Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-09-12
EXECUTION BY ELECTRICITY

The New Method of Killing Grim
fnals More Painful than Boiling
In Molten Lead.
1.-THE enforcement OF the death PEN
atty by means Of electric currents
would not only be agonizing beyond
conception, but would also be blrbar-
GUS in the extreme" This is the de-
liberate opinion of Myron Law, super
intendent OF the electrical department
OF the Brush Electric company of this
city, says the Philadelphia Record.
lie was talking recently OF the COM
Ing electric execution OF the murderer
Kemmle at Buffalo.
Mr.. Law proceeded to give some in
teresting facts to demonstrate the
ruth OF the conclusion at which he
had arrived. "Any person." said he,
''who Is thoroughly acquainted with
an electric current could not possibly
have any other idea than this. 1t is
absurd to claim that execution by cleo
tricity Is less painful than hangin q,
that 1T would be instantaneous in its
effects, or that it would do away with
any repugnant features OF our public
executions"
''ln the first place death by
electricity is not painless. Ii angling,
throat-cutting, the guillotine, shooting,
burning to death in motion lead or in
furnaces are painless executions when
compared with that by electricity.
Let me cite few instances OF the pain
felt by those who have received Sc we're
electric shocks. Six years ago one of
my men named John Smith cut an
electric wire which he thought TO be
dead This was on Eighth street, be-
tween Sansam and Walnut. Standing
on the ladder, with one hand he
grasped the ruptured wire, which fed
forty-eight lamps and had q current OF
2, 200 volts passing through it With
the other hand he held by means of
plyers tho other end OF the wire. I'm
mediately he made the most heart
rendering screams for help. His hands
were rivited fast and his whole body
was undergoing most terrible contor-
tions.
THE electric current OF 2,20O volts
strength was passing through his body
and pinned him to the spot We threw
a rope over his hands and jerked him
from his perilous position. Both OF
his hands were burned terribly and
his whole system was shattered. When
he had sufficiently recovered a few
days later TO be able 10 talk intelli-
gently he said that his sufferings were
terrible beyond description.
another man in our employ once
received the full force OF current of
several hundred volts. In removing
his hands from the wire one OF his fin
gers dropped off, having been burned
almost to a crisp by the current.
During the accident his face showed
in frightful manner intense pain anS
his body was in a constant trcmor.
"Of course, electricity can instan-
taneously kill a person, but in that in
finitessimally small space OF time of
the transition from life to death the
person will suffer inconceivable pain.
Although the speed OF electricity is at
the rate OF 286, 900 miles per second
the killing can not be so instantaneous
as TO preclude all pain. Every parti-
Gle OF the nervous tissue is polarized
and polarization causes CHI particle
OF matter to revolve on its axis. which
means the stretching OF tho nerves out
Of all proportion and consequently the
most intense pain. But the great
fault with execution by electricity is
that it is almost impossible to ascer-
tain just how strong a current will kill
a man instantaneously and yet not be
a barbarous mode OF killing. II the
current be but a few volts stronger
Than that required to instantly exc
cute a certain person the consequent
ces would be terrible. 1t would dis
igure the body beyond recognition
and would disintegrate every portion
of the corpse.
Should the current be just trihe
100 weak TO execute a person it would
throw him into a trance so death-like
hat it is probable that the body
would be buried alive. So in order TO
'educe this new mode OF execution to
! practical scientific working the
Imount OF resistance in each body
would have to be previously tested
'efore any approximate idea could be
cached as 70 how strong a current
would surely kill without disfguring
r. disintegrating the body or throwing
he body into a trance. But even If
his desideratum is found, there might
e some hitch or slight fault in the
lectrical apparatus which would
poll everything"