Romance Of A Hangman

Mysterioue disappearauee seems to be the inevitable falo of nearly every hangman, the latest to fade silently away being the official hangman of Vitoria, New South Wales, says the Nw York Recorder. The man's history is a remarkable on He is the son of a wealthy English manufacturar and reeeivpd an excpllent education. In 1880 he reaeued Melbourne undei engagement to a big wine and spirit firm as liead traveter at a salary of L50C per year but after a couple of years of the woi-k he decided to strike ont "on his own" and bought a suburban hotel. This he kept with fair success until 1885, when lie sold out and returned to England. There he received a sum of L5,000 from hij l'ather for the purpose cf starting in business, but an eighteen months' jaunc over Europe and the states was more to his likiug and when he arrived ín Melbourne he had scarcely a penny to bless lumeelf with. Half a dozen temporary wajdens being ïequired at Pentridge prisou he pul ík in applicution and was appointed, and it was while in that capacity that he 'jecame acquainted with Jones, the hangman, who suicidcd rather than hang Mrs. Knoir. There seemed to be some magnetlc sympathy between the men from the first, for they "palled up" immediately and off duty were seldom seen apart. The budding hangman soon got transferred (.o the polioe forco. In 1888 he left the force "for more lucrative emploj'ment," says the records; but this employment, whatever it was, doesn't seem to have lasted long, for in a few momias lie is found takjng hls lirst lesson in hangmanship at Dallarat jail, when he acted as Jones' assistant. He then migrated to Sydney, where he arned an honest living doing a "bit of flogging" at the various jails. But the work was laborious; he mus ambitious. So, when Jones cut l'is throat two days before the date of Mrs. Knorr's hanging, his chuni deferred weeping over his old friend tintil he had penned and posted an application for the vacant billet. This application was successful, and, starting by the next train south, he arrived in Melbourne in good time, and the job which even Jones, the slayer of twenty men, had ehrunk from committing, was taken on by his delicately nurtured and highly educated friend. A little romance forms a pretty sequel to the story. Within a month after the demise of the esteeraed Jones the new hangman led to the altar a blushing bride - the widow of his predecessor.