Arizona silver belt., 1889-02-02
Death by Electricity The sew Lav Of Sew
 York.

ical change in the administration of ths ultimate penalty will probably give rise to delays in the administra- ten sf justice. Certain clauses in the constitution will affsra the counsel of criminals on trial fer murder pretext for holding the law unconstitutional. Assuming tho constitutioAalty of the law to bs perfect and proved, are ths shsrifls asd prison officials of tbs State prepared te inhict the punishment? The very crndsness of hanging brought it within the scope of the commonsst type sf executioner. But the new method deals with one of the most refined and least understood sciences. Experiments have already been made upon dogs and other ami mals A wide variation in personal coehicisnts of resistance and suscepti- biliiy to the current hss bssn feuad to exist in them. The eonditisu of the skin is the predominatiug cause of the first variation. A man whose bady IS warm fron exercise aad who has strong perspiratery action viii be of lower resistance than when the skin IS dry. Again, the effect sf the current will vary according ts the nkrsaus condition of the subject. This Is RI slssisat which can Hot be iH- cluesd n experiments on lower ami mals. X criminal led to execution may be in state of nervous teusisn that will very seriously medity the ep- sration sf sisctric shock < perfect sad certain method for the electrical staying oi humaa bsngs has not yet bean evolved. Every priSsn whera the law iscatriea ont must bs sGpeheG
 with ths most perfect electrical plsni. Every connection musi ls of the hest, ard all must bs kept in perfect srder. The effects 9f disuse, tbs hardest sf ali deteriorat!ag causes 10 com bat ia their influence upon machinery. must be guarded against. All tbis apparatus may stand idle from year to year, only to be used on the rare occasions of an execution. To apply and run the ap- paratus and to inspect every detail, skilled electrician vlll be required. The voltage must be accurately deter mined, the number of aItsrnations of current per second must be known, if the alternating current is to be used, and the resistance Of the person ts be killed should Le determined. There should be nc chance eff a failure, and all must bs definite and known. Itrs- mains 10 bs seen whether competent psrssn will undertake duty te which
 some measure of oaium will inevita- bly attach. The successor of the pres ent hangman can be depended on to make the fatal contact, but that IS all. { The electrodes must bs attached to the person by or directly under the superintsndeDes of ths electrician. The struggles of the prisoner. by dis- turbiDg the position of the electrodes. may brlBg about the nest deplorable results. As 1t is now, far toe many executions by hanging fail in the end of quickly killing with little suffering
 But where the vastly more coaplica. ted mechanism of an electric plant is depended on, the possibilities of fail ure are largely multiplied. Death
 has bsen administered to degs by sui.
 location in coal-gas with perfect sue- cess. This death, as far as can be known, IS absolutely painless. The writer has several times been rendered totally inseusibls hy lnhaling gas, and can testify to the efficacy of the anas- tkssia produced. Under its influence 2 perfect relapse into unesnscious- ness ensues, the last memory of events being clear and unclouaed. Some such msthod eff intiioting the death penalty would seem far ia Advance of ths the electric process. There would De quick and painless unconscious ness, and the exposure could se so long as to insure fatal result. It eenld be applied la an ordinary cell, with no special apparatus, and could even be apphsd to the criminal while sleeping. It would, above all, be in- !, fallihle and certain, and would not mar or defscs the body. The latter is always liable ts happen with electric fly. But the law has been passed and no provision has been msds to carry it cut. Apparatus IS not provided, ns competent specialists have been ap. pointed to superiateni is adminis- tratien, and in the present state of affairs ths present law appears to amount 10 little more than an indif- mite suspension of the death penalty fer murder = Scientific AmerlcaH.
 The King of the Sandwich Islands {, p si