Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-06
THE NEW DEATH.
fCbm.fnwed from Fyrss Paos.l


TO be invited to the execution by the wardel
one judge of the supreme bench Of the state
two doctors, two electrical experts and . iury
of twelve persons. These with the warden and
himself and six assistants make up the list Of
twenty-seven.
Ats o'clock this morning there Was Q rappins
ct room doors and . general awakening through
the hotels of Auburn Warden Durston had
left quiet ''call" for his witnesses and they
we're ordered to report at the prison at
o'clock. An hour before their coming Rev
DR.. Houshton and Chaplain Yates appeared
NJ the gate Of the prison and were ad.
mitted. After brief consultation with the
warden they were taken down TO Kemmler's
cell, where the condemned man was already
awake and talking with his keeper. The wit.
nesses N they arrived gathered in the warden's
once. In an inner room DR.. Mcdonald and
DR.. Daniel vent over the instruments and the
parsphernalia for the autopsy. They had been
in conference until o'clock preparing the pre-
hminaries.
TELEpHoSrNe THE NEWS 10 NEW YoRK.
In his dining room on the second floor Of the
prison building Warden Durston had spread a
luncheon and convict prisoners in white caps
and aprons served coffee and sandwiches to the
hungry assemblage. Outside the prison gates
there o constantly augmenting crowd,
which examined each newcomer with curious
interest. Across the street was a group
of newspaper correspondents, two of them
In constant co nmunication with New York
city by telephone, ready to give the world the
signal that the ex >aStion had taken place. The
consultation Of physicians last night did not
determine the program OF the autopsy. Its
details were eft until the last minute In doubt
Warden Durs.on told Dr.. Southwick at 6:i5
that when Kemmler was dead he would
determine what was TO be done with
the body. The warden had not announced the
time for the execution to take place, but
-
occur before the prisoners had been let out of
their cells early in the morning. The prisoner.
Kemmler. WAS supposed to be in ignorance Of
the time fixed until the warden should sum-
mon him from his cell to enter the execution
chamber. But the little murderer was
his guards that IL had been
the intention to execute him early in the morn
ing Of some day in the frst part Of the week
last April. He had felt from the time that
ficted on Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
Monday Ii could not be, because his good friend
and adviser, DIR. Houghton, hadn't been near
him all through Sunday. and he knew we'll that
il his doom had been immediately impending
Dr. Houghton would have been at his side
So when Tuesday morning broke and the gray
reflected light stole down the little corridor
and no summons came he felt that the last day
OF his life had begun; that he had twenty -four
hours more IN which to prepare himself for the
hereafter. He spent that last day much as he
had spent those Immediately before tin
writing on cards and scraps of paper the mo-
notonous repetition of his name and in talking
with his keepers. Daniel McNaughton, the
keeper who has been with him from the Begin
ming and who frst led his thoughts in the di-
rection of religion, was with him from noon to
midnight.
TALKING ABOUT RELIGIOUS MATTERS.
Kemmler talked with him sometimes about
Ia AZ 81 In ha has tal,
interest. 1.-THE good Daniel, as the murderer.
had been pleased to christen him. was moved
deeply by his childish chatter. A strong friend
ship had grown up between these two men,
different in their dispositions and in their
lives. 1t was no stranger, though, than
the warm interest which had been de-
veloped in the brutal man by Mrs. Durston.
that as the time for the execute Il approached
she was obliged to leave the city to prepare
herself to undergo elsewhere the nervous
shock OF the mans death. So 1.-The good Dam
iel'' and the condemned man sat- and
talked occasionally about religion an some-
times about more commonplace things until
midnight arrived and then the keeper
Joined the watchers in the execu ion room who
we're giving the fatal chair thu laIs touches 1t
stood at one end of tho little square room
lighted from point seven feet from the floor
by two windows looking out directly upon the
road and the railroad station and al. the hustle
of Auburns commercial life. And
through their openings could be
seen the gray dawn whose light the
murderer had not known for more
than month of close confinement. It was not
very formidable object-this chair Of death.
II was built like rough reclining chair, with
out cushions or springs, to make its embrace
more comfortable. Small difference to the
man who was to sit in il whether Its surface was
padded or bare. At the sid.s and on the arms
OF the chair were straps Of heavy leather with
sturdy buckles capable of holding PROSTATE the
most energetic OF struggling men.
IT WAS NOT WEAK cuRRESr.
Mere straps were used to prevent all motion
should the prisoner prove recalcitrant and to
subdue the twitching and commissions that
might, in spite Of theory and experiment. per-
wade the frame flooded by the electric current.
Above the head Of the chair hung rubber cap
containing sponge. The wire by which it
was suspended passed through a wooden figure
clamped to the back of the chair
and made adjustable to any height
above il At the lower part of the back of the
Chair was another cup and sponge. The wire
from these cups ran TO the two poles of the
dynamo, where wire-wound wheels were kent
whirling at rapid speed through most of the
night On their way to the dynamo room they
passed through the voltage meter which hung
on the wall OF the cell and through the
eirenit OF two rows Of incandescent
electric lights that hung on the wall
Of the adjoining room. These incan-
decent lamps, like the voltage meter, were in
tended 10 test the force of the electric current.
And as the electricians swung over the lever
that threw the lamps into circuit with the
Westinghouse dynamo the blaze that illumin-
ated the chamber gave evidence that whatever
faults the electric apparatus might possess O
weak current was not one Of them.
In one corner of the execution room was
small sink and bath tub. This room had been
used 40 a reception room for conviets and here
they had been washed before being put in
prison garb. On the wall directly opposite the
window were several gas and water pipes.
From the center of the ceiling were suspended
two ordinary gas fixtures with double burners
The walls and ceiling had been painted a quiet
gray several months ago and they were still
nssn and clean. The floor was Of rough boards
THR DEADLY LEVERS.
To the right OF the box which held the in
candescent lamps in the next room was lever
eighteen inches long. 1t closed or opened the
circuit in which the lamps we're placed To
the right of this was another lever, like the
nrst IN construction. By its operation the cir.
cult connected with the electric chair was closed
while at the same time the electric lamps were
thrown out Of circnit Ali of this apparatus had
been tested again and again The last touches
which told OF its security and promised faith
fnl performance Of its duty were given less
than twenty-four hours before the time fixed
spon by the warden TO put IL into practical
oPersnon. There was no question In the minds
OF the three electrical experts who looked over
sne SIMPLE mechanism and noted the accuracy