The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-08-07
THE CuRRgNT TURNED on.

tl0D 0i au inch from It's resting place
The twitcbiDg tbat the muscles OF til
lace underwent gave 10 II for n momen
an expression OF pain. But nc. or,
escaped the lips, which were free L
move at wil!..No sound came ior.h to sug
gest that consciousness lasted more thai
an infinite small fraction OF second be
youd the calculation OF the human mind
The body remained in this rigid position
for II seconds. DR.. Mcdonald held ;
stop watch in his hand, and ns tho sec
onds flew by he noted their passage
DR.. Spitzka, too, looked at his stoT
watch, and as the tenth second expirel
he ctied out "stop." "S,op," cried ou
other voices about. The Warden turned
to the doorway and called ''stop" to the
man at the lever. A quick movemen,
oil the arm and the electric current was
switched oil. There was relaxation o.
the body in the chair, slight relaxation
but the straps held 1t 80 firmly that there
was not quarter OF IN inch variation In
the position OF any part OF the frame.
"nE IS BEAD"
Thequiet little group around the chai,
grew busineas.like. "He's dead" said
DR.. spi,zka, calmly. "0h, he's dcad,''
reiterated Dr.. Mcdonald, with firm con.
hdence. There was no question in the
mind OF any one but tha. the stiff, up.
right object before thea was lifeless.
This was the programme, this the inev.
table elect. The next question was,
what was to be done with the body
When DR.. Spitzka stepped forward aud
called attention to the appearance of the
nose, which he said had an uudoubted
post mortem color, no one disputed
this. DR.. Spitzka turned around in a
business.like way, and pointing to the
harness said: "Unloose 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. DR.. Batch was bending over
the body, looking at the exposed skin.
he cried out sharply: "Dr,
Mcdonald, see that rupture" In a
moment Doctors Sptizka and Mcdonald
bad bent over and looking where DR..
Batch was pointing at little red spot on
the hand that rested on the right arm OF
the chair. The index finger OF the hand
had turned backward as the lexor
muscles contracted and had scrsped a
small hole in the skin at tine base OF tho
the thumb on the back OF the hand.
There was nothing strange in this alone,
but what was strange was that the little
rupture was dropping blood.
TURN on THE CURRENT AoAIS!"
Turn the current on instantly. This
man is not dead" cried Dr.. Spitzka.
Faces grew white, and forms fell back
from the chair. Warden Durston spranp
to the doorway and cried, "Turn on the
current" But the current could not
be turned on. When the signal 10 stop
had come, the operator h I'D pressed the
little button which gave the sign to the
engineer to stop the dynamo. The dy.
namo was almost at standsti II, and the
volt metre registered an a!m ost imper.
ceptible current. The operators spraug
to the button and gave a sharp, quick
signal. There was rapid response, but
as quick as it was, it was not Quick
enough to anticipate the sign OF what
may, or may not have been reviying con.
sciousness. AS the group OF horror.
stricken Witnesses stood helplessly by,
all eyes were fixed on the chair. Kemm.
ler's lips began to drip spittle, and in a
moment more his chest moved, and from
bis mouth came q heavy, ssertorious
sound, quickening and increasing with
every respiration.
A sIcKENlSG SIGHT.
There was no voice but that OF the
Warden crying to the operator to turn
on the current, and the wheeling sound;
half groan, which forced itself past tn.
tightly closed lips, sounded through the
still chamber with ghastly distiuctness.
Some OF the witnesses turned away from
the sight. One Of the men fell down
sick. 1t takes long, long time to TIL
the story. 1t seemed a long time reach.
ing the climax. In reality there were
but seventy.threo seconds in the inter.
val which elapsed between the momen,
when the first sounds issued from
kemmler's lips until the response to
the sighal came from the dynamo room
1t came with the same suddenness
that had marked the first shock
which passed through kemmler'.
body. The sound which had Mortified
the listeners about the chair was cut of
sharply as the body once more became
rigid. Tho oozs still dropped from the
mouth and ran elowly in three lines
down the beard and on to the gray vest
Twice there were twitchings Of the bod,
as the ELECTRICIANS in the next room
threw the current On end oil. There vas
to be no mistake this time about the kill
ing. The dynamo was run up to it,
highest speed again, the full current O.
1000 volts was sent through the body in
the chair. How long it wns kept in &C
tiou no one knows, i will never b.
known with any degree Of 9ccu racy
what the space of time OF time was. M
Que was nnxious to give the signal tt
stop. All dreaded the responsibility o
offering to the man chance to revive
or give again at least those appearance,
Of returning animation which hat
startled aud sickeneq the Witnesses
few minutes before ~ si,'f, n
3 j Z THE FLESH BURNED. t3
AS the anxious group stood silentl,
watching the body, suddenly there aros
from it white yapor bearing with it
sickening odor. lhe body was burning
Again there were cries to stop the cui
rent, and again Warden sprang to til
door and gave the quick order to hi
assistants. The current stopped an
again there was the relaxation OF th
body. No doubt this time that the cur
rent had done its ,work k-it not yell-.a
least completely. DIR. Fell, who stoo,
by the side OF the special correspondent
OF the Associated Press, turnod and said
"Well, there is no doubt about on
thing. The man never suffered one bi
OF pain.n Alter further consultation tn
physicians expressed tho same belief.
was some mitigation Of the horrors {
the situation to believe this. There wa
some consoiatiou in the thought tits
those heavy hoarss sounds were nc
evidences'of suffering. But the mitig:
ton was slight, extremely slight, whe
| II developed in another and Just as in
portant point, one on WHICH tho sHecel
oi the experiment 'seehiod to depen
. largely, il not altogether-these San
doctors disagreed very materlalty-wi