A Half-Year’s Crimes

Some one with a fancy for that class of statistics has been diving into the criminal record of the past six months for the United States.

He has learned that each day has produced two murders and one suicide, and that each week’s average is two executions and one lynching.

The number of persons who have been killed since January 1st was 445.

Sixty-five of these were mysteriously murdered.

Twenty-two children were killed by their parents.

There were 33 cases of wife murder, 2 of the murder of husbands, 4 parricides, 5 fratricides, and 1 sororicide.

There were 7 double and 3 triple murders.

There were also 14 cases in which there were two assassins implicated, and 1 each in which three, four and eleven persons were charged with the crime.

Seventeen of the murderers committed suicide.

Of the murders the New York Telegram says 58 were committed in New York state—25 in New York city.

The others are thus located: Missouri, 40; Ohio, 35; Georgia, 19; Louisiana, 16; Kentucky and Massachusetts, 14 each; Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey, 13 each; Arkansas, 11; Mississippi, 10; North Carolina and Tennessee, 9 each; Alabama, Maryland, Michigan and South Carolina, 8 each; Colorado, Connecticut, West Virginia and Wisconsin, 7 each; Florida, 5; Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Dakota territory and Indian territory, 4 each; Nebraska and New Hampshire, 3 each; District of Columbia, Oregon, Vermont, Arizona territory and Idaho territory, 2 each.

Between January and July 60 murderers have met death on the scaffold.

There were four double executions, one triple and one quadruple execution.

Arkansas leads with 14 hangings.

The other states and territories rank as follows: Georgia, 9; Louisiana and New York, 4 each; Texas and South Carolina, 3 each; Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Mexico, 2 each; Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana territory, North Carolina, Utah territory and Vermont, 1 each.

Lynchings are distributed as follows:

Judge Lynch has been very busy during the past six months in the southwest.

Through the instrumentality of vigilance committees and organized mobs, summary justice was meted out to twenty-six culprits.

One of them, a negro, was riddled with bullets in Mississippi, the others were hanged.

Seventeen of the lynchings were for murder, 4 for robbery, 3 for felonious assault and 1 of a postmaster in Montana territory—for arson.

Twelve of those hanged met their fate were negroes.

One Chinaman was lynched.

There were two double lynchings.