Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-05-02
CAN LIVE AWHILE LONGER
kemmlerithe Woman Murderer Grant
ed a Writ of Habeas Corpus.
All Gotham Disappointed that He is
Not 10 Die at Once.
A New and Almost InSurmOuntablG
Difficulty Presents Itself.

| AUBURN, y. L, April 29.-1he an
nouncement this afternoon that Judg,
Wallace of the [. S. circuit court had is
sued writ of habeas corpus in the case
of the condemned murderer, Wm. kemm
Ter. returnable June II, was great sur
prise here. For many days the town,
people have been on the verge of expect
anCy awaiting the execution by electricity
for the first time. There also have been
IN town innumerable newspaper men.
This afternoon at the dinner table they
received the first intimation, when Dis
trict Attorney Quimby, of Buffalo, said
there would not be any execution. ana he
was going home. The reporters fastened
to the prison, and after a short time War
den DurSton told them the news Then
office, three blocks away. Attracted by
| the running men, crowds poured out
! of the houses and stores and soon
there was a long string of men and child
/ rem running up the street while out of
| doors and windows were shouted to the
van of the procession all sorts of inquiries,
most frequent of which was, Say, has he
| been touched off yet?'
This expression touched Off is the
! Auburn way of referring to electrocution.
A writ was obtained in New York
| by ex-Assistant District Attorney Roger
NJ. Sherman. He had never communicated
with kenmIer, and just who employed
HIM cannot be learned. His connection
with the case seems to be like that of w
Bourke Cochran who a year ago, opposed
kemmler's execution on the ground
that 1t was cruel and unusual and therefore
against the state constitution. There has
been little doubt but that Cochran had
some assistance from the electrical COM
pany whose apparatus was chosen for exc
cutOn, the company saying 1t did not want
It's dynamOS used for such a purpose. The
result of the fight in the state courts was
IN favor of the new law, and since the
final decision nothing has been done until
today. Sherman came here today in COM
pany with Henry y. Galley, who is
attorney for several electric light COM
panies. Both these gentlemen re-
fused to talk. Warden Durston, who has
been greatly bothered by newspaper men
and others for the past few weeks at irst
refused to believe III the genuinenesS of
Sherman's papers Sherman thereupon
went before Judge Dwight and made the
necessary attidavitS, after which
Warden Durston accepted service and
allowed kemmler to sign the papers
constituting Sherman his attorney.
kemmler who is very dull of comprehen-
sion. paid no attention to what he was
signing, and knew nothing of the impor-
tance of the papers until nearly four
clock, when Warden DurstOn went in
and formally explained to him
what had happened. Even then
the prisoner looked as though he did not
fully understand, and the warden said:
1t means that your execution Is not
coming off now, and that you will have
two months or perhaps longer to live. "
"Oh, said kemmler, Just as though the
facts were beginning to dawn upon him;
that makes me feel much easier.
kemmler's face was eXpressionless as he
sat down without appearing greatly aston
ished.
This feature of the case will probably be
one of again protracted litigation, when
kemmler is produced at Canadaigua. The
arguments will take some time, and it
may be some weeks longer before the de-
cisiOn of the court is handed down If ad-
verse, Sherman may appeal it to the Uni
ted States supreme court and
this will result in further
delay. The lawyers here declare
however, should the application not be
successful, as they assert, it's clearly ly with
in the limits of the decision of the supreme
court in a case where it was claimed the
eighth provision of the constitution ap-
piled to state laws imposing certain pun
ishments. In that case the supreme court
decided the provision applied to ma
tional and not state legal violations.
But should the federal courts decide the
law unconstitutional New York state will
be confronted with a problem. There
will be in prison number of condemned
murderers who cannot be put to death. The
law providing for a rope as means of
of execution, it is argued by the lawyers,
has been supplanted by the electrical law.
If the latter is ruled out the state will
have no law for capital punishment, and
the lawyers say that the new statute,
which might be passed providing means
of execution, could not affect those SEN
fenced prior to It's passage.