Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-02-06
The California GallOws Decap1-
tati0n...A Horrible Incident,

The San Francisco Chronicle gives the
particulars of the recent gallows decaplta-
ton which occurred near Antioch, CAL
The victim was Marshall Martin, aged h1ty
three years, who had his head torn from
his body ON the gallows, to which he had
been condemned for numbering Valentine
Fischer, an old German, whose wifein stl
gated Martin to the murder, and who at
forwards proved raving maniac and Is
now shut up in lunatic asylum. Martin
was very weak and half imbecile crea-
ture. The gallows scene is described as
follows:
When the drop fell Martins 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 sleriff's boots, 1t rolled away in
one corner of the inclosure. Inc 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 torrents. A closer look,
and then the horror stricken faces showed
that the awful nature OF tile Occurrences
had burst upon them. The poor oid MANS
head had actually been jerked from his
body, and was even then lying IN the DiacK
cap where it had rolled III the corner
The headless trunk lay welterlng III the
blood which poured from the neck. Not
word was spoken. After the first thrill of
horror strong men turned away slckened
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 collected, and did much to
inspire those around him.
DR.. Holbrook, who was present, hrst
emptied the black cap of its sickenlng con-
tents. He lifted the cap at the toy, and
the head rolled away over the ground like
a c. nnon 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 struggling ends. Death, IL
is hardly necessary to state, was lnstanta-
neous. From the time the headless trunk
struck the ground there was not even
culver of the little finger. The body lay
like lump of lead. The horrible remains
were at once placed in coffin and hidden
from sight.
No blame is attributable to Sheriff Ivory
for this terrible mishap. The rope was
adjusted for a fall of six feet, and it was
said that this was no more than is usually
given. DR.. Holbrook, who made q criti-
cal examination of the remains, testified
| before the coroner's jury later in the day
| that, taking into consideration the physi-
cal condition of the man-his soft, fabby
| fat, and the weak condition of his muscu-
! lar system-it was not all singular that his
neck should give way. Any fall which
would have broken the spinal chord. 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.
A PREsENTIMENT OF DEATH FULFILL
| ED.-In New York, Monday evening, as
Officer Quigley, of the Eldridge-street po-
| lice, turned into Delaney street, a respect
tably-dressed man walked up to him and
exclaming, ''My God, what's the matter 2"
dropped senseless at the officers feet
Procuring a cart, Quigley took the man to
the station, and as he carried him in the
man expired. The officer ascertained that
the man was Thomas Cogswell, of 1O5
| Clinton street, a glaZier that last sum
| mer he suffered with brain fever, but since
his recovery, he had worked hard at his
| trade and had managed to save a little
money. He told fellOw-wOrkman Mon
| day morning that he dreamed the night
| before that a beautiful woman had stood
at the head Of his bed and asked him.
whether he was prepared to die, and that
he had answered Eyes" That dream af-
fected him all Monday, and he said than
he did not expect to live long.