Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-04-23
A TERRIBLE PENALTY
TO BE PAID BY CONVICTED MUIR
DERERs IN NEW YORK STATE.

Desth by electricity may, In tn
actual pang, be less painful thar
that Of hanging, bat the details will
which the law surrounds the new
mode for the execution Of crimi
mails in New York State are abso
lutely terrifying TO contemplate, anc
must fill the soul Of the condemned
criminal with the deepest awe I'm.
less he be absolutely british anc
degraded. l- tlo
What can be the thoughts Of the
man sentenced to death through the
days Of mental agony and unutter.
able anguish preceding the hour OF
execution? The ride from the place
OF trial 10 Sing Sing prison must
have a fresh torture in every mo-
ment Be 1t long or short, il is the
mans farewell communion with
the active, joyous, b0stling world.
Handcuffed and ironed, he views
with despairing eyes the shifts In
the panorama OF life.f Friends meet
and part Strangers Join i'm the chat
tiie traveller loves. fine trim boy
goes through with his wares, and
even he, ordinarily a nuisance,
seems an object Of envy. The cars
whirl by a farm house. In the
meadows at its rear the COWS Craze
IN placid content. How long ago Il
II that the doomed one went 20 call
the cattle home, and ssmotherv
urged his willing little feet to fresh
exertions by the promise OF n bit Of
golden Johnny cake fresh from the
oven on his return?
4 culvert is crossed, and he catch
Is broad and Drawing brook. Was
IL yesterday or years ago that by the
banks Of such a stream he cut n
pole, caught grasshopper and
ilshed contentedly for 'sminnerse''
The broad Hudson smiles back an
answer to the springtirne sun. and a
great steamboat plows its way
through the aiding current to the
not distant metropolis Of the New
World. Was it that or n liner Ike
nnto il that bore him cityward from
his country home In the weIl-re-
membeTed past, with a fathers
words still ringing In his ear and a
mothers kiss and tears still fresh
upon his brow? 49,
The train slaclens, stops; the
cries "S:ng Singh and
the guards pass cut with their cap
tive. The great gates open. He
look his last on earth and sky,
draws in n farewell breath of unpol-
luted air, and stumbles forward
through the gloomy portals. They
shut together with n crash, ana the
taser of human life is thencefcr-
ward as dead to the world as II he
Ia 4 moldered in the grave a hun
lred years. No message from
without can reach him more, no
JersOns save those authorities sof
he law can meet him face TO face.
In silent cell he awaits the end.
md when that Is to come he does
rot know, for the sentence specifies
he week within which the exc
.ution is TO take place, and not the
lay or hour. At some unexpected |
solemn faced messengers |
vii bid him follow TO the chair Of |
Dom; with the deadly metal cap |
pom his head he will take his seat, |
button viii be touch and his crime |
Npiated. The laws rigOr will |
ollOw him even Beyond the tomb,
,r his mortal remains can have no
epulchre with those Of friends or
inbred. Thy must fill an unmarked
nave within the prison walls.
The death chamber at Sing Sing /
) a'One story brick building recently
rected. IL Is about thirty-fige f. ct
luare, and contains five cells.
'hese cells are six feet wide and
light deep, with flOoIs Of cement and
ron barred doors. In one Of these
he condemned murderer must
pend his time between the day Of
sntence and the day Of execution.
{ is only few steps from the cells
D the chair whose embrace Is death.
o this chair the ciIlprit will be
Ound hand and foot. Clsmps, which
Onnect with the wires with one
ole OF the dynamo, will be applied
D his barred feet. a cap or helmet
ill be placed on his head, and TO
le top OF this another wire attaches.
he man becomes part Ofan electric
ircuit, and the pressing Of a button
the necessary tragedy Of
unishment.-IopekG (has.l Daily
dL1.oi.