Page:Life, transactions, & execution of Thomas Connor and Bell M'Menemy.pdf/5

 of ther sentence but without effect, on learning which the female wept bitterly for some time.

Soon after 8 o’clock the unhappy culprits ascended the fatal scaffold, attended by the Rev. Gentlemen who visited them in their lonely cell. The female was dressed in a mourning cap, black bombazeen gown, white stockings, and Denmark satin shoes. Connor was also dressed in black. The apparatus of death having been finally adjusted, the prisoners shook hands, and after a short pause, Connor gave the signal, when the drop fell; and after a few struggles, they ceased to exist.

On account of the rare occurrence of the execution of a female, 85 years having elapsed since the last woman was executed here, the crowd was unusually great—not less than from 20 to 25,000. It was altogether a melancholy scene.

Soon after the bodies were taken down two body-snatchers made a bold attempt to get possession of the corpses, by calling at the prison and informing the officers that they had been sent by the friends to take away the bodies, but being discovered they took themselves off.