Construction of the gallows for the hanging of the conspirators condemned to death began immediately on July 5, after the execution order was signed. It was constructed in the south part of the Arsenal courtyard, was high and about in size. Rath, who oversaw the preparations for the executions, made the nooses. Tired of making nooses and thinking that the government would never hang a woman, he made Surratt's noose the night before the execution with five loops rather than the regulation seven. He tested the nooses that night by tying them to a tree limb and a bag of buckshot and then tossing the bag to the ground (the ropes held). Civilian workers did not want to dig the graves out of superstitious fear, so Rath asked for volunteers among the soldiers at the Arsenal and received more help than he needed.