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2 Clay, in Speech on Gallows, Warns of Life of Sin and Begs in Vain to Lie Beside Wife He Slew SPENDS HIS LAST HOURS PRAYING AND SINGING HYMNS Slayer, as Execution Draws Near, Admits He Feigned Insanity to “Save His Neck;” Begs Forgiveness of V ictim’s Kin. Continued From Page One. end 1 shot her down shot her twice That’s all.” “But 1 know 1 did wrong, and I'm go ing to pay the penalty. I’m going home to heaven to join my sweet true Jove— my darling wife and to be again like a little child and again lay my head In th< lap of my <1 »*.*<• moth* r. Tv' n« v*-r hud a home her* on earth, but I’m go ing to have a beautiful hom<* imu a home where the sun n<w *<-ts and the Itn never fade, when beauty and Io eternal ami m ign suprenn My g »plo, I hope my death will be an < . and that any man who has a i < 5 is t- art for murder will go to > pr.ijcr Had I done so, my pre<i<'V> a:i would he alive today and I would ha\' , t home, ami would not h'* her- m eting smh a (hath hr this, 1 hop" that no othc! : oul will ever have to go into t» ..ity in uch man ner. My prayer i- that there may be no nor need of f*xe utions. Good-bye to you all. ami ma;. Gon bless every bod> Visit of Brother Breaks Long Silence. t'lay's long allene. had lasted since the moment of his .. . ■ all todav, except I" all it a ’v. rt. nl moment a few weeks ug". n In complain' d that his niff, e wa .-.ld. and then re tained into sill nee .Igain. It was the visit of bis leotiiei. Julius Chr.. that i aus.d him Io speii. again today. He whs sitting < n liis bunk, his head In Ids hands, tvhen the l.eotlu:' spoke to him through tile liars. "Hob, it's all over, old man," sail Julius Cln.v. "There's no hope. Your last chance is gone " Robert Clay raised Ills head and smiled faintly. Tin- color rushed back to his pale < ileeks and bls lips opened slowly. Then, with an effort as though his vocal organs had partly been paralysed by long disuse, he surprised the attendants by speaking slowly and distinctly. "That's all right. I'm ready to go. I've been ready for three months," he laid. He rose from his bunk and stepped tn the grating His sister In,Saw and another wotn.'in, with Clay's tiny ne phew, bad come to the corridor tiienj and the condemned man extended a thin, white hand through the liars and placed it tenderly on the head of the child. "I've made my peace with God,” lie said, gently and without a trace of ex citement. “I will go to him like a little child. I am going to heaven to join mj wife. I am contident of that. I want t l ’ lie burled beside her " Begs to See His Little Boy Again. He was silent for n moment, and then, ns though wished to make up for his sev< n moi ths silence, broke Into n torrent of conversation, speaking to .iailei.. visitors, attendants, talking as rapidly as he could. "Won't you bring my little boy to see me before 1 die lie begged. I want to see him again ” Jailer Golden promised to send at once and try to locate th.- child before the hour of execution Clay contin ued his conversation "You were good to me, Mr Golden,” he said. "I remember something you did. When I was taken up to be re sentenced a month ago I was so cold 1 thought I would freeze, and you took off your overcoat and put it around' my shoulders I haven't forgotten. Sings Old Hymn As Aged Father Calls. Shortly afu r Clay had broken his si lence. his old father, Johnson Clay, of 116 Piedmont uv< iiu», and his sister, Mrs \\ IL Whitaker, culled at the Tov. r and w < i o taken up to the cor ridor outside the death cell, \s they entered the hall the\ heard Clay Ring ing loudly, his voic filled with emo tion. The prisoner had choseh an old h\ nin “I’m <oing home. I’m going home. I'm going home to die no mor,." As the last words died away, Mrs. Whitakei collapsed and sank to the floor. HeF father caught her hi his arms and comforted her, and in a few moments she was led up to the grating of the cell. Clay reached his hands through the bars and <damped hers be tween them. Doomed Man Prays As He Holds Sister s Hand "Don't cry, stater." he said, tenderly. "I’m Just going homo to mother We'll all meet there some day." Mrs. Whitaki r sank to h.