Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1869-06-29
HOW IT FEELS TO BE HANGED.
A Murderer Brought TO Life after his Execution
by the aid Of Electricity--He tells all about 1t.

|
after being hanged till life was sup
posed to be extinct, was secretly
brought TO life again by the aid of
electricity. Years afterward he de-
tailed as follows to one of the wit
nesses of the execution, who CHANGED
to meet him in New Orleans, the fol-
lowing account of his sensations on
that fearful occasion:
The final prayer was SAID, the
usual thanks rendered and greetings
| given; the cord was adjusted about
my neck, | was placed upon the trap,
| looked for the last time upon IA
miliar objects, the cap was adjusted
over my face, | felt an increased heat
around my heart, fullness of the
throat, q slight weakness of the mus
cles Of my limbs, then an involuntary
shrinking of the nerves and catch
ing Of the breath as / felt myself fall
ing, then a fierce, fiery pain shot
through my whole frame, my head
seemed bursting, and my conscious
mss was gone.
How long | remained unconscious
| do not know, but when sensibility
returned, it was entirely mental
The shock of my fall had evidently
paralyzed the nerves sensibilities and
destroyed the physical capacity of
sense, but my mental powers were
soon resumed in a wonderful man
ner, for my earliest remembrance of
anything was the combination of all
the colors of the prism glowing rad>
iantly before my eyes. OF course |
did not see them with my eyes, but
| seemed to see them thus, as they
| glowed and waved and blended, then
| separated. then reformed themselves
in new com binations, and danced and
laughed with brilliancy for exceed
ing the rainbow's painting or the
prism's power.
This gorgeous scene began to fade
away, and my next transition was
into sea of light; not the light of
the sun, or such light as is made
by any chemical combustion. but a
light of dazzling, glowing, glorious
kind seemed to be part. | now
began to observe my own condition;
l knew my whole body was growing
cold and rigid, the only perccptible
warmth being in my heart, and |
wondered how long it would be be-
fore that too should become cold like
the balance, and | should entirely
die. | even speculated upon the
severity CT the pain | should have to
endure when that spot did grow cold
but | never knew. While | thus
took note of the physical condition,
my mind, with gradually increased
power, was fully occupied. Before
me in review and then gathered
around me, were all the transactions
or good or evil-of life; there was
nothing forgotten-nothing absent.
saw them all, knew and recognized
them all even minute and insight
ficant circumstances, which at the
time had made no impression on me,
were now there, and | became fully
aware of the fact that this sentient
being which had animated my body
would not die, but would live on and
on eterually, and eternally surround
ed by and 10 companionship with all
the transactions of physical life
was conofusivcly shown to me as
if the spirit of him who had been
dead a thousand years had spoken
| the fact. But how was / to exist,
where should [ exist? Iknew was
not part of my body; in fact, [ de-
sired to entirely sever the connection
with it, and impatiently waited till
the warm spot of my heart should
get cold. Had been at liberty to
accept or reject an offer of return to
vitality, | should have rejected it
In vain | scanned the light around
me for revelation of my future con,
dition. In vain l applied all the
brilliant powers of my purified mind
to pierce the future, even to COM
prehend the present. l recall my
early instructions, and sought for
yawning gulf and crystal gates, but
on the one hand l found no devouring
fiends, and on the other / saw no
cleaning chariots | heard neither
songs of joy nor wailings of woe,
nor found any other being than my
own. existed in my own former
life, and SO far as | could discover,
would continue to exist there for
ever. This was not desirable, but
from 1t saw no way of escape.
/ have no idea of the time passed
in this condition, but it must have
; been all the time required by medi-
cal judgment to deprive me of life,
for in the midst of my speculations |
became aware of the removal and
handling of my body. | remember /
thought they were about to bury me,
and as | was not dead, | wished to
protest againstit. ] loathed the idea
of being incarcerated in the grave
with my body, or having any further
companionship with it. did not
know what was being done, but |
felt myselfin motion for time, when
the motion ceased then there was a
, quick, sharp, lending pain, fearful
shudder of my whole physical pow
ers, writing, an anguish far worse
than the anguish of death, and sensi
bility and senses slowly returned to
me; once more my heart, which has
never grown cold, thropbed, my vital
functions were partially establish
ed, and again | became burthened
with the cares, anxieties, and sor-
rows of life. To me it has been one
long sorrow, and withoutjoy or hope,
| await the time when l shall once
more battle in the sea of light, once
more gather around me the radiance
of life everlasting.
My resuscitation was the result oil
!. an application of electricity and the
! skill of a surgeon. For few days
: until l had partially recovered my
strength, | was concealed and then
/. fled the country.
E The Prince of Wales has beer
q made Mason by the King of Sweden
and wishes to join one of the lodges
s in London. 1t is intended to make