Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-08-14


Ter took h is seat he began to speak in
short, quick periods. Now, gentle
men," he said, this is William Kemm-
Ter. l have warned him that he has got
to die, and if he has any thing to say he
will say it,"
AS the warden finished, Kemmler
looked up and said, in high-keyed
voice, without any hesitation, and as
though he had prepared himself with
the speech: well, l wish every one
good luck in this world, and | think |
am going to good place, and the papers
has been saying lot of stuff that ism t
so. That's all l have to say" With
the conclusion Of the speech he turned
his back on the jury, took off his coat
and handed it to the warden. This
disclosed the fact that a hole had been
cut from the band of the trousers down,
so as to expose the base of the SPINE
When his coat was off, Kemmler turned
in the direction of the door through
which he had come into the room and
began to unbutton his vest. At the
same time the warden was drawing the
Interfering drapery of his shirt through
the hole in the trousers and cutting it
off so as to leave the little surface
of flesh against which one of the
electrodes was to press absolutely bare.
Warden Durston called attention to the
fact that it was not necessary to remove
his vest, and Kemmler calmly buttoned
it again and carefully arranged his
tie. Don't hurry about this matter"
said the warden. BE perfectly cool. !"
He was perfectly cool. He was by all
odds the coolest man in the room.
Then his tie was arranged, and he sat
down in the electric-chair as quietly as
though he were sitting down to dinner.
Warden Durston stood on the right and
George Vieling, of Albany, on the left.
They began Immediately to adjust the
straps around Reminders body, the con-
demned man holding up his arms so as
to give them every assistance. When
the straps had been adjusted about the
body, the arms were fastened down,
and then the warden leaned over
and parted Kemmler's feet, SO as
to bring his legs near the legs
of the chair. While the straps
were being arranged Kemmler said to
the warden and his assistant: Take
your time. Don't be in hurry Be
sure that every thing is all right"
Two or three times he repeated these
phrases. Warden Durston treasured
him with the remark that it would not
hurt him. and that he (Durston) would
be with him all through. But it was
not fear that Kemmler felt 1t was
rather certain pride in the ex-
actness of the experiment. He seemed
TO have a greater interest in its
success than those who had made the
prepare tions for it and who were watch
ing its progress to its final, fatal con-
clusion. When the straps had been ad-
justed to the body and limbs tho war
den placed his hand on Kemmler's head
and held it against the rubber cushion
which ran down the back of the
chair. kemmler's eyes were turned to-
ward the opposite side Of the room
before they had followed the war
den in his movements. Then the
condemned man made one or two re-
marks in perfectly clear, composed
tone of voice. We'll, l wish every
body good luck" was one of them, and
s'Durston, see that these things are all
right" was another. Deputy Vieling
unfastened the thumb screw which held
the figure '4' at the back of the chair
in place, and began to lower it so that
the rubber cup which held the saturated
sponge pressed against Reminders head.
The warden assisted in the preparation
by holding Kemmler's head.
When the cup had been adjusted aud
clamped in place. Kemmler said: "Oh'