Meyers met his doom with an exhibition of nerve the most extraordinary. Once only, and then for but a moment, did he change countenance. The place had no terrors for him. Upon being asked by the sheriff if he desired to say anything, he replied, seeming to address the crowd:
“Farewell, men! I’m going to another world!”
The noose had been adjusted. The black cap was pulled down over his eyes. Almost before any of the lookers-on were aware of it the fatal spring had been touched, and the body of Meyers was dangling in the air, and human justice, so far as he was concerned, was satisfied. The body had dropped about four feet. There were a few convulsive twitches, the body spun around five or six times, and all was still. The trap was sprung at twenty minutes past 2 o’clock. Four minutes after the pulse stood at 144; five minutes after it had been reduced to 72, and in six minutes life was extinct, as pronounced by Drs. Marix and Heimbarger. The body was allowed to hang thirty minutes, and was then taken down and placed in the coffin, and taken to the city cemetery for interment, alongside of Duggan, Franklin and Griswold.
Mrs. Newton soon afterwards left Denver completely restored to health. It was announced at the time of her leaving that she had been discovered to be one of the heirs to the Stewart estate in England, and that she had inherited a fortune of £60,000 sterling. The trial exculpated her husband, Mr. Freidenthal, from all blame, and also went far towards establishing the fact that Bonacina was the woman’s brother, as was claimed.
A HALF-MILLION-DOLLAR ROBBER.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
A COAL-OIL JOHNNY LOSES FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN GREENBACKS IN PETROLEUM CENTRE, PENNSYLVANIA—HIS SAFE BLOWN OPEN WHILE HE IS AT SUPPER AND THE MONEY CARRIED AWAY—JAMES SAEGER, THE PRINCIPAL “BLOWER,” BEATS HIS COMPANIONS AND SKIPS THE COUNTRY—REWARD OF ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS OFFERED—DETECTIVES FLOCK IN FROM ALL QUARTERS—AFTER YEARS OF WANDERING, SAEGER TURNS UP IN DENVER.
Although as a rule Gen. Cook’s experience with criminals has been with the class who kill, he has also had a great deal to do with burglars and thieves, and others of the less demonstrative classes. One of the most notable cases of this latter class with which he has been identified was that of James Saeger, who was engaged in the robbery of a safe in Pennsylvania in 1868, from which half a million dollars’ worth of greenbacks were taken. The loser by the robbery was an old German named Bennehoff, who resided at Petroleum Centre, in Venango county, Pa., and whose wealth had been accumulated with rapidity through the magic instrumentality of petroleum. He had, previous to the discoveries of oil in the Keystone state, lived there a quiet and frugal life, residing in a plain country house with his family around him. When his good fortune came upon him he did not change his mode of life, but continued in the same house, the only innovation being the addition of a small iron safe, which was deposited in a hallway in the dwelling. This piece of furniture was, compared to others of its kind, a fragile thing, but old Bennehoff considered it a secure depository for his fast accumulating wealth. He grew rich with wonderful rapidity, as those were the days of the coal oil boom. His wells were numerous and apparently inexhaustible, and the petroleum was worth a great deal more then than it ever has been since. He was in the habit of carrying his money home loose in his pockets every evening and pitching it carelessly into his little iron safe, going about his business feeling assured that his treasure was secure.