The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-07-08
The Sienal Service.

The group of newspaper men lounging on
the stone steps and bluff opposite the prison,
got the first signal that one Of the men had
paid the penalty for murder with his life.
1t was q small white flag which was run to
the top of the pole and then pulled down.
1t was the prearranged signal that Slocum,
base ball plnyer. the man who hacked his
wife to death with an axe. had died just five
minutes before. Before the flag was set the
news was Oh dozen wires. Close calcula-
tion fixes the time of Slocum's death at
4:42h6.
There was hustle outside when the
white flag went up, but as soon AS it was
pulled down again everything became quiet
again. The deuthlike silence which fol-
lowed the hustle caused by the raising of
the flag was oppressive. At 5:l5 o'clock the
first rays Of the morning sun topped the
eastern bluff and frightened up the scene.
A square of blue bunting, which crawled
slowly up the pole Mt $40. announced that
Smiler, the Salvation army boy, slayer of
hls third wife, had given life for life five
minutes before. 1t took the attendant five
minutes to go to the top of the prison and
hoist the signal.
At Just 5:44 o'clock the black flag went up
the role. 1t settled the fact that the negro
Wood, who killed his companion. Aquedot,
during n quarrel, was dead. The Jap, that
big, muscular Jugiro, who i'll tit of
rage stabbed to death one of his COM
panions, WAS TO come next. The flag of
death for him was red. 1t was believed the
taking of the foreigner to the chair would
te hard task and there would be such a
warden, who talked of killing the mon a.
he would of beheading chickens for his
Sunday dinner. could not forget rs long rs
lhe lived. Tho Jap had a queer idea about
death. He believed when he was taken to
that mysterious room he was to be tor
tured. He had said, as we'll ns he could,
that he would fight before he would SIT in
that chair. The displacement of the wires
or of the harness caused by struggle
would mean struggle had occurred. The
watchers anxiously looked up ut the pole
on the roof to see the rod flag announce to
them the death of JuSiro. 1t WAS long III
coming. That fact savored of struggle.
had been carried out to the
letter and the red flag went mp.
The Jap died at COG o'clock. The entire
time consumed in executing the four men
was an hour and twenty three and one-half
minutes.
which were made tho execution of kemler
i'll pant n failure were carefully avoided to-
day. The causes of the accidents and de-
laws Mt Auburn were known 90 the warden
at Sing Sing. and they had boen anticipated
in the arrangements for the execution OF
the four mon who were to he put to death
during this week. The tested voltage of
the dynamos haa been brought up to 5000,
while the estimated voltage which was
turned into Kemler's body was only 100.
The weakness of the current Mt the kemler
execution was chargeable In part to the
slipping of the belts on the dyuamos. and
especial precaution had been taken
to avoid this to-day. The dynamo
used was tho Westinghouse, com
terpart style of that used at Auburn. but II
was supplemented by n small dynamo In
tended to augment the current. At to-
days execution the executioner was in a
smnll closet with an open top through
which he could hear anything said to him
by the warden or any of his assistants and
electricians who we're i'll the execution
chamber itself Besides, by arrangements
of the switches it WAS made possible for
the electrician himself to turn the current
into the execution char or to turn it of III
case the executioner should become con-