Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-07-06

there was Ll6 CLICK OF Tile Doll, the trap
dropped, and the dull sound which al
ways accompanies such an event, ech
Oed with more than usual force through
the corridors of the Jail. There was
OoNvULsIvE MOVEMENT OF THE FEET.
a slight drawing up of the shoulders, but
the contortions last only second. As
the sound of the falling body rang
through tho corridors and rotunda of
the Jail wild yell, accompanied by
beating of pans and rattling of cell doors,
came from the prisoners occupying the
cells at the farther end of the prison. 1t
was soon hushed, however, by the guards.
After the body had hung for three min
utes the executioner, Mr.. Strong, gently
lowered it within the reach. of the ply
sicians who stood underneath the gal
lows and they at once commenced to
take the dead mans pulse. At the end
of seventeen minutes the condemned
man was pronounced dead. There was
some little doubt at first as to whether
his neck had been broken. The knot
had slipped around from the ear to the
back of the neck, and it was said he had
strangled to death. A physician, how
ever, raised the black cap partially and
the face was seen to possess its natural
color, and this theory was at once aban-
dOned, and the closer examination with
in few minutes proved the neck to
have been dislOcated and death to have
been practically instantaneous. At II
minutes past o'clock, the body having
hung 35 minutes, an order was given to
lower it, and it was taken from the
moose and placed in the coffin. Beyond
a slight red mark around the neck there
was not the slightest appearance to show
that the assassin had not lain down in
his coffin and gone to sleep. AS soon as
the body was coffined Warden Crocker
mounted the steps of the galiows and
announced that all those who desired to
see the remains could pass through, un-
der, the gallows, behind the tier of cells,
and out by the northwest corridor. The
Gordon of police then gave way, and the
crowd surged forward and spent some
moments in a morbid examination of
the remains. John w. Guiteau was be-
side the coffin and, with his hat, engaged
in keeping the flies from the face of the
dead man. BY his side stood DIR. Hicks,
who ministered SO faithfully to the as
sassin's spiritual wants, and surrounding
him were the physicians who were
awaiting the hour of the autopsy. AT
so o'clock, the crowd having satisfied
its curiosity, had practically cleared the
space under the gallOws, and the lid of
the coffin was placed upon it, and four
stalwart artillery men placed it upon
their shoulders, and carried it up to the
chapel. No one was admitted to the
chapel except four of the physicians, the
warden, DR.. Hicks, the Marshal, and
John w. Guiteau.
AT 2 As o'clock such of the physicians
as had been invited, and such friends of
the deceased and officials as were au-
thorized to be present, gathered in the
chapel, where the
AUTOPSY TOOK PLACE.
Marshal Henry, who had refused to be
pressnt, surrendered his pl,ice to DR..
Reyburn, one of the physicians who at
tended Gen. Garfield last summer. The
autopsy was conducted by committee
of resident physicians, consisting of
Doctors Sewers, Hardigan, and Lamb.
The examination was made to deter .
mine, first, the cause of death and, Sec
ond, the condition of the principal or
gans. 1t was fo und that the neck had
not been broken, and that
DEA TIL HAD RESULTED FROM sTRANGU-
LATIoN.
There was found rupture of the ster-
no clido mastoid muscles ON each side
of the neck, and of the thyro nyood
membrane and muscles, but there was
no dislOcation or fracture of the cere-
bral vertebre. A thorough autopsy was
Ia Of ha hac iaf
nation of the brain and the abdominal
cavities. The brain was found to weigh
49X ounces, and as far as could be de-
termiHed in a perfectly healthy condi-
tion. To the eye it presented no indica-
.tiOn of disease, neither were there any
evidences of disease in the condition of
the heart or lungs except slight thick
ening of the coat of the aorta in the first
mentioned organ. The examining ply
sicisns removed the brain and have
placed it in alcohol to harden. To-
morrow they will make miscroscopical
examination of this organ to determine
the proportion of white and gray matter
and the nature of the deposits to see if
there is any Inflammation. The brain
of the assassin will be preserved in some
museum. His body is being embalmed
tonight by DR.. Shepherd of the Army
Medical museum. At the close of the
autopsy the body was left in the chapel
until tomorrow, when it will be remev-
ed for burial. The place of intermeut
has not been made public as 1t is DR..
Hicks intention not to give the body
snatchers an opportunity to desecrate it
by giving general information as to its
location.
Among the spectators of the execu-
tion was DR.. G. L. Porter, the physician
who attended Lincoln's murderers du-
ring their confinement at the arsenal,
and was present ut their subsequent ex
eoution. He also attended DR.. Mudd
and others to the Dry Tortugas, where
they were sent to be imprisoned. He is |
a resident of Bridgeport, Connecticut, |
and became quite prominent short |
time since by his experience in directing |
the use of galvanizing resuscitator upon |
the body of Hoyt, the murderer, who |
was hung there some three months since |
After the execution this afternoon there |
was general rush for the scaffOld to |
secure relics, and half dozen persons |
were engaged like rats in tearing off |
splinters from various portions of the |
structure, while not few succeeded in |
obtaining small bits of the cord which |
confined the limbs of the assassin or the
rope which broke his neck.
Tonight Rev. DR.. Hicks said in con-
yersation: "Guiteau's body will be en-
balmed after the surgeons have dismiss.
ed their work, and then it will be buried,
but the spot has not yet been determin.
ed upon. 1t may be at the Jail, and l
should not be surprised if this location
was decided upon; but wherever it is,
you can rest assured that it will be Sc
cure. The prisoners greatest fear was
that some body-snatcher would get pos
session of his remains and exhibit them
around the country. Nearly his last re-
quest to me was that should see that
such an event should not happen, and l
shall andeay ayor to the hest of NV ability |