St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-06
It Will Be Cut Short by Elee-
tricity, Probably This
Morning.
Only Warden Durston and His
Guests Know the Exact
Hour.
The Condemned Man Is Plueky
and Evidently Does Not
Fear Death.
Convict Crooks Selected to
Pull the Lever and Snuff
Out Life

AUBURN, N. Y, Aug. 5.-By exercise
of an absolute discretion, the prison
warden has added two days to the life
of the condemned murderer, William
Kemmler, and the second day has closed
with clouds and rain. When the sun
rose this morning above the prison
wall its light streamed through the iron
bars of the basement cell and touched
the stone floor in yellow blocks.
Whether the murderer knew that
he will never again see the yellow
sunlight, is not known. Indeed. no
one besides the warden and his guests,
and not all of them, at twilight could
tell when Kemmler's death would come.
The invited guests have been arriving
by trains at intervals during the day.
Among the afternoon arrivals
were DR.. George F. Shrady, of New
York, manager of the POughkeepsie in
sane asylum and editor of the Medical
Record, and DR.. Spitzka, and Deputy
Coroner Jenkins. of New York. After
supper at a hotel all the witnesses,
accompanied by Warden Durston. pro-
ceeded to the prison, where the medical
men Joined in conference as to the time
and method of conducting the autopsy
1t is desired that no question shall arise
as to whether
Electricity or the ScalpeI
killed Kemmler. There can be no doubt
after the death rigor has set in. Again,
a more satisfactory autopsy. may be
made upon body, which has
been some time dead than upon one
inf HicanccQd
as also programme as to what each
medical mans part shall be asking and
during the autopsy. The conference
lasted an hour OF more. After the con-
ference the witnesses, together with
the warden, repaired to the
hotel. DR.. Southwick was among the
first to return to the hotel. "Are you
going to bed, doctor?" asked by
Stander. 81 am, indeed" he replied, and
did. The others were disposed aboutthe
crowded hotel, and at II O'Clock most
all had retired, save a few stragglers
and the newspaper correspondents.
The plain inference from the facts is
that the execution is to take
ing to make retirement an object,
or that it may be postponed
another day. There is not a man In the
house probably who believes the latter
will be the case. All those invited from
out of town must now be here il they
would witness the killing, in case 1t
occurs in the morning hours, for there
| is no train to arrive in any direction
until Z o'clock. The list of those who
Will Witness the Execution
| is as follows: DR.. Carlos F. MacDon-
aid, of New York, chairman of the state
lnnacy commission; DIR. George F.
| Sheady. Of New York; DR.. A. P. South
wick, the father of the cleo
trical execution bill; DR.. George
e. Fell, DR.. G. NJ. Daniels,
DR.. Charles Fowler, of Buffalo; DR.. w.
| |. jenkins. deputy coroner of New
| York: Dr. Louis Balch, secretary of the
state board of health of Albany; DR.. W.
j. Nellis, of Albany; DR.. Henry A.
Argue, of Corning; Hon. Tracy @.
Becker, of Buffalo, the referee who
took testimony on the first appeal as to
the constitutionality of the law; Frank
| w. Mack, of the Associated Press; Rob
| ert Dunlap. of New York; District At
torney Quimby, of Buffalo. who had
| charge of the murderer in Buffalo; G.
r. Huntley, of Buffalo, an electrician.
G. G. Balm. Of the United Press; Drs.
| T. K. Smith, ]. M. jenkins and FL. E.
Allison, of Auburn. This makes
| tWenty-three of the twenty-six:
| the others to be made up
of the ministers or guards at the prison.
| No news comes out of the prison to-
| night as to Kemmler's condition, and in
the hustle of anticipation nobody stops
| to inquire save that he is alive.
| Under the law the warden has named
| Drs. Macdonald and SpitZka as the
| physicians. and DR.. George F. Shrady is
| at the head of the citizens invited at
the discretion of the warden.