr. Forrester is not a sporting man but a gentleman of good habits and of good family. Wednesday evening about 8 o'clock as he was walking up Main-st., just as he got in front of Taylor hall, he looked up at the building and the old iron balcony, and he thought of old times and the days gone by, and that race with "Yankee" Griswold, and although burdened with a heavy overcoat and overshoes he straightened up, and struck a gait that took him past Taylor hall at a clip that showed he had lots of fire and science left. He leaves Cortland to-day or to-morrow highly pleased with his visit here. 

   A FRIEND.

DIED LIKE A SPARTAN.

Murderer Lake Betrayed No Sign of Fear.

A MOST SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION.

Emma Hunt's Slayer Put Away With Neatness and Dispatch—Joked With the Warden Just Before His Death—The Murder Recalled.

   AUBURN, N. Y., April 5.—At 12:44 1/2 P. M. a current of 1,740 volts was turned into William Lake, the brutal murderer of Emma Louise Hunt of Carlton, in the death chamber at Auburn prison. One minute later Lake had expiated his crime. The execution was the most successful that has ever taken place here.

   Lake's last hours on earth were spent very much as he has spent all his hours this week, reading the Bible.

   He arose at 4 o'clock in the morning. About 7 o'clock the death warrant was read to him. He listened to the reading quietly and said not a word when it was finished. He partook of a hearty breakfast and ate it with evident relish. Shortly after 11 o'clock Warden Stout visited the condemned cell to vest Lake in the suit which he wore to the chair.

   After the trousers had been on, the warden noticed that the price mark was still upon them and told the keeper that he had better remove it.

   "Never mind," interjected Lake, "it will never be seen on the street." He smiled upon saying this and seemed very much unconcerned.

   At 12:35 those who received invitations were summoned to the warden's office. When the witnesses had been seated Electrician Davis tested the apparatus by passing the current through 20 lamps stretched across the chair. Warden Stout gave a nod to start for the condemned cell. The warden led the procession and was followed by the keepers and Lake, who walked with his spiritual adviser, Rev. George T. Webb, towards the chair.

   Lake gave one casual glance around the room and then seated himself in the chair.

   The keepers strapped him into the chair and Dr. F. W. Zimmer of Rochester adjusted to his left wrist a sphygmograph, a little instrument which traces the pulse beats with unerring accuracy.

   When at 12:43 1/2 the keepers completed their work a small stream of water was seen to trickle down the face of the condemned, issuing from the sponge under the electrode on his head. His right leg was bared, the trousers having been slit almost to the knee and to the calf of the limb where the other electrode had been attached.

   As the keepers stepped aside Mr. Webb read from the 116 psalm. When Mr. Webb had concluded, the officials stepped aside, Dr. Zimmer kept his eye on the watch and Warden Stout gave Electrician Davis the signal. In a flash a current of 1,740 volts was turned into the body in the chair. It straightened against the straps which held it and something like a muffled groan issued from the compressed lips.

   For four seconds the full current was left on, and then it was reduced to 150 volts, where it was allowed to remain for 25 seconds. During this period Lake's legs moved slightly from side to side; his left hand also moved, but there was no trace of suffering. At the expiration of 25 seconds the current was increased to 1,740 volts; the left hand and the legs moved again, and then the current, after three seconds, was reduced to 150 volts again, and at the expiration of a minute from the time the current had been first turned on it was shut off altogether.

   Dr. Zimmer stepped forward. He could distinguish no beating of the heart and it was found that the sphygmograph registered no pulsations. This Dr. Zimmer accounted for afterward by saying that the muscular contraction was so great that the instrument had been thrown out of gear and rendered ineffective.

   The other physicians also listened for heart beats, but there were none. When all had listened Dr. Sawyer's voice broke the impressive silence, he saying, "The man is dead."

   The crime for which Lake forfeited his life was the murder, in October last, of Emma Hunt, a domestic in the family of a farmer named Van Camp, near Carlton, N. Y. Lake, who was a farm laborer on the same farm, had fallen in love with the girl, and anger at her refusal to marry him caused him to outrage and then kill her. He pounded her head to a jelly and slashed her abdomen with a knife, evidently trying to conceal the traces of the outrage.

   He escaped, but was captured several days later,

   Before committing the crime Lake wrote a confession of what he was about to do and said his life had been ruined because he was of illegitimate birth.

   The finding of this document helped both in the capture and conviction of Lake.

It Was no Libel.

   LONDON, April 5.—The case of Oscar Wilde against the Marquis of Queensberry for libel was brought to a close this morning in a verdict in favor of the defendant. The jury found not only that the defendant was not guilty of libel, but in a subsidiary verdict declared that the Marquis of Queensberry's charges were true and had been made for the public good. Oscar Wilde has been arrested and taken to Scotland Yard.

PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.

◘ In the state of Ohio, at least, drug companies that mix a little oatmeal, water and sugar together and sell them for heavy prices as cures for every ailment are not to be allowed to go on their swindling way unpunished. The state food commission is attacking with a vigor that ought to be imitated all over the country druggists who adulterate their wares and substitute cheaper articles for those a prescription calls for. In the investigation liquid ammonia is one of the articles often found below proof. The most gigantic fraud is perhaps perpetrated in the sale of so-called distilled water. Here the druggists come out strong, driving a glorious trade on impure water that they sell for the distilled article. In some cases an example will be made of the wholesale firms that adulterate goods before they go to the retailer. It is a matter of life and death whether the community gets pure drugs and pure distilled water, and the druggist who for the sake of a little paltry gain knowingly sells something else is a conscienceless scoundrel and deserves the penitentiary.

