The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1891-07-04
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
VARIOUS METHODS OF EXECUTION
PRACTlceO IN THE WORLD.

A SERIOUS Matter ot Consideration for
Lnwglycrs-The GuIuotine, the Garrotc.
the Gallows aud the Gun--SilCnt Death
by Electricity.
The execution Of maletactors has heen a
serious matter ot consideration tor lawg,veH
In all nations and in all times, The more
barbarous the people the more barbarous the
method. Torture was considered wise adj
junct to capital punishment for centuries
The rack, the cauldron, the gridtron, the
scavengcr'S daughter, the pmccrs, iron mask
and scourgc were employed Breaking one
on the wheel was popular for II long timo-
the felon being fastened, with his arms and
legs apart, to a huge wheel, his bones were
broken by blows from an iron bar Male
factors we,e torn aSundcr 10y teams OF horses;
they were burned nt the stake, hanged, drawn
and auartered, tlayed alive, boiled, hrolled
and roasted, served up to death in thousand
ways, each rs revolting aud terrible as
skilled ingenuity could devise,
Torture is no longer employed, but means
which shall be swift, and us nearly rs possible
painless, is Employed In Franco the guillo'
tine, in Spain the garrote, in England and
the United States the galows three allitcra
tions-mcnace the maetactor A fourth,
the gun, is used in military executions
The guillotine was designed rs u labor
saving machine during the Reign Of Terror
by Dr. Guillotine, who was member of tho
Constituent assembly in liS9. There were
too many heads 10 bc removed by the over
worked public executioner, and this device
resulted.
The apparatus is very simple. Between
two uprightS slides a triangular knife,
weighted at the upper edge, IL is held in
position by catch. The victim is laid upon
a sliding or fitting board, securely strapped
and placed face downward, with his neck in
line with the groove \ narrow board, with
a semi,circular notch, slides down and secures
him, then the trigger is sprung and the
descending knife does the work. Death is
necessarily instantaneous
| saw an execution by the guillotino in
MarSeilles some years ago. The victim was a
young Italian, wife murderer. was sum-
moned to be at the Jail at daybroak. In
France the condemned felon does not know
the day nor the hour appointed, This man
was aroused from Sleep pinioned, half
dragged, half pushed, shrieking and moan
ing, into the yard, bound to the fitting plank
thrust forward and killed-all in four min
utes. There was great deal of blood, a
little tremor of the limbs, one convulsive
movement of the eyelids. In ten minutes
from the time the man had been aroused
from his sleep the executioner was taking
the apparatus of death apart.
Beheading by the sword has been a favorite
method in almost all countries. saw a
head struck off by the two handed sword in u
village near Nagasak, Japan. Both the exc
cutioner and his victim were deliberate and
cool. The latter knelt and bowed his head.
! The former drew his long and glittering
weapon, keen as razor, wiped it with bit
! of gaudy silk, took his stand, raised the
sword, and with a quick drawing stroke
severed the head, giving vent to a loud
| kissing aspirate as he did so. The point OF
the weapon did not reach the ground The
| executioner then removed the stains with
some pieces of tissue paper, wiped the blade
! again with the silk, sheathed it and STROBE
proudly away, followed byenvious eyes. The
offender had, | believe, testified falsely in al
examination by the tax collector
The garrote is worse to my notion than
the guiIlotine, though but little blood is shed.
The felon sits in chair. To stout post be-
hind him are affixed two clasps of iron
which when joined enoircle his neck
! Through the post and the back Of the collar
! passes screw. When this is turned by the
executioner the collar is frightened, and al
! iron wedge enters the neck at the base of the
brain, dislocating the axis, piercing the spi
nal cord and producing instant death. saw
a brigand thus killed at Valcenia There wa
no cap over the face. When the fatal mo
ment came heard, or fancied | heard, thu
snap of the bone, and the contortion Of tn,
face was CHASTITY. The head fell forward anC
the criminal was dead, but the grisly horror
of the manner of his taking off haunted IN,
for years.
Electricity is the swiftest and most certain
of all possible means by which death may b
inflicted Ninety five feet a second is the es
timated speed of nerve sensibility Electric
ity travels 10000 miles in a like space o
time The brain is paralyzed before it cal
feel the shock, the victim of the curren
passes from life to death without KNOWN;
the blow. Obviously, there is twofold gail
in this method. First, it entirely prevents
mishap. The current passes when the fata
Joining of the wires OCCURS, and death
given The distant dynamo gives no SCUM
the condemned man may hear. He is led t.
chair and seated One metallic conducto
is placed against the nape of the neck, sal
water being applied to the hair to enable
to transmit the current. The other conduc
tor is placed on top Of the head, the hal
being wet, or on either temple or both. TIL
connection is then made, and the man is dea
on the Instant.
To sehd the current from head to foot, q
proposed, is obviously bad method. A pow
erful convulsion would inevitably result; tn
muscles would still be in action after deatf
Passed through the brain, the full effect o
the life centers would be felt and no convu
sion would follow. To have this occur at th
state prison is an eminently good feature
There it fitly belongs and the rigid disciplin
of such institutions would prevent the infu
of visitors common to city prisons. Besides
the moral effect upon the other convicts woul
be good.
To have the day and the hour conceale
from the dead man would rob his last day