-r knfes out side the cell am! wept. Atpl, then, clasping li'".' hands in i*is own, Clay began to prav "It is the tl st prayer I ever heard him utter." liie si. ".er said afterword. "May it mean the turning point in Ills i destiny " Then, while tin lock ticked off the few minutes remaining of his Ute. Rob ert Clay talked to a reporter of :.ls at tempt to feign insanity by playing dumb and k. • ping his head bowed on his breast "It was awfully iiard,” i.< said. ■Sometimes I thought I couldn't stand it. There were times when 1 wanted to so mu :i that 1 thoui.it I'd go real crazy, and 1 ha.i to bite my lip- to LAST PHOTOGRAPH OF CLAY /,y ' JBBf Y ; Hi / A., / W '■( sk -few . wMHSMw WBEMHg a-■ / D'YE'? T“-' i ' / / MUeBSSKik twR,.- * / r tJRMiR/ Robert L. Clay, wife slayer, who pays the penalty for his crime on gallows in the Tower today. keep buck the word*. And holding my head in that one position nearly killed mi 1 thought sometimes my neck would crack before it reached the gal lows. But 1 got more used to it in lime, and decided to stick It out to the end. But 1 never had much hope. Then Clay spoke with evident pride of the manner In which be had kept t'.o e of tiie passing days without rend ing a newspaper or conversing with anybody or seeming to show inti rest in the world outside ‘The big whistle of the Atlanta Mill ing Company just outside the Tower has been my calendar." he said. "The whistle blows three times every day When it does not blow 1 know it is Sunday. "1 began figuring by the whistle when I first came. 1 counted four Sundays to a month, and tilled In the other days, so I kept truck of the dates. I knew that I was sentenced on November 9. and 1 heard Judge Koan fix Friday, December 13. as the date of execution I made no sign, but I had felt that this would be the day of my death. ! had dreamed that 1 would die on the 13th. some day. ami 1 knew that a Friday would be chosen by the court. My dream has come true, ' Since that day last November my old friend, the whistle, has told mo every day that I was so much nearer the grave. There were to be just so many days before my death. The whis tle was to blow just so many'times. 1 heard it blow once this morning—It will biow again at noon But I will not hear It mxt time.” Then c; > began to speak of his wife again. "I loved Kate better than all the world." he said. "My God. how I loved her! There was never anybody who could take her place. I hopi her people iyill fmglve me. as God has forgiven me. and that they will let me be burled by her side. Good-bye. I’ve seen you outside my cel! lots of times, and heard you asking questions of me. Some- THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13. 1912. times 1 w as crazy to speak to you, but I had to keep up my game to the last. Good-bye." Women’s Prayers Fail to Move Him. In the hope of cheering Clay and strengthening hint for the ordeal of today, in the event he was feigning In sanity. three sympathetic women spent more than an hour at the barred door of his cell yesterday afternoon, singing hymns and offering fervent prayers for his soul. The women were Mrs. Min nie Everett and Miss Christian John son. of 342 Simpson street, and Mrs. l.ola Medley, of 91 Newport street. of all those who heard the songs and prayers of the women, the doom ed man himself appeared the least touched. Not once did a tear moisten his downcast eyes, and not once did he speak. l eaning against the cell bars, his gaze fixed on the floor, he showed absolutely no