The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-07-11

people are opposed to the death penalty,
and yet, as a general thing, murderers
are put to death. In a few of the states
of this union the people have abolished
capital punishment and substituted
therefor solitary confinement during
life. This, it is claimed, affords better
protection for the innocent, who are
sometimes convicted o .capital offenses.
Where tried the facts do not indicate
that this method of punishment results
in any p%erceptible increase in the num-
Der of murders committed. The argu-
ments for and against the death penalty
are SO evenly balanced that the people
probably will never be united in opin-
ions upon the subject. AIS
The methods of taking the life of a
condemned man differ in different gov
ernments, but hanging is most com
mon. Strange as it may appear, while
capital punishment Is upheld on account
of its supposed terror to evil disposed
persons, the authorities seek to rob 1t
of all terrifying consequences by re-
lieving the condemned from pain. 1t
is quite a common thing for officers to
deaden the criminals sensibilities by
liberal portions OF liquors or. the use of
drugs. Then the arrangements for
hanging are made with reference to
robbing the gallows Of its power to in
iict bodily suffering. The rope is so
constructed and arranged that the vic
TINS neck will be broken, thereby in
stantly causing death. These methods
tend to rob the gallows of all its terrors
save the disgrace attending such a
death, and the mere ceasing to live.
Executions as now conducted in this
country and elsewhere are little more
to the victim than falling asleep never
to awake.
In France it was formerly the prac-
tice of the exeeutioner 20 cut the head
of the condemned of with q huge axe
prepared for that purpose. The neck,
was placed upon a block, and n blow
would sever the head from the body.
But Joseph l. Guillotin, n French ply
stefan of humane s~ympathies, regarded
this method Of beheading the con
demned as barbarous, and he invented
a machine for doing this work, which
was adopted, and has long been known
as the %guillotine. The victim is placed
upon a slide, his neck resting upon a
beam. This slide, which works by
springs, is instantly put into position
under an o%bliquely edged knife, which
drops with such force as to sever the
neck. 1t is a slight improvement OH
the old method, in appearance rather
than in advantage to the condemned.
In Spain, the garote is used for the
infliction Of capital punishment. This
consists of q collar, made of iron,
which is adjusted about the neck OF the
condemned. 1t is attached to a frame
SO arranged that the victim sits down
when it is adjusted. Once fitted to the
neck and firmly fastened with screws,
the executloner turns an iron screw at
the back of the neck and a sharp point
ed Instrument is thrust into the spinal
marrow, where it connects with the
brain, producing instant death, thus
relieving the criminal of all sense of
pain. FIN#...
In earlier times people studied meth
DDS Of torture rather than release from
pain. In the middle ages the methods
Of taking life in the most revolving
manner possible reached their climax.
The victims were sometimes slowly
roasted at the stake. In the 18th cen
tury, in Italy, the walls of the prison
were so arranged that they gradually,
though imperceptibly contracted. The
prisoner found his quarters gradually
growing smaller, until he had but little
chance to move. Still the process went
on, and from the time he would first
feel the pressure until life was pressed
out of him, days would intervene. This
method was so terrible that the pris-
oners generally became raving maniacs
long before death ensued.
In England, at an early day, they
had what was called 1.-THE Duke of
Exeter's Daughter" a rack OF torture
to which a wlndlass was attached, to
which the limbs of the victims were
fastened. This windlass moved almost
i~nperceptibly, constantly increasing the
tension Of the cords and muscles of the
victims arms and legs until the hands
and feet were pulled of. 1t is difficult
to conceive of a more painful death
than this. Even now, in some cases,
certain crimes are punished by tortur-
ing the victims by breaking the bones
Of their limbs, pulling out their nails,
etc.
The tendency of civilization is against
torture. In very few Instances, and
these in less civilized countries, are
criminals punished by inflicting inju-
ries to their persons, and where life is
taken, the cases are rare in which the
greatest precautions are not taken to
divest the punishment of all physical
pain. This fact tends to substantiate
the belief that as time moves forward
and men move upward in the scale of
civilization, capital punishment may be
abolished, though this is by no means
certain. 1t cannot be claimed that
those who oppose that extreme penalty
are wiser or better than those who favor
it. 1t is a question of governmental