The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-02-13
Horrible and Revolving Execution.

Marshall Martin, the accomplice of
the woman Elizabeth Fischer in the
murder of her husband, Valentine
Fischer, near Antioch, in November,
1872. suffered the extreme penalty Of
the law yesterday in the jail-yard at
Martinez.
The ceremonies on the scaffold were
exceedingly short. Martin was seated
in a chair, while the sheriff read the
startling portion of the dcath-warrent.
DIR. Hertel offered up fervent prayer,
and at its conclusion Martin was re-
ouested to stand on the trap.
Straps were then securely adjusted
about the limbs, the black cap drawn
over the head, the fatal moose fixed
about the neck-the whole not occupy
ing half a minute. An instant more,
the arm of the sheriff went up, man in
the rear cut the rope which held the
lever in place, the trap gave way and
the body shot down with terrible force.
The scene which followed almost beg
gars description. The body shot straight
downward. The rope stretched with
sudden, elastic-like spring, the black
cap flew into the air at least eight feet,
and scattering the blood in great spots
over the rope, the whitewashed wall, the
trap, the chair In which the doomed
man sat, and the sherifT's boots, it rolled
away in one corner of the inclosure.
The body of the poor man fell to the
ground with great thud, and two red,
geyser-like jets spurted up from the
neck and fell down on the ground in tor
rents. A closer look, and then the hor-
ror-stricken faces showed that the aw-
full nature of the occurrence had burst
upon them. The poor old mans head
had actually been jerked from his body,
and was even then lying in the black
cap where it had rolled in the corner.
The headless trunk lay weltering in the
blood which poured from the neck. Not
wo rd was spoken. After the first
thrill of horror strong men turned away,
sickened at the horrible sight. The
faces on the platform were blanched
and CHASTITY. The poor sheriff was as
white as chalk, but he was cool and col
lected, and did much to inspire those
around him.
DIR. Holbrook, who was present, first
emptied the black cap of It's sickening
contents. He lifted the cap at the top
anu Vic away OftI VIC
Ikea cannon-ball. The rope had severed
the neck as clearly as though it had
been done with a knife. The vertebra
had actually been pulled away from
what the doctor called the atlas. The
larynx, the arteries, the tendons were
all torn apart, the latter only, showing
ends. Death, it is hardly
necessary to state, was instantaneous.
From the time the headless trunk struck
the ground there was not even a culver
of the little finger. The body lay like
a lump of lead. The horrible remains
were at once placed in coffin and hid
den from sight.
Dr. Holbrook, who made critical
examination of the remains, testified
before the coroner's jury, later in the
day that, taking into consideration the
physical condition of the man-his soft,
fiabby fat, and the weak condition of
his muscular system-it was not at all
singular that his neck should give way.
Any fall which would have broken the
spinal cord, would have been pretty
sure to have done just what was done.
The muscles of the neck were found to
be soft and contracted, and though the
body weighed but 143 pounds, still the
neck was incapable of supporting it,
San francisco Chronicle.