emotion. He merely stood as if fascinated. When Dr. Samuel 11. Green, county physician, called at the Tower yester day afternoon and made his final ex amination of the prisoner and found him nervous and his pulse at 102, he said this was the first evidence shown of a breakdown. Dr. Green said this was a sure sign that Clay was sane and that he realized his doom was close at hand. Explanation First Given by Slayer. The first explanation of his crime given by the slayer following his arrest was the night of the murder, just afteh ho had been locked in the police station. When prisoners in the same ward asked t’lsy why he killed his wife, the slayer, still In a drunk en condition, replied: "I loved my wife, and she wouldn’t live with me. 1 couldn't stand to be away from her. and I killed her." Since that time his Ups had been sealed until today. On his trial, and even when the death sentence was pro nounced, he never uttered one word in defense of his act. He successfully defied every effort and every ruse used to break his silence Boy, 3, Made an Orphan by Execution. The execution of Clay leaves a lit tle orphan boy, less than three years of agy. This little fellow has been cared for since the tragedy by rela tives of the slain mother, and will be educated and reared by them. They say they intend to give him every ad vantage possible, and to strive in every wav to keep this dark biot from stain ing his future. The feeling of relatives of the slain woman was manifested in a dramatic manner when a sister of Mrs. Clay call ed at the Tower with the explanation that she "merely wished to look at Clay." As she gazed through the bars, the' young woman is said to have ex claimed: "Bob, we’re going to break your neck —you have but a short time to live." History of Crime For Which Clay Hanged. To the jailers she expressed the firm belief that Clay was feigning. Clay shot and killed his wife, Mrs. Kate Hughes Clay, on Sunday night. May 12, in Mrs. Clay’s home, 201 Lee street. West End. Clay, who was living apart from his wife, was intoxicated at the time, and fired two bullets into her form as she screamed and begged him piteously to spare her life. She died In an ambu lance on the way to Grady hospital. Clay was arrested a short distance from the house. Clay and his wife separated early in January of this year, Mrs. Clay assert ing that Clay came home drunk and abused and mistreated her. For this she had him arrested, and he was ar raigned in police court JAP CREW OF SHIP IN MUTINY: THREE SHOT SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 13. —Seventy- eight Japanese, the crew’ of the steamer India, mutinied against their offeers to day while the bfg vessel was In the har bor here ready to sail for Yokohama. Three of the sailors were shot. A police tug with officers armed with shotguns were rushed to the scene. The crew attacked the captain, S. J. Parsons, and four European officers, rushing at them with drawn knives. An Elegant Coat, With Fine Materials Behind The Ultra - Stylishness Ft has a i .ch, smart appearance, drapes gracefully from the shoulder, and affords great warmth without excessive weight. It’s a “Benjamin” 'w model—the “Bo n d /y V M&Q, I.l\ Street.” And being / o made by America’s hP Foremost tailors, it, 6 yf ijluj of course,, embraces ’-'IV 0 WT all the good points Y iX. that go to make up a 'fu 10ft J* strictly first-class gar- 1 ment. ’ / Brown mixtures and 'VI Oxford mixtures, with popular belted back. Ld G X OXTR size is lICTC. ftenjanpr? Clothe® $25.00 and $27.50 CARLTON Shoe and Clothing Co. 36 Whitehall Street A Great Suit and Coat Sale Many Garments Marked at LESS THAN HALF _ l , ’. v "Etching the markets, close burin" and being out- N\ AnG;. side f . hp high-rent district, we are ALWAYS able to save y° u L'om ONE-THIRD to ONE-HALF on your purchases here; but in this