The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-08-16
AN AWFUL TORTURE.
Some of the Horrors OF killing Criminals
by Electricity.

by Electricity.
"Tho enforcement OF the death pen.
atty by means Of electric currents would
not only be agonizing beyond concep-
tion, but would also be barbarous In
the extreme" This is the deliberate
opinion Of Myron Law. superintendent,
Of the electrical department OF the
Brush Electric Company Of this city.
Mr. Law proceeded TO give some in
teresting facts to demonstrate the truth
OF the conclusion at which he had ar
rived. Amy person" said he, "who
is thoroughly acquainted with an cleo
trio current could not possibly havo
any other idea than this. IL Is absurd
10 claim that execution by electricity
Is less painful than hanging, that IL
would be instantaneous In It's effects.
or that IL would do away with any re-
pugnant feature Of our public exccu-
| tions.
"In the first place death by cleo
tricity is not painless. Hanging.
throat-cutting, the guillotinc. shoot
ing, burning TO death in molten lead or
in furnaces are painless executions
when compared with that by cleo
tricity. Let mo cito few instances OF
the pain felt by those who have re-
ccivcd severe electric shocks. Six
weeks ago one OF my men, named John
Smith. cut an electric wire which ho
thought 10 be dead This was on
Eighth street between SAMSON and
Walnut Standing on the ladder. with
one hand he graspcd the ruptured
wire, which fed fOrty-cight lamps and
had n current Of 2 200 volts passing
through il. With the other hand no
held by means Of plyers tho other end
OF the wire. Immediately he made tho
most hcartrcnding screams for help.
His hands were riyctcd fast and his
whole body was undergoing most tor
riblc cOntOrtiOns.
"Iho electric current OF 2,2O) volt,
strength 8 was passing through his body
and pinned him TO the spot We throw
n rope over his hands aud jcrkcd him
from his perilous position. Both OF
his hands were burned terribly, and
his whole system was shattered
When he had sufficiently recovered
few days later To be able to talk intel
ligently he said that his suiTcrings
were terrible beyond description.
Another man in our employ onco
received the full force OF current OF
several hundred volts. In removing
his hands from tho wire one OF his
fingers dropped Off, having been burn
ed almost To n crisp by the current.
During the accident his face showed in
"A afrighiful manner intense pain, and his
body was In constant trcmor.
"Of course, electricity can instan-
tancously kill II person. but in that in
linitesimally small space OF timo OF
the transition from life TO death the
person will suffer incOnccivable pain.
Although the speed Of electricity Is Mt
the rate Of 2SG, 900 miles per second.
the killing can not be so instantano-
Gus as to preclude all pain. Every
particle Of the nervous tissue is pol
arizcd, and polarization causes each
particle OF matter To rovolvo on its
axis, which means the stretching Of
the nerves out of all proportion. and
consequently the most intense pain.
But the great fault with execution by
electricity is that it is almost impossi-
bic To ascertain just how strong cur
rent will kill man instantanoously
and yet not ba II narbarous modo OF
killing. If the current be but few
volts stronger than that required TO In
stantly execute n certain person the
consequences would be terrible. 1t
would disiigurc the body beyond roo
ognitiOn, and would dsintcgratc cvory
portion of the corpse.
SHOULD the current bc just trino
too weak to execute II person II would
throw him into trance 40 dcath-Hko
that 1t Is probable that the body would |
be buried alive SO, In order to reduce
this new mode Of execution To prac.
teal scientific working. the amount OF
resistance in each body would have TO
be previously tested before any APP
proXimato idea could be reached ~ To
how strong u current would surely kill |
disiiguring or disintegrating |
the body or throwing the subject into
"A trance. But even il this dosidoratum
is found there might be some hitch or
slight fault in the electrical apparatus
which would spoil svory thing Phil.
adclphia Record.