The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-02-14
From the San Francisco Chronicle.

From the San Francisco Chronicle.
- y BEHEADEN - ]
Re- no.s H.stlslss.I n<voisln<
sxesesiexEv< NE eedsn A'rers
lea. " J
Marshall Martin, the accomplice
of the woman Elizabeth Eischler
in the murder of her husband, Val
entine Fischer, near Antioch. in
November, 1872, suffered the ex-
treme penalty of the law, yesterday,
in the jnilE yard'at Martinez.
,....Straps Mere securely adjusted.
about the limbs. the black cap
drawn over the head, the fatal moose
fixed about the neck the whole not
occupying half 4. minute. An in
slant more, the arm of the Sheriff
went up, man in the rear cut the
rope which held the lever in place,
the trap gave awsy, and the body
shot down with terrible force.
A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE
The scene which followed almost
beggars description. The body
shot straight downward, The rope
stretched with sudden elastic like
spring, the. black cap few into the
air at least eight feet, and spatter-
ed the blood in great spots over the
rope, The whitewashed walls, the
trap, the chair in which the doom
ed man sat, and the Sheriff. boots,
4 rolled away in one corner Of the
inclosure. The body of the poor
man fell to tile ground with a dead
thud, and two red, geyser like jets
spurted from the neck and fell on
the ground in torrents. A closer
look, and then the, horror stricken
faces showed that the awful nature
of the occurrence hd 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 pour
ed from the neck. Not a word was
spoken After the first thrill of
horror strong mem turned away
sickened at the horrible sight. The
poor Sheriff was as white as chalk,
but he was cool and collected, and
! did much to inspire those around
him! ri .odr .15a& ri bau
THE SEVERED HEAD. 3iea
DR.. Holbrook,, who was present,
first emptied the black cap of it's
sickening contents. Ho lifted the
cap at the top and the head rolled
away over the ground like cannon
ball. The rope had severed the
neck as clearly as though it had
been done with q knife. The verte
bra had been actually 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, it. is hardly necessary to
state, was instantaneous. From
the time the headless trunk struck
the ground, there was, not even. q
culver of the little finger. The
body lay like a lump of lead. The
horrible remains were at once plac
ed in coffin and hidden from
sight Tss., u9fe
THE CAUSE OF THE rR1eHrruL M1sHAp.
No blame is attributable to Sher
If Ivory for the terrible mishsl,
The rope was adjusted for fail O
six feet, and il was said that this il
| no more than is usually given.
DIR. Holbrook, who made q crit
| ical examination of the remains
testified before the coroner's jury
later in the day that, taking init
consideration The physical condi
ton of the lnan-his soft, fabb,
fat, and the weak condition of hi,
! muscular system it was not at al
singular that his neck should Civ,
way. Any fall which would hav'
broken the spinal cord, would hav'
been pretty sure to have don
4 just what was done. The muscle
of the neck were found to be sof
and contracted, and though tn
body weighed but 148 pounds, still
4 the neck was incapable OF support
ing it. ~. 9bbe .,s,.I..s.. 49, -'-'-.-
4 Prayer and Powder. ,
4 A clergyman writes to the 81
Louis Globe as follows concernin,
his experience IN the Gad,s Hi
robbery: '1,a. '' t : ~ 'a, -,
4 II did not see o. pistol on I'll
4 train, and I think there was NO
one. We were all best armed b
being unarmed. One good natul