Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-08-14

When the cup hid been adjusted and
clamped in place, Kemmler said: ooh,
you'd better press that down further,
guess. Press that down. So the head
piece was unchanged and pressed
further down. While it was being
done Kemmler said: 'sWell, 1 want to
do the best can. I can't do any better
| than that"
Warden Durston took in his hand the
leather harness which was to be adjust
ed to Kemmler's head. It was muzzle
Of broad leather straps, which went
across the forehead and the chin of the
| man in the chair. The top strap pressed
down against the nose of Kemmler un.
til it lattened it down slightly over his
face.
While the straps were being arranged,
Kemmler said to the warden and his as
sistant: ''Take your time. Don't be in
hurry. Be sure that every thing is all
| right"
The door leading into the room where
the switches were arranged was partly
open A man stood in the doorway.
Beyond him were two other men
Which of them was to touch the lever
and make the connection with the chair
was not known. Warden Durston says
it will never be known
The dynamo in the machine shop was
running at good speed and the volt
meter on the wall registered little
more than 1000 volts Warden Durston
/ turned to the assembled doctors-those
Immediately around the execution chair
and asked: do the doctors say it's
all right?"
Hardly a minute had elapsed since
the adjustment of the straps. There
was no time for Kemmler to have weak
ened even if his marvellous courage had
not been equal to the test of further de-
| lay. But there is no fear that he would
| have lost courage. He was as calm in
the chair as he had been before he en-
tered the room and during the progress
of his confinement by the straps, which
| him close.
| AT the warden's question, g DR.. Fell
| stepped forward with a long syringe in
his hand, and quickly, out deity, wet
ted the two sponges which were at the
electrodes-one on top of the head and
the other at the base of the spine. The
water which fhe put on them was i'm
pregnated with salt
DR.. Spitzka' then answered the war
den's question with a sharp Cali right
which was heard by others about him.
Ready" said Durston again, and then
goodbye"
He stepped to the door and at the
opening said to some one in the next
room, but to whom will probably never
be known with certainty: every thing
is ready
In almost immediate response, and
as the stop watches in the hands of
some of the witnesses registered 6:431<,
the electric current was turned on.
There was sudden convulsion Of the
frame in the chair. A spasm went over
it from head to foot, confined by the
| straps and springs that held it firmly so
| that no limb or other part of the body
stirred more than small fraction of an
| inch from it's resting place.
DR.. Mcdonald held stop watch in
his hand and as the seconds flew by he
noted their passage. DR.. Spitzka, too,
looked at the stop watch and as the
seventeenth second expired he cried
out: o''Stop." STOP" cried the other
voices about.
| The warden turned to the doorway
and called out ''stop'' to the man at the
| lever. quick movement of the arm
| and the electric current was switched
on There was Relation of the body
40 oAAO OA1AA oAAS4O 1CAdAd
the straps held it so firmly that there
was not quarter of an inch variation in
the position Of any part of the frame
The attending experts pronounced the
man dead, but closer examination
showed signs of life and Dr. Spitzka
cried out: Turn the current on in
stantly. This man is not dead"
The operator sprang to the button and
gave sharp, quick signal There was
a rapid response. but, quick as it was, it
was not quick enough to anticipate the
signs of what may or may not have been
reviving consciousness.
AS the group of horror-stricken witt
nesses stood helplessly by, all eyes fixed
on the chair, Kemmler's lips began to
drip spittle and in moment more his
chest moved and from his mouth came
a heavy sound, quickening and increas-
ing with every respiration-if respira-
ton it was.
There was to be no mistake this time
about the killing. The dynamo was
run up to its highest speed and again
and again the full current of 2, 900 volts
was sent through the body in the chair
How long it was kept in action no one
knows. To the excited group of men
about the chair it seemed an intermin-
| 1ble life.
The current was applied until there
was no possible chance that Kemmler
still lived. It was turned off thirteen
minutes after the first shock was ap-
piled.
Kemmler was dead.
THE AUTOPSY.
AUBURN, N. Y, Aug. THE results
of the autopsy on the body of Kemmler,
held three hours after death, were made
public last night and is voluminous and
| technical.
The body was we'll nourished and the
skin had but few marks. The abrasion
on the finger.was caused by clinching
of the nails when the shock came. But
few drops of !blood escaped. There was
superficial burn on the head where
the cup rested. A portion of the
skin over che spine about three
inches wide was badly burned
On making an incision of the skin
nothing remarkable was noticed. The
lungs were full of air and the air cell
relaxed The. diaphragm was normal, but
the kidneys were congested. Several
emissions took place at the time of the
| shock.