Evening journal., 1891-07-09
SMILER'S BODY BURNED
A Reporters View of the Dead
Murderer's Face.
IT WAS HORRIBLY D1sFIGURED

Hut for All That Those Who Were
Present at the Execution Claim That
smiler Suffered No Pain and Died the
Instant the Curront Struck Him.
NEW YORK, July e-The body Of Smiler.
the murderer who was done to death by
electricity at Sing Sing Tuesday morning,
was seen by a reporter last evening at HUI
bergs undertaking shop, e65 West One
Hundred and Twenty-hfth street. Smiler
was the only one of the four murderers
whose body was claimed by his friends,
The bodies Of the other three men never
passed out of the possession Of the state.
They were not seen by anybody but the
witnesses OF the execution and the prison
officials This was the first man to die by
electricity whose body had passed out Of
possession Of the state and into public
view.
After Mrs Smiler, the dead mans FIRST
wife, with her sister-in-law, had looked at
the corpse, Undertaken Hulberg conducted
the reporter to the cellar where the body
lay in an imitation rosewood coffin. Moth
ing but the face Of the dead man could be
seen, but that bore plainly the evidences
Of the terrible death which he had met
The body Horribly Burned.
The eyes had been burned away, the
cheeks and the lower part of the face
were covered with hlood-red scars which
the electric fluid had left the bridge OF
the nose had been burned clear tn the bone,
and the eyebrows had been singed till
there was nothing left to show where
they had been.
There was no mark Of a surgeons knife
or of physicians instrument about the
face, neck or head Of the dead man, and
the terrible dishguration which he had
undergone seemed clearly the result Of the
/ impact Of the electric agent. The places
where the fatal electrodes had been pressed
against Smiler's forehead were plainly ap-
parent
The Attempt n Failure.
On each temple Of the dead man there
was a distincS round imprint a little
larger than a silver dollar. Il seemed as
If some hard, smooth substance had been
screwed or tightly pressed against his
| forehead.
The mark that was left was similar to
that made by the lining Of tight hat after
being worn a long time Over the right
eye the disk on that side had been nearer
the center of the forehead than on the
other side On both the right and left
temples these round marks which wert
probably made by the electrode, were plain
ly visible under the strong light which
Undertaken Hulberg's lamp cast upon th'
dead mans features IT, however. thes'
marks were made by metal electrodes IN
tended 20 pass electricity into the head a
that point, It almost seemed as II the az
tempt had been a failure.
Like Flash of lightning.
The black and blue marks on the fore
head, where the metal disks had pressed
were irregular in shape In no part of tn
, forehead, however, had the skin been in
jured. It has been suggested In this con
nection that when powerful electric cur
rents pass into the body they burn an'
tear the skin and produce bloody sur
face, which makes the contact more per
feet. From the appearance Of Smiler'
face it seemed as IL the electric fluid ha'
escaped from the eleotrode, and had GOV
cred the mans face like a flash of light
: ming, burning out the eyes and scorchinl
, the cheeks
The'most striking marks about his heai
were the wide. distinct, bloodred burn
on the face. Each seemed as IL 1t had beer
made with redhot iron. That on thi
right side was about three-qusrters of az
inch wide and a little over six inches long
and as the dead mans face was perfectly
white its course was clearly marked. i
began under the right eye at the uppel
corner, abogt half an inch from the undei
eyelid, and hn in straight line diagon
ally down the face to the inside of th'
cheekbone.
Here tho Electrode Rested.
In marked contrast with the burn OF
Smiler's right cheek was that upon tbs
left. This was much longer and broader
II looked as though a big slice had beer
cut out Of the mans cheek by redho
poker
Taken in conjunction with these two
broad scars on either cheek, the nose o.
the dead man presented a significant ap
I pearance. The center OF electrical dis
! turbanoe appeared TO have been the dip il
! she upper part of the nose, below the fore
, head and above the central bridge. Hers
! apparently part Of the electrode had rested
I although It never seems to have been in
tended that the current should enter any
where but at the forehead.
The Bones Plainly Visible.
In no other way could the phenomena
be explained except on the ground that
> the electra fluid formed a center of its owr
outside the electrode and radiated from
+ the upper part Of the nose. This was
burned clear to the bone.
The flesh was all brown and shrlvelled
: up and for a space as large as fifty cent
piece the current seemed to have concen
trated in its intensity. Under the burned
and hardened skin the bone Of the nos,
could be plainly seen. The circular mark.
of the electrode on either side of the fore
head were two to four inches away from
the junction Of the nose with the fronta
bone and were strikingly different In color
One was faint blue and black, with
smooth uninjured skin. The other wa,
Drowned and burned to a crisp. No piec,
of the fatal electric machinery which
shocked Smiler to his death was intended
to project the current into any other part
Of his face than that on the forehead
The forehead alone was to receive ths
current from the pole of the battery con
Meeting through the body with that at In,
leg Yet, in addition to the scars on tn,
face, where the fluid had probably passed
with flash, there was a distinct mark a.
far down as the lower part Of the chin
This was a small, round abrasion a littl,
smaller than a one cent piece.
The Brain Not Examined.
; The Herald claims that Smiler's brain
was not examined by the physicians al
the autopsy and consequently they arr
not able TO state the cause of the death a: