The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-05-05

appear to have combined in resuscitatng the
woman, for she showed evident signs of life
before the cart had proceeded one-third of the
| distance She was removed, revived, prayed
| with by minister and received back into the
| circle of her friends. She lived creditably many
years afterwards, had large family, and sold
salt about the streets of Edmburgh-where she
| was known, on account of her strange escape
| as 'Half-hanged Maggie
William Duell was one of those who had re.
| ylved when almost under the dissecting knife
| This man was hanged for murder, on gibbet
| put up at Acton, in 1740. After hanging for
| twenty minutes, the body was cut do wn and
| taken to Surgeons Hall for dissection. The at
tendants stripped and washed the body, and the
| surgeons prepared for their labor. Just as they
| were about to begin, however, they perceived
faint signs of life in him; he groaned feebly, and
| MS breathing became gradually more and more
| percepbble They bled him, and in the evening
! he was able to SIT up again. He was conveyed
PACK 10 prison; put there was too much public
excitement TO Justify the authorities in hanging
| him again. In two days he recovered his
health. Fever and delirfum had rendered his
memory blank, and he had lost all recollec-
lion OF the hanging 1t was supposed by the
| surgeons that full flow of blood at the time
had euabled his system to resist the Tightening
| OF the veins, and to have thus restored him to
hte,not to liberty, however, for he was after
wards transported. In 1862 Even Macdonald
| was hanged for murder. After the body was
| cut down it was taken to Surgeons Hall and
| placed ready for dissection. The operating sur
| geon, having to leave the room for a short time
| was surprised on his return to see the man sit.
| ting up. Protesting more professional zeal
| than humanity, the surgeon took a mallet and
Killed Macdonald outright in order not TO be
| disappointed of an opportunity for dis section.
| Thls atrocious case gave rise to much iudig-
| nant comment at the time. In l767, tailor
named Patrick Redmond was hanged at Cork
| the usual time, the body was cut down and
conveyed hastily to the house of an actor named
Glover, who found means by friction and fumi-
| cation to revive him. Redmond had the incre-
dible audacity to go to the theatre on the same
evening, and, to the horror of the audience pub
licly thank Glover for having saved his liie."
Inc present century has not been without its
instances. ABOUT htty years ago, servant girl
was convicted OF administering poison to the
household OF farmer, in fit of passion at some
petty injury. A legal doubt having led to
postponement OF the execution, the steady de-
meanor of the girl led 10 her being EMPLOYED as
servant by the jailer at Durham. One morn
ing, the governor received, much to his regret,
and to the regret of many of the citizens an
order for the immediate execution of the Girl.
She was hanged, but the rope broke; and the
wretched girl remained crying at the loot of
the gallows, while man fastened off on horse
Dack TO fetch new rope. This distressing
scene was perhaps scarcely case in point, so
Tar as concerns resuscitaton after hanging:
but 1t is one of the instances of deferred exc
cuhons, which are SO bad, because they give
rise 10 hopes destined TO disappointment. In
another instance mentioned like the foregoing,
in Notes and Queraes), boy of only IS or Id
was capitally convicted, out respited indeh-
nitely on account OF his youth. He remained
in the jail at Worcester, was found to be docile
lad, and became a general favorite both with
the Jalier and the prisoners; everybody believing
that his full pardon would come soon.. One day
he was playing at ball in the yard, full of life
and elee, when suddenly, to the utter dismay of
the Jailer and the inmates OF the prison, an order
arrived after many weeks of delay, for the exc
cutlon of the poor lad; and the execution
accordingly took place. An instance more in
point Is that OF man who was executed at
Iyourn, and whose apparently dead body was
I,,5a 4
brought to his house. A servant wishing to see
the body, stole into the room, and found the
man sitting upright on the dssecting table. The
surgeon, humane man, shipped him off quietly
10 America, where he amassed fortune, which
IN gratitude he bequeathed to his beneactor.
Sir Jonah Harrington. in his personal
Sketches" mentions the case of one Lanigan,
who was hanged for the murder of Captain
Otlaherty. Lanigan survived, by some means
which are not explained; and Sir Jonah saw him
at the house of Mr. Lauder in the Temple. He
was smuggled over to Abbevllle, where he died
Trappe. ..I'" ".--I = = -
Some of these momentous escapes have
plainly depended on the imperfectlops of the
gl06et as compared with the drop. These mper-
1ecuons led to the abandonment of the one kind
oil dread apparatus for the other. Several state
ments have been made in the public journals,
from time to time concerning "the last gibpet;b
but many OF these are destitute of melning
unless we take into account the exact partici-
lars OF each case. In 1856 the Examiner said:-
hioW uays ago kAprll), lne last glODet erected
in England was demolished by the workmen
employed in making the extensive docks for the !
Northeastern Railway Company, at Jarrow
Slake, on the Tyne.n This statement was
shortly afterwards disputed; for, later in the
same year, glbbet was still left standing on
D1tchllng Common, in Sussex. Ii was known
among. the surrounding villagers as Jacobs
Post, ," being named after culprit concerning
whom copy OF verses was long current in the
neighborhood, recording, among other things
that TT
AZ Horsham Gaows he was hanged there,
The thirty first Of August that same year;
and where he did the crime, they took the pains
10 bring him back, and hang him up in chains.
1t has been stated that the last gibbet erected
IN England was at Saffron Lane, near Leicester,
IN 1882; 1t was soon afterwards removed by order
OF the Secretary of State for Home Affairs.
Whatever may the exact dates, however when |
the last gibbet was erected, and the last demol-
lshed, II is certain that the drop has been almost
II not quite, substituted for il in England In the
old glbbel, the wretched cuprit was turned off |
IRON ladder at height which, it was sup |
posed, would elevate him sufficiently above the |
ground or platform; whereas the drop consists |
OF trapdoor which, being suddenly opened |
by the withdrawal OF bolts underneath, causes |
the whole weight OF the culprit's body to be in |
an instant at the mercy of the moose. Some of |
the instances OF escape are doubtless attribu- |
table TO the careless way in which the pri soner
was turned off the scatold, or rather ladder on |
which he ascended to the gibbet; some to the in
sertiOn of a tube which might prevent the con- |
stricLion Of the throat; some to the opening of |
an orthce in the wndpipe by an expert surgeon;
some TO a natural hardening of the wndpipe, |
which occasionally happens; and some to steel |
collar, connected with an elaborate system of |
braces and bandages. These varieties offer !
fluctuations OF most of the cases of fresuscitation
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