instance, we can save you even more than that. And reinember that when we tell you an article is W ° rth D 0I ’ BLE (), ' K sa, -E PRICE, you can DEPEND A upon the DENI INENESS of our valuation. Positively no A"'im. fictitious valuations are allowed in either our advertising yfej-- W aI m ”** our store. ILiBI \fS Today we are ofl’ering; f t AwlL \ ei v handsome and stylish Suits of fine serges and man / yf L Ji nish mixtuics. elegantly tailored and lined with guaran- ;. : .A M Tail These Suits are easily worth DOI BLE OCR / BEIA PBI( E. Fomorrow we offer them Ffcf" I MT at. ehftice 5dZ.35 > 1-W Blue ’ hlaek !H| d l ’ :,lll '. v mixed Suits; p | a j n tailored and JMnMy <Yv:Y\. F handsomely triinnied styles. Suitswell tl* 4O A F ' J worth ONE-THIRD MORE; only ... ' „. i \ One raek of stylish mannish serge Suits: plain tailored iA® ’ iln< l trimmed effects; lined with guaranteed satin; blue. jWaS " i brown and black. Worth at least fllH I ONE-THIRD MORE; only $9.95 | 4518.95 Coats for only if 8.95. Think of this! They're YA:T£fe:'' : . : :i brand new styles just rived. Handsome mannish ■'. X W ? t ff t I c, °tnesnimanystyl' s, with latest belted back, patch pock- Z 'W / ill J <,s ’ "' lk ‘ oolkir and lapels, deep cuffs, etc. fl* QE WF I 111 M A genuine high-grade Coat, only 30.90 ’W 4 / / t nl 'Junior ( oats, only $4.95. This is a new shipment just I V /f '•'•ceived. The styles are very snappy and stylish. Belted I backs, two-faced cloths, fancy collar and' cuffs, patch L 9? Jr pockets, etc. A very unusual gt» « AF" offer for only $4.95 NO CHARGE FOR ALTERATIONS Stylish Hats and Shapes at to % LESS Trimmed Hats: worth I Silk Beaver Shapes; I Shapes worth ud to $6- up to sls: choice, $3.95j56.50 values sl.9slchoice ,75c Save Money On Your Blankets and Comforts L “Tt Tnd «X“ h »nly 1 ‘ nke “ ; . . Ver7 »1.95 L “ ge 12 ' 4 COt, ° n B ‘ a ” ke,S ' ' slo ° Fine Wool Blankets; gray and white; Double-Faced Silkoline Comforts; choice $4.95 cotton filled; SPECIAL $1.95 Christmas Goods at ONE-THIRD to ONE-HALF LESS Dolls, Toys, Rocking Horses. Wagons. Autos. Velocipede,, Books, Games, Skates, Toilet Sets, Jewel Cases, Manicure Sets, etc. SMITH & HIGGINS “The Underselling Store” Take Walker Street or Lucile Avenue Cars ; 12TH GRANDCHILD • : IS BORN ON 12-12-12 5 • • • ROME, GA., Dec. 13.—“ Twelve" • • is a significant number for Alder- • • man W. L. Dajiiei. Yesterday was • • the twelfth day of the twelfth • •■ month of the twelfth year, and • • Mr. Daniel’s twelfth grandchild • • was born. And the day was also • • Mr. Daniel's fifty-ninth birthday. • SHIPPING TRUST PROBE TO BEGINON JANUARY/ WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—The house committee on merchant marine announced that the hearings for an exhaustive In vestigation of the foreign shipping trust would begin on Tuesday, January ?. , r 10 o'clock. THE ATLANTA TONIGHT I 8:15 Also Saturday Night Matinee Saturday. KLAW & ERLANGER PRESENT Trail of the Lonesome Pine WITH CHARLOTTE WALKER Nights, 25c to $1.50; Matinees. 25c to $1 ALL NEXT WEEK nights I 8:15. matinees daily 3 p. M Paul J. Rainey African Hunt Most Marvelous Pictures Prices, zsc, 35c, 50c. Seats now selling grand ;k„ u , a ..ir tdgsr A!chtson-Efy & Co ni Winona Winter You'll hY Ton Fa uno- Van Ossman i 0 Hurrv lo’ Ronair b Wild-Lydtll & StluL Butterworth- Martini & Maximilon Seats 'or a I ; Show Like N EXT WEEK GUS EDWARDS ! This JOBSYTH w o E K ? F BUNTINS Miss Bunting and the Stock Playe’rs Presenting “The Three of Us” A p| ay That Will Be Appealing Next Week, -, e LlhYg^YL~adC' L Y R I Matinees Tuesday, Thursday and r Saturday. The World's Greatest Musical Success MADAME SHERRY Star Cast and Beauty Chorus Next Week SHEA in 3 Great Plays. LYRIC WEE X K I Matinees Tues., Thurs, and Sat. TH ° S SHEA In Three Great Plays. Monday Night and Tues. Matinee. “A MAN and his WIFE”