The morning call., 1890-08-07

leather harness which was to be adjusted
| to Kemmler's head. 1t was the muzzle of a
| broad leather strap which went across the
was pressed down against the nose of
| Kemnler until 1t flattened it down slightly
over his face. The harness was put in
| place and DR.. Spitzka, who was standing
near the chair, said, God bless you, Kemm-
| ler," and the condemned man answered,
"Thank you," softly.
THE DYNAMO STARTED.
The door leading into the room where the
switches. we're arranged was partly open.
| A man stood in the doorway. Beyond him
there were two other men; which one of
them was to touch the lever and make the
connection with the chair was not known.
Warden Durston said it never will be
| known. The dynamo in the maehine-shop
was running at good speed. The Warden
| turned to the assembled doctors and those
Immediately around the execution chair
and said: :" Do the doctors say it is al.
| Tlght?' Hardly minute had elapsed since
the adjustment of the straps. There was
| no time for Kemmler to have weakened
| then If his marvellous courage had not been
| equal to the test Of further delay. but there
| is no fear that he would have lost courage.
| He was as firm in the chair as before he en-
tered the room.
THE DEADLY CURRENT.
l AZ IllG w uuCotiOn Dls Il ali otCp pbCu
| forward with lOng syringe in his hand
and deity wetted The two sponges which
were at the electrodes, one on the top of
the head and the other at the base of the
| spine. The water which he put on them
| was impregnated with salt.
DR.. Spilzka answered the Warden's Ques-
tiOn with the shout "All right p' which
| was echoed by the others about him.
Ready" said Durston again, and then
" "Good-by.'" He stepped to the door and
through the opening said to some one
In the next room, Everything is
ready" There was an almost immediate
response. ana at 6:431@ o'clock the electric
| current was turned on. There was q sud
den CONFUSION Of the frame in the chair.
spasm went over Kemmler from head to
! foot, which was confined by straps and
| springs that held him firmly, so that no lin b
or other part of the body stirred more than
a small fraction of an inch from its resting
place. The twitching that the muscles of
! the lace underwent gave 1t Tor moment an
expression of pain, but no cIy escaped from
| the lips, which were free to move at will,
and no sound came forth to suggest that
consciousness lasted more than an infnitesi-
NAL fraction of second beyond the calcula-
tiOn OF the human mind.
A RIGID POSITION.
The body remained in rigid position
for seventeen seconds. The witnesses,
who remained seated up to this moment
now came hurriedly forward and sur
rounded the chair. There was no move
ment OF the body beyond the first convul-
sion. 1t was not pretty sight--this man
| in his shirt-sleeves, bound hand, foot, body
and even his head, with heavy frame
work pressing down on the top OF the skull.
DR.. Mcdonald held Il stop-w atch in his
hand, and as the seconds flew by he noted
their passage. SpitZka looked at the stop
watch, and as ten seconds expired he cried.
''StopT ''StOpP cried the other voices
kanNnF 4,
way and called out ''Stopi" to the man at
the lever. A quick movement and the cleo
trie current was switched off. There was a
relaxation of the body on the chair. '' He
is dead" said Spitza calmly.
SIGN OF LIFE.
DR.. Batch was bending over the body,
looking at the exposed skin. Suddenly he
rupture" In moment Drs. Spitzka and
Mcdonald had bent over and were looking
where Batch was pointing at a little red
spot on the hand that rested on the right
arm of the chair. The index finger of the
hand had curved backward as the muscles
| contracted, and scraped a small hole in the
skin at the base of the thumb on the back
of the hand. There was nothing strange in
this alone, but the little rupture was drop
ping blood.
Turn the cIrrent on instantly; the man
is not dead" cried Spitzka.
Faces grew white ana forms fell back
from the chair.
THE SECOND SHOCK.
The Warden sprang to the doorway and
cried, Turn on the currentI" But the
current could not be turned on. When the
signal TO stop had come, the operator had
pressed a little button, which gave the sig
nal TO the engineer to stop the dynamo.
The dynamo was almost at standstill and
the volt-meter registered an almost imper-
ceptible current. The operator sprang to
the button and gave sharp, quick signal.
There was a rapid response, but il was
not quick enough TO anticipate the signs of
reviving consciousness. As the group of
terror-s tricken witnesses stood helplessly
by, all eyes were fixed on the chair.
Kemmler'S lips began to drip spttle, and
in a moment more the chest heaved and
from the mouth came heavy, stertorOus
sound, quckening and increasing with
every respiration.
A GRoAN.
There were no sounds but that of the
Warden crying to the operator to turn on
the current, aud wheeling noise. A half
groan, which forced itself past the tightly
closed lips, sounded through the still cham
Der with CHASTITY dstinctness. Some of the
witnesses turned away from the sight, and
one tainted II seemed a long time reach
ing the climax. In reality there were but
seventy-three seconds in the interval
which elapsed between the moment when
tne nrsI SOunu issued lIOm tH0 lips Ol
Kemmler until the response to the
signal came from the dynamO-room. 1t
came with the same suddenness that marked
the first shock which passed through kemm-
ler's body. The sound which had hOrrihed
the listeners about the chair was cut off
sharply, as the body once more became
rigid. A Shiny ooZe still dripped from the
mouth and ran slowly down the beard aud
on to his gray vest. There were twitchings
Uf the body as the electricians in the next
room threw the current on and off There
was to he no mistake this time about the
killing
LENGTH OF THE SHOCK.
The dynamo was run up to its highest
| speed, and again the full current was sent
through the body. How long it was kept
| in action no one knows To the excited
| group around the chair it seemed an inter-
mina6le time. Dr. Daniels, who looked at
| his watch excitedly, and who thought he
had IN approximate idea Of the time at
least, said it was four and half minutes in
| all. The Warden's assistant, who stood
over the dynamo. said OH second signal the
machinery ran only three and half min
| utes altogether.
BURNING FLESH.
No one was anxious to give the signal to
| stop. All dreaded the responsibility of
| Offering to the man chance to revive, or
| give again, at least, those appearances of
returning animation which startled and
sickened the witnesses few minutes be-
| fore. AS the anxious group stood silently
watching the body suddenly there arose
from it white vapor. bearing with it a
pungent and sickening Od0r. The body
was burning. Again there were cries to
stop the current" and again the Warden
spraDg TO the door and gave quick order
to his assistants. The current stopped, and
again their was relaxation of the body.
DEAD BEYOND DOUBT.
There was no doubt this time that the
current had done its work, il not well, at
least completely. DR.. Fell, who stood at the
side of the special correspondent of the As
sociated Press, turned and said: Well,
there is no doubt about one thing-the man
never suffered an iOta of pain" In after
consultations other physicians expressed
the same belief. 1t was some mitigation of
| the horrors of the situation to believe this,
but the mitigation was extremely slight,
when it was developed on another point.
THE DOCTORS DISAGREE.
The same doctors disagreed very materi-
| ally. Was Kemmler dead when the chest
mnvpd and the line gave forth thosa stranpp