The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-02-19
HORRIBLE SCENE.
The Hanging OF Marshall Martin az Mar
timer. CalIforiEIa.

ttnezs CaltferiEIa.
From the san Francisco Chronicle.
Marshall Martin, the aecomplice Of the
woman Elizabeth Eisehler IN the mur-
der of her husband, Valentine Eischler,
near Antioch, IN November, 1872, suf-
tered the extreme penalty of the law
yesterday in the jail-yard at Martinez.
On the platform were ten specialti ties
besides deputy sheFifIs HOusaker and
Glass N. Of san Francisco. In front of
the pla IoTm. some distance from It,
stood some fifty gentlemen, including
physicians, who were invited to be pres
ent. The ceremonies on the scaffold
we're exceedingly short. Martin was
placed in chair, while the sheriff reao
the concluding portion of the death
warrant. DR.. Hertel then offered up
fervent prayer, and at its conclusion,
Martin was requested to stand on the
trap. As he did so, he sal
GENTLEMEN II want you to understand
that am here TO die; but am an innocent
man; don't deserve this. The woman that
caused me to do this, deserves death a thou
sand times moro than do. That is all have
to say.
Straps were then securely adjusted
about the limbs, the black cap drawn
over the head, the fatal moose fixed
about the neck-the hole not occupy
ing half minute. An instant more,
the arm of the sheriff went up, 6 man
in the rear cut the rope that 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, elastie-hke spring, the
black cap few into the air at least eight
feet, and spattering the blood in great
spots over the rope, the white-washed
wall, the trap, the chair in which the
doomed man sat, and the sheriff's boots,
1t rolled away IN one corner of the en-
closure. The body of the poor man
fell to the ground with q thud, and two,
geyseF-hke Jets spurted up from the
neck and fell down on the ground in
torrents. A closer look, and then the
horror-strioken faces of the spectators
showed that the awful ma ure of the oe-
currence 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 a word was spoken.
After the first thrill of horror, strong
men turned away, sickened at the ehorri-
BILE sight. The faces on the platform
were blanched and ghastly. The poor
sheriff was as white as chalk, bat he
was cool and collected, and did much to
inspire those around him.
DR.. HolbroOk, who was present, first
the black cap of its sickening
contents. BE lifted the cap at the
top and the head rolled away over the
IL
severed the neck as clearly as though it
had been done with knife. The YER
trebae had actually been pulled away
from what the doctor called the atlas.
The larynx, the artery, the tendons
were all torn apart. the latter, only, show
ing struggling ends. Death, it is hardly
to state. was instantaneous.
From thetime the headless trunk struck
the ground, there was not even a quiver
of the little finger The body lay like
a chunk of lead. The horrible remains
we're at once placed in a coffin and hid
den from sight.
No blame is attached to Sheriff Ivory
for this terrible misiap. The rope was
adjusted for a fall of six feet, and it was
said that this was no more than is usu-
ally given.
DR.. Holbrook, who made a critical ex-
OF the remains, testified be-
fore the coroner's jury, later in the day,
that, taking into consideration the phys
ical condition of the man-his soft,
habby fat, and the weak condition of his
system-it was not at ali sin
gular that bis neck should give away.
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 bat 143 pounds, still the
neck was incapable of supporting it.