The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-08-07

| play. There was no fear that he would nave
lost courage. He was as calm IN the chair
a. be had been before he entered the room.
and during the process Of his confinement
! by the straps which held him close.
ELECrRoCIDEs WIT.
At the warden's question, DIR. Fell stepped
forward with long syringe IN his hand.
and quickly but denly wet the two sp0nges
which were at the electrodes, one ON 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. >piizka
answered the warden's question with
sharp "all right" which was echoed by
others about him. Ready" said Durston
again, and then goodbye"
EVERYTHING Is READY.
lie stepped to the door, and through tie
opening said 10 some one in the next room.
"Eyerything is ready
THE CURRENT TURNED on.
In almost immediate response, and a. the
stOp-watches in the hands of some OF thr
witnesses registered 6:i3i :. the electric cur
rent was turned on. There was sudden con
vulsion Of the frame in the chair. \ spasm
went over it from head To- foot, confined by
the straps and springs that held IT hrmlN.
80 that no limb or other parts Of the body
stood more than a small fraction Of an inch
from its resting place. The twitching that
The muscles of the face underwent gave to II
for a moment an expression of pain,
NO SOUND.
But no cry escaped from the lips, which
were free TO move at will. No sound came
forth to suggest that consciousness lasted
more than an inhnitesimal fraction of
secOnd-bcyOnd the calculation Of the
human mind. The jury and the witnesses.
who had up to this moment remained
seated. came hurrcdly forward and sur
rounded the char.
There was no movement Of the body be-
yond the first conyulsion. IL was not
pretty sight. this man in his shrt-sleeves,
bound hand. foot. body, and even head,
with heavy frame work pressing down on
the top of his skull.
Dr. Mcdonald held his stOp-watch in his
hand. and as the seconds flew by he noted
their passage DR.. >pitZka. too. looked at
the stop-watch. and, as the tenth second
expired. he cried out. stop! "Stop.
cried other voices about. The Warden
turned to the doorway and called out,
"stOp" tO the man at the lever.
\ quick movement Of the arm ana
the electric current was switched OH. lhcrv
was a relaxation of the body IN the char
A slight relaxation but the straps held II
81 iilllN III lilf AlAll ANhA AAi'A' NN' -,
quarter Of an inch variation In the position
Of any part of the frame. The quiet little
group around the chair grew business-like.
.HE'S DEAD" SAID THE DOCTOR.
"IIe's dead" said Or. Spiizka, calmly.
ION. he's dead" re-cch0ed DR.. Mcdonald.
with firm confidence. The rest of the wit
ncsSes nodded their acquiesencc. There
was no question in the mind Of any one
but that the stiil. upright object before
them was lifoless. This was the programme;
this the inevitable effect.
The next question was: What was to be
done with the bodyy DR.. Spitzka stepped
forward and called attention TO the appear
ance OF the nose, which, he sad, had an
uudoubtod pOst-mOrtem color. No one dis
puted this. DR.. ~pitlka turned around ln
busineSs-likc way. ana pointing 10 the
harness said. "Oh. undo that. Now the
body can be taken TO the hospital The
warden replied that he could not let any Of
the witnesse, 20 until he had their certln-
cafes. All Of this conversation took but
minute Dr. Balch was bending over the
body looking at the exposed skin; suddenly
be- cried out sharply:
"pr. Mcdonald. see that rupture In "a
moment Dr. >piizka and DR.. Mcdonald had
bent over and looking where pr. Balch wa,
pointing at a little red spot on the hand that
index finger of the hand had curved back
ward "A. the neNor muscles contracted. and
had scrapcd "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 what was strange was that the llttle
rupture vas dropping blood.
THE MAN Is Not DEAD.
Turn the current on instantly. this man
is not dead" cried Dr. ~piilka. Faces
grcw white and forms fell back from the
chair. Warden Durst0u sprang 10 the
doorway. and cried. "Iurn ON the current
But the current could not be- turned ON.
When the signal tO stop had come, the
operator had pressed the little button when
gaye the sign % the engineer 10 stop me
dynamo. The dynamo was almost at "a
stand-still, and the volt meter registered an
almost imperceptible current.
The Opaator sprang to the button ana
.saye a sharp, quick signal. There was
rapid response, but quick a. it was II
was not quick enough 10 anticipate the
si.ns Of what may or may not have been
rcyNing consciousness.
HORROR-STRlCkEN MEN.
As the group Of horror-stricken witnesses
stood helplcssly by. all eyes fixed ON me
chair. kemmlcrs lips began to drop spite,
and i'm moment more his chest moved ana
from his mouth came a heavy, stertorous
sound. puickcning and increasing with
every respiration. if respiration 10 was.
There was no voice but that OF the warden
CRYING 10 the operator 10 turn on the cur
rent. and the Wheeling sound, half groah,
which forced itself past the tlghtly-cl"sed
lips. sounded through the still chalnDe
with gha-tly distinctness.
some of the Witnesses turned away from
the sight. one Of them lay down, faint ana
sick. Ii takes long. long time tO tel tDe
story. II seemed long time reachihS
climax. I'm reality there were but seNcnt!
three seconds i'm the interval which elapsed
between thn moment when the first sound
.ssue from hcmmler's lips until the Response
d thp sienal came from the dynamo room.
II came with the same suddenness that
had marked the first shock which passed
through kemmler's body. The sound which
had Mortified the listeners about the char
was cut OF sharply n the body once more
became rigid. The Shiny OOze still dropped
from the mouth and ran slowly IN three INES
down the beard and on to the gray sli''
Twice there were tHltchings OF the DouF
as the electricians IN the next room Threw
the current on and of. There was TO DE no
mistake this time about the Killing
The DYNAMO was run up 20 It's highest
speed. and time and again the full current
Of ]. 900 volts was sent thr' ugh the bOdy III
the chair. How long II was kept IN acton
mo- one knows. To the excited group of
men about the chair it seemed an inter-
minable time For the men VINO
stood in front Of the volt me
ter. I'm the adjoining room, and threw
the switcn-leyer over backward ana lor-
ward. time had no measurement. Df
Daniel. who looked at his watch eNciledly'
and who throughout had an approximate
idea Of the time AT least, said thal IL was
four and a half minutes in all. lhe war
denis assistants, who stood over the dyna-
mo. said that on the second signal tue ma
chinery was run only three and hail MN
utes altogether.
TIE TINE NOT KNOWN.
II will never be known, with any degree
of accuracy. what the space 0i time was.
No one was anxious 10 give the signal 10
stop. All dreaded the responsibility OF Oiier-
ing TO the man chance To revive, or 10
oiye again. at least, those appearances Of
returning animation which had startled
and so sickened the witnesses a few MIN
utes before.
THE BODY BURNING.
As the anxious group stood silently
watching the body, suddenly there arose