Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1878-12-07
Sensations In Hanging .

Rogers s. Tracy. NJ. D., in an arti
ele In the Popular Science Monthly, in
reference to the sensations experience
by person in the &C. of hanging, from
which the following is condensed, says
that in executions it is the custom 10
drop the condemned man from height.
or to jerk him up from the ground by
the fall of heavy weight, so that there
is . powerful concussion of the brain to
start with. 1t used to be common be.
lief that the necks of criminal, we're
broken by this means, and that the
pressure of the fractured vertebrse on
the spinal cord shortened the period of
suffering. It is not known however.
that this rarely occurs, and the crimi-
nal dies OF asphyxia or appoplexy, usu-
ally the former. Some men. how
ever, do not become unconscious from
the shock of the fall, and suicides gen.
orally have no fall 80 that in sncb
cases, death supervenes by asphyxia.
But even here the process is complicat-
cd by congestive appoplexy, and in
these cases, too, insensibility comes on
so rapidly that death is really painless.
I once witnessed at execution at the
tombs, and observed the victim careful.
~, watch in hand. After the body fell
to the length of the rope, it remained
perfectly motionless, so for as could
see, and l was not more than twenty.
five feet away. 1t swayed little in the
currents OF air, and at the end of a
minute and ten seconds there were
three very slight drawings-up of the
feet, and peculiar quiverine of chs
hands. Then all was still, andre
NAMED SO until the body was taken
down. In this case the neck was NOT
broken, and death took place from as.
phyxia.
Chancellor Bacon has reported the
case OF gentleman who put cord
around his neck and hung himself.
stepping eff from q small bench on
which he had been standing, and ex-
pecting to be able to mount it again
when he wished. This was impossible
on account of the loss of conscious
ness. which supervened immediately.
and the experiment would have had O
tragic ending if friend had not by
chance entered and released him.
Two remarkable examples are on re-.
cord of persons who allowed themselves
to be hung for the entertainment of an
audience. An account of one of them
Is given in the Lancet of April II, 1874.
The mans real name was John Harm
shaw. He was an athlete, and among
other feats it WAS customary with him
to exhibit the process of hanging. In
this performance he relied for security
on the strength of the muscles of the
neck and throat. He had rope with a
fixed knot which could not
slip, and passed both ends of the loon
up behind one ear. The whole act was
30 adroitly managed that he prevented
any pressure of the rope on the wind
pipe or the jugular veins, and could
even sustain weight of one hundred
and fifty pounds in addition to that of
his own body.
On three separate occasions Harm
shaw mismanaged the rope, and be-
came unconscious, being luckily res.
cued each time. Now, this man stated.
not with particular reference to either
accident. but as common to all, that she
could hardly recollect anything that
happened to him in the rope !" chat lie
Lost his senses all at once; the instant
the rope got in the wrong place he felt
rs If he could not get his breath-as if
some great weight were at his feet:
could not move only to draw himself
mp; felt as if he wanted to 10 sen him.
self, but never thought of his hands.
And he added: ''You cannot move
your arms or legs to save yourself: Won
cannot raise your arms; you cannot
think" He did not see sparks of light.
but had in his ears a rafting sound.
inthe second instance, viii ia has been
fully recorded, the Snowman vas not so
= fortunate. He Was known as Scott. the
American diver, and he, like Harnshaw.
had many times hung himself before
an audience with safety. The last
tune. however, fse rope slipped in such
. way n to compress the throat ana
bring ON asphyxiA- He hung thirteen
minutes. the spectators thinking tina,
he vas prolonging the experiment for
their gfati6cstion- When he vsk taken
down he Was dead II il lust 10 tho~e
Who we're looking on to state that they
"a ugha he vss safe. because he was
still. and did not raise hi. feet and
s1Apd upon the sczGold, which his legs
actually to1ebei. This case shors with
peculiar force the ipsidiOus manner in
which death comes On in asphyxn.