◘ The smoke and ashes nuisance in towns and cities will undoubtedly be done away in time by the use of electricity for heating and cooking. Before that time comes, however, gas will be largely substituted for coal and other fuel. It is becoming cheaper from year to year. It has been calculated that where gas can be supplied in houses for $l per thousand cubic feet it is at least as cheap as coal. When gas can be had at that price, then there will be no more smoke begrimed cities, no more worrying by city authorities over what to do with ashes, no more wrestling with soot and clinkers and getting hair and eyes full of dust and ashes and the face and clothing streaked with soot, no more ruining hands and finger nails so that their owner will be ashamed to show them, no more lifting heavy weights of coal and ashes, no more dusty and sooty coal bins. Speed the day!

◘ President Cleveland has now three homes, at least half as many as Queen Victoria has, one very important difference being that he pays for two of them himself.

Bank Charter Extension.

   The charter of The National Bank of Cortland expires on the 13th day of May next, and at the regular monthly meeting of the board of directors on Tuesday morning of this week a resolution was unanimously adopted authorizing the president of the bank to certify to the written application of shareholders representing more than two-thirds of the capital stock asking to have the charter extended for another 20 years. All the papers were properly executed under the seal of the bank, together with the president's request for the extension and the cashier's order for new plates for currency.

   On receipt of these papers the comptroller of the currency, under the provisions of the law, will send a special examiner to inspect the condition and assets of the bank, and upon his making a favorable report the extension of the charter will be granted. The officers of the bank are every day expecting the examiner to arrive to do his part of the work.

   With its charter extended, The National Bank of Cortland will enter upon another 20 years of prosperity and usefulness to the community. The bank has grown very strong during the past few years, and will be an important factor in promoting the industries and business interests of this town and vicinity.  Its surplus and profits have grown to be equal to seventy per cent of its capital stock.

Note location of Post Office in the Standard block on the corner of Main and Tompkins Streets. The newspaper office was located next door to the post office, west on Tompkins Street. At the time of this fire, Benton B. Jones, editor of the Democrat, was the Cortland postmaster.

Slight Fire in the Postoffice.

   At 9:15 o'clock last night one of the large lamps in the mailing department of the Cortland postoffice slipped from its fastening and fell to the floor, spilling the oil and setting fire to an empty sack which lay close by. Deputy Postmaster F. E. Plumb, Mailing Clerk E. J. Hopkins and Distributing Clerk R. H. Miller were all in the office at the time. One of them seized a wooden snow shovel and by means of this carried the lamp to the door and threw it into the street. There was plenty of city water close at hand from the faucet in the sink and a liberal use of this quickly extinguished the fire. No first-class mail was harmed in any way. One sack of papers was soaked with water, but all were dried out and forwarded to-day except five papers upon which the addresses were obliterated by the water. A mailing basket from the Democrat office from which the papers had just been removed was covered with oil from the lamp as it fell, caught fire and was thrust out into the street and burned up. The only loss was one mailbag and four mail sacks which were damaged beyond repair, and the lamp itself.

   An alarm was turned in from box 432 at the Messenger House corner and the department quickly responded, but there was no need for their services.

   Mailing Clerk Hopkins said to a STANDARD reporter that in his opinion the probable cause of the fall of the lamp was that the bale which supports the lamp from below had been bit by a mail bag in moving it and that the blow moved the bale from its proper place so that a jar would give it an opportunity of slipping out.

It is an Old Landmark.

   While workmen were tearing out the interior of the house of J. A. Graham on Main-st. yesterday preparatory to building the new block, they found written in pencil upon the inside of a casing the words "Built for Asa White, 1835." This fixes the age of the house. Mr. White is known to have been the first owner of the place. He was the grandfather of ex-President Andrew D. White of Cornell university.

BREVITIES.

   —Regular meeting of the Sons of Veterans occurs to-night at 8 o'clock.

   —The Y. M. C. A. bookkeeping class meets this evening at 8 o'clock in the Y. M. C. A. classroom.

   —The ladies of the Universalist church are rejoicing in the purchase of a new suit of pulpit chairs for the church.

   —An ewe belonging to A. J. Brink of North Lansing recently gave birth to four lambs, three of which are living.—Groton Journal.

   —The Utica Observer dispenses lots of wisdom in a bunch when it says: The April fool can be endured. It is the year around fool that makes life a burden.

   —The Binghamton board of trade has requested the D., L. & W. R. R. to build the new railroad station in that city which has been so long talked about.

   —Frank J. Peck, Charles Wickwire and William Stillman have just indulged in new wheels. All have purchased the white rimmed Barnes wheels.

   —We publish to-day on our sixth page the Talmage sermon which usually appears on Saturday. We shall be very crowded to-morrow with special advertising.

   —Ithaca firemen are preparing to capture a few of the prizes which will be offered at the Central New York Firemen's convention to be held in Owego next August.—Ithaca Journal. That is all right, but the Cortland firemen expect to be there too.

   —Mr. Mahan has engaged the Misses Keyes for his next music festival. These talented and popular young ladies have been studying in New York City under one of the best teachers, since their last appearance here two years ago, and have made great progress. Their re-engagement here will be hailed with delight by their many Cortland friends.

Last Night's Sugar Festival.

   Friends of the Neal Dow club filled the rooms of the W. C. T. U. on Court-st. to overflowing last evening. Never before had the pleasant headquarters of the Women's Christian Temperance union held such a merry throng and it will be almost as impossible for the future, as the past, to surpass the entertainment of last night. Though somewhat embarrassed at the unexpected large number present, the club as hosts were not daunted, and royally welcomed all who came. Before the evening was over expressions of delight were heard on all sides with reference to the quality of the maple syrup, which but a week ago was innocently coursing its way through the tree itself. It is estimated that one hundred and fifty persons enjoyed the refreshments served during the evening. Consequently the Neal Dow club considers the social a great success socially and financially.