Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-03-16

An Anstrument OF Death which VIII be
Used in the Case Of Guiteau.
"A Washington letter to the Phila-
delphia Times says: The scaffold upon
which Bedford and Queenan were exc
cuted WILDE used for strangling Gui-
teau. It is standing in the north wing
Of the Jail, and has been painted drab
shade. It is OF Georgia pine, and stands
twenty one feet in height. The cross.
beam is of six by eight timber
strengthened by heavy top piece for
double works., supported BY timbera
eight inches square. The platform is
thirteen feet from the ground. and is
made of two-inch boards, on stout
ioists, morticed and bolted, and is
eleven feet square. It is SUPP orted by
six eight-inch uprights in addition to
those supporting the cross-beam.
About three and half feet above the
platform there is surrounding rail.
The trap is five feet square, framed in
the center Of the platform, and is flush
with it. 1t is attached to the platform
by two heavy strap hinges, and is held
in place by the ends of the U-shaped
iron. At the bottom Of the iron is at
tached small but strong rope passing
over the pulley at the back Of the struc-
ture intoa box about four inches square,
through which the rope runs into on q
of the cells, where some person, un-
known to outsiders at the signal from
the warden (usually motion with a
handkerchief), gives the fatal pull. The
platform is reached BY flight Of steps
with railing on either side. To COM
plete the structure and make it ready
for use, it is necessary that the rope
should be attached and the hinges oiled
For single hanging it is custom
ary to use o rope of manila seven
eighths of an inch in diameter and thirty
feet long. It is not the custom here.
as in some cities, to use rope specially
made for the purpose and have it pre-
pared outside the building, for the Off
GERS of the jail here are always equal to
the occasion. In fact, with the excep-
ton of the manufacture Of the rope
and the iron, the structure has been
made in the building. There are on
hand now several ropes purchased for
hanging purposes, and recently several
have been received at the jail contrib
uted by persons anxious to have them
tried on Guiteau. When it is necessary
to rig the scaffold rope will be select
ed and the hangman's knot will be
made by one OF the guards, who is quite
an expert at it. Then it will be run
through the center hole Of the cross
beam, thence to the side, passing down
one of the uprights to cleat on the
side, where it will be made fast. Gen
orally the slack is four to six feet, and
commencing near the knot the rope is
for three or four feet anointed with
soap, that it may slip easily. In
some parts Of the country tai
low or other grease is used, but General
Crocker and his associates prefer the
soap. There is also on hand full sup
ply OF small rope to use in pinioning
the arms and legs of the victim of the
law, and black caps to draw over his
face. It is customary to rig the rope
the day before the execution, and test
it by letting drop bag of sand weigh
ing from thirty to fifty per cent. more
than the doomed man. Never having
met with an accident OF mishap in hang
ing, the jail officials look on this test as
useless; but it is always made as pre-
caution. To make sure, however, OF
carrying out the sentence within the
hours specified therein usually two
hours being allowed), the prisoner is
brought in on time to allow fifteen or
twenty minutes for services prior to the
trap being sprung, and with thirty
minutes or more to spare beside. Thus
should there be mishap Of any kind,
there would still be ample time to pre-
pare and rig another rope if necessary.