Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1888-1899, 1889-08-29
An AWFUL TORTURE
ssss's ~ the HsErar- ~ kniing Crisaanaa
hN GlmaarfgfeN

sssas ~ the Hssrsr- ~ kmnnw Crtsal.@as
~ tisstrieity.
The enforcement ~ the death pen
atty by means Of electric currents would
uo' only b. agonizing beyond conoep-
iion. hu' would also bc barharous In
the extreme" This l. the deliberate
opinioa Of Myroh Law. superintendent
- the electrical departman, % the
Brush klectric Company of this city.
Mr law proceeded 10 give some IN.
,rr sting tscts 10 demonstrats the truth
oi the conclusion Al which he had ar
rived. "Any person. " said he. who
i thoroaghly acquainted with an eleo-
tric current could not possibly have
any othef Idea than this ID Is absurd
10 claim thai execution By electricity
y l~s~ painful than hanging. that n
would tc Instantaneous In II. effects.
or that i woald do away with any re-
pls aaui ioataro Of our public oxeca-
tiuus.
In g." Grsi place death by eleo-
tricity b. not painless Hanging.
throai~cNiiing, the guillotine shoot
lna. haFnlag to death In molten lead or
10 faFmmoea are painless executions
shea empared uiih that by elee-
tricity. let me eile few Instances of
the pain felt - those who have re-
cclved ~rvere electric shock. six
ueeks a. ene of my men. named Joha
smlih. 80 an elertric wire which be
thoaght % be dead.' This was on
hlghth 4treet hetwccn SAMSON aud
Walnut tanding on The ladder. with
one hand be KrNsped the ruptured
vire uhteh ed forty lght lamp- and
bad euFrwnt ~ 2,a0 volts passing
through a With the other hand he
heia by means - plyers the other end
= The wlfxA immeiiaiely he made the
most heaFtrenainR scream. for help
His haaaa were riveted fast aud Bis
vhoie hoay wss undergoing most ter
rihle eoutortiens
Tie electric egrrcnt Of a.2OD volts
streawth wa2 tasslng through his body
and pinned hius ia tho spot We threw
a rope over HE hands aud ierkod him
from hI- perilous position. Both 81
hts hands were burned terribly. aud
hi- whole system was shattered.
When he bad sufficiently recovered a
few days later a. be- ahlo 20 talk intel.
ligcntly b. said that Ms suaoriugs
we're terrible beyond description.
"Anoiher man Ia our employ once
received the full force ~ a current oi
several handrcd volts IN removing
his hands from the viro one oi hl.
fingers dropped OF. havlnR been bura-
81 almost to a crisp by the current
During The accident bis face showed In
a irighlful manner intense pain. and his
body wns in a constant trcmur
''of course. electricity can instaa-
tano0usly an q parsoa. bat IN that la
haitsssinally small spaoe Of time u
the iFAnaition frosn liie b death tho
perHon vii saifor lneonceiyahle pain.
Although ihs speed ~ electricity i al
ths rmsA y aise go mAe- peg sscoul.
The ktillnw ean not b. % instantane-
Gus ~ - preciads ali paia Every
fartiele ~ the nervous tissue l. poll
arizod. aul polarization caus,. each
particle ~ matter to reyolvo on its
axis. which means Tho stretching ot
the nerves out ~ all proportion. and
consequently the most intense pain.
but the great fault with execution by
electricity s that Il l. almost impossl-
BILE ~ ascertain ius, how strong a cur
rent wiil kill a man iustanianeousIy
and yet not he a barbarous mode -
killing II TIE current b. but a few
volts stronger than that required 90 In
stanily execute certain person tho
conseqaencos would b. terrible. II
would disagure the body beyond RE
oauillssa. and would disintograie every
poFsion u ths cart-e
"shoaia iha current h. Just a triaa
too weak 10 execuis a person Il would
throw him Into trAnce - death-like
that y y ptohable thai ths body would
D. harlea ailNn -. In order 10 reduce
this new uo4 u esecutloa 10 a prae-
ticai sefegsi = ssssrkiag. The amount Of
r''sisaMaos laN ! body would have 10
b. pfeTtoua't snsted before any APP
proxlmaae aa$ ceaid be reached a. %
hos strong I &arrent would surely kill
withosa &rlag or disiutegraiing
M body fosing Tho subiect into
q t-amee. KeTea " this desideratnm
!. ioaaa ~ eieht b. some hitch or
slls'hi Z b eiectrieal apparatus
whieh 80 - every thing Phil