New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-17
PRICE THREE CENTS.
DEATH BY ELECTRICITY,
A DECIDED DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
ABOUT CURRENTS
INTERESTING TESTIMONY AS TO THEIR Krn:


ING PoWER-TELLING OF EXPERIMENTS
The kemmler reference case has brought out q
remarkable difference Of opinion among electrical AZ
perts to whether a current OF electricity can n.
produced that Will prove fatal 10 a human being In
every instance. The witnesses introduced by thu
attorney Tor hemmer declare II 10 be their opinion -
the result OF study of many years. that such cur
rent cannot be generated by any dynamo that has vet
been made while the experts introduced by the other
sde arc equally positive that the alternating
VIII accomplish the object. The testimony yesterday
was again OF the nature to leave an ordinary listener
In great doubt as 10 whether death by electricity was
certain In every case not Dr. Frederick Peterson
the hrst witness called one OF those who believed
thst current that would be fatal In every instance
could be produced. DR. Peterson is a specialist on
nervous and mental diseases and has made an ex-
ensive study Of the effect Of electricity on the human
body He said that he had used both the alternating
and continuous currents his patients. and found
the former most dangerous. 1t was 50 painful, In
fact, that he rarely used IT, and when he did, he
never applied the eectrode to the head as IL causd
dizziness and nausea
DR.. Peterson was present at some Of Harold p.
BROWNS experiments on dogs, calves and horses at
the Edison laboratory at Orange " j. and also at
Columbia College. He had dssected some Of the dogs
that had been killed. and found that their blood was
Of dark color and that some Of the nerves and
capillary vessels had been broken. he did not be-
lieve that any knew Just how electricity caused
DEATH but only knew that its action both mechani.
cal and chemical as paralyzed the nerves, stopped
the circulation and respiration, and made change
in the character Of the blood. In the case OF tho
dogs that were experimental on by Mr.. Brown, death
was painless in every instance and IL only when
a current not strong enough to be fatal passed
through them that they howled and gave other evi-
dences of being hurt.
The current in an electrical execution would be
dfused throughout the whole body, said the witness
and there would be no danger of its passing down
side only. II the electrodes were applied in
cordance with scientific principles, the flesh Of
the criminal would not be burned. AS the velocity
of electric current infinitely greater than that
of force, Dr. Peterson believed that the con-
demned man would lose consciousness at once, and
death would be entirely painless. current with a
force Of ampere would be fatal He thought that
10 man could be found whose resistance, when his
skin mostened was over 10000 ohms and
thought, the conclusion of the best authorities,
that $500 ohms was the average resistance of men.
John II. Noble, electrical expert in the employ
Of the Westinghouse Company, next called TO tho
stand by Charles S. Hatch, who represented kemmler
in the absence of W. Bourke Cochran. The witness
gave account Of shock that he had received from
a current of about 1000 volts The current had
passed from hand TO another, and the only In
juries he had received few burns that
well III d lew WtthS MI. NODle Usbucu uldL W tet-
inghouse dynamos such TO be used In ex-
ecutions are built give maximum voltage Of
1850. 1t was possible, by increasing the speed OF
the armature the current up to 1900 or 1,4Oo
volts but beyond that the utmost danger followed,
the armature likely TO be torn TO pieces by the
centrifugal force. From his experience elec-
trician, he knew of dynamo that would produce
current that would kill a man in every Instance
The last witness who examined yesterday,
Francis W. Jones, chief electrician and assistant gen.
eral manager Of the Postal Telegraph and Cable Com
pany, gave some exceedingly valuable testimony about
the variations in the resistance of human beings as
shown by Wheatstone bridge. This point Is OF
great Importance. the strength of current equals
the electro motive force divided by the resistance
Consequently If the resistance Of the criminal is large
enough a current of the Kind be used will not be-
fatal. Mr. Jones told OF a number of measurements
made both himself and others with the Wheastono
bridge to find out resistances. By passing curreno
from a single cell through himself from hand to hand.
le found his re stance TO lie $4,000 otms. monlens
later, when current ten times as strong was used,
his resistance was only $1,000 ohms, and few
minutes later only 81, 900 ohnS, when current rom
a single cell again used
BY varying the points of contact and the number
Of cells even greater variations were found. Mr..
Jones also measured the resistance of nine other men.
I'm those cases passn. the current from the top of tho
head to the feet IL is proposed to do In the ex-
ecutions by electricity. Here, too, he found the
greatest diversity, mans resistance decreasing
IRON 600 Ohms when current Of one volt was
used to : ,l20 Ohms, when one Of twenty volts was
employed. Il had read" said Mr.. Jones. that
500 ohms was mans average resistance but my
tests showed this be wrong calculation. II, as
Dr. Peterson says one aEipee IS needed 10 Kill, it
would require as many volts TO make fatal current
as the criminal has ohms OF resistance. Therefore
do not think that you could generate an absolutely
fatal current, for a with resistance OF 10000
ohms would need a current with a voltage OF 10000
to Kill him, and it IS entirely out OF the question 10
produce current with pressure as great ds mdt
The variation in the resistance Of different men at
tribute to the state of their blood, which Is the only
subst ance the body that is even fair conductor
of electricity. Water itself is poor conductor, but
the salt iron and other substances In the blood cause
II 10 become good conductor. II the blood Is uch
IN these substances, the mans resistance becomes
less
The hearing will 60 on to-day at 10 a. IN.