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

Saiu' wen, want TO DO the best can.
l can't do any better than that
Warden Durston took in his hand the
leather harness which was to be ad.
justed to Reminders head. 1t was a
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 Kemm-
Ter until it fattened it down slightly
over his face.
AS the harness was put in place, DIR.
Spiza, who was standing near the
chair, said, softly: God bless you,
Kemmler," and the condemned man
answered: THANK you," softly.
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 of them was to touch the lever
and make the connection with the chair
was not known. Warden Durston saws il
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 900 volts.
Warden Durston turned to the as.
sembled dOctors-those Immediately
around the execution chair-and said
''Do the doctors say it is 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 fur
Their delay. But there is no fear that
he would have lost courage He was
as calm in the chair as he had been be-
fore he entered the room, and during
the process of his confinement by the
straps which held him close.
At the warden's question, DR.. Fell
stepped forward with long syringe in
his hand and quickly, but deity, wetted
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 he put on them was i'm
pregnated with salt
DR.. Spiza answered the warden
question with sharp ''All right
which was echoed by others about him.
Ready" said Durston again, and
then ''Good-bye" He stepped to the
door ana through the opening said to
some one in the next room-but to
whom will probably never be known
with certainty-''Everyt thing is ready"
In almost immediate response, and as
the stop watches in the hands of some
of the witnesses registered 6:4315, the
electric current was turned on. There
was a sudden cCnvulsion of the frame
in the chair-a spaSm went over
it from head to foot-contined by
the straps and springs that held it firm
ly SO that no limb or other parts of the
body stirred more than a small fraction
of an inch from its resting place. The
twitching that the muscles of the face
underwent gave it for a moment an eX-
preston of pain. 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
intinitestimal fraction of second be-
yound the calculation of the human
mind. The body remained in this rigid
position for seventeen seconds.
The jury and the witnesses who had
up to this moment remained seated,
came burredly forward and surrounded
the chair. There was no movement of
the body from the first CONFUSION. 1t
was not pretty sight-this man in his
shirt sleeves, bound hand, foot, body
and even head with a heavy frame
work pressing down on the top of his
skull, still with the stiffness of death.
DIR. Mcdonald held a stop-watch in
his hand and as the seconds flew by he
noted their passage. DR.. Spiza.
too, looked at the stop-watch.
and as the tenth second ex-
I, ii
cried other voices about. The warden
turned to the doorway and called out:
''Stop' to the man at the lever. A
quick movement of the arm and the
electric current was switched off. There
was relaxation of the body in the
chair-a slight relaxation-but 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 quiet little group around the chair
grew business-like.
Hes dead" said DR.. Spiza calmly.
'Oh! he's dead" re-echoed DR.. Nc
Donald, with firm confidence.
The rest of the witnesses nodded their
There was no question
in the mind of any one but that the
stiff, upright object before them was
lifeless. This was the programme, this
the inevitable effect. The next ques-
ton was: What was to be done with the
body"
DR.. Sptza stepped forward and
called attention to the appearance of
the nose which. he said had an I'M
doubted post-mortem color. No one
this. DR.. Spiza turned
around in business-like way, and
to 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 witnesses go until he had
their certificates.
All of this conversation took but a
minute. DIR. Baich was bending over
The body looking at the exposed skin
he cried out sharply, ''Dr.
Nc Donold, see that rupture" In mo-
nent DR.. Spiza and DR.. Mcdonald had
bent over, and were looking, where DR..
Dalch was pointing, at a little red spot
IN the hand that rested on the right
lrm of the chair. The index finger of
he hand had curved backward as the
iexor muscles contracted and had
,craped small hole in the skin at the
base of the thumb on the back of the
land There was nothing strange in
his alone, but what was strange was
hat the little rupture was dropping
blood.
Turn the current on instantly: this
man is not dead,' cried DIR. SplZa
Faces grew white and forms fell back
rom the chair.
Warden Durston sprang to the door
Eav and cried. ssTurn on the current