The record-union., 1891-07-08

! taking the foreigner TO q cnalr there
would be desperate struggle, and scene
IN the death chamber that would cause
! the Warden, who talked of killing men
as he did of chickens for his Sunday dim
ner, not to forget as long as he lived.
The Jap had queer idea about death,
| indeed. He believed that when he was
led to that mysterious room and placed
in that mysterious chair ne was TO be
! burned. He had said us well as no could
beforehand that he would kill himself or
! fight to the death before he would take
the chair. The displacement of wires as
OF harness caused by the struggle
would mean torture. Therefore
| the interest was at an extraor-
dinary tension as the watchers on the
outside looked up at the pole for the ap-
! pearance. of the red flag. It was long in
coming, and that fact il itself savored of
a struggle. Just at 6;06 O'Clock the flag
was seen and all was over with the Jap.
The entire time consumed in executing
the four men was one hour and twenty
three and half minutes oh 23am).
The mistakes made in the execution of
kemmler We're successfully avoided.
The medical men present agree that
death came on the first contact and that
| the seeming revival was merely q reflex
| of muscular action.
DIR. Barber, the prison physician, came
out shortly after y O'Clock and said that
the autopsy was completed, but that no
statement could be given out for several
hours.
DR.. Alphonso D. Rockwell left the
prison at comparatively early hour,
train for New York. He said that the
! executions were an unqualified success,
and that the death of the murderers was
! painless.
AS AN EYE WITNESS SAW IT.
! SING SING. July 7.-One of the wit
nesses of the affair gave the following ac-
count OF the occurrences in the death
chamber: After the experts had tested
! the electric current and found everything
/ IN order, Warden Brown, Deputy War
! den COnnaughtOn and two deputies then
entered the death-cell building. Slocum
| was selected as the first victim, and as
! soon as the priests finished their suppli-
! cations he stepped out Of his cell With
alacrity, and the walk to death began
Following the Warden and deputy
came Slocum, between two priests, who
| held aloft in front of him a crucitix, at
which he gazed. Two deputies brought
up the rear of the fateful procession.
! Slowly the heavy doors swung back, and
with solemn tread the little procession
walked into the room, where the silence
| of death prevailed. They had but a few
! steps to take. The chair was directly in
their front. AS the leaders parted the
chair stood out in all it's awfulness before
the man about to sit in it and die
Slocum halted, at the Warden's COM
mand, just on the edge of rubber mat
which was TO protect those who were to
watch his life go out. The doomed mans
| gaze was riyeted on the chair, then it
wandered to the dangling wire and closet
! from which it was suspended. Back to
the chair 1t came like a needle to the mag
net, and he started as though he had re-
! ceiYed a shock from the wire when the
| Warden began reading the death warrant,
! while the reverend men engaged in q
silent prayer. The witnesses were
grouped to the left of the chair. The
! scientists stood in front of the switch
! board, watching the current, which they
read like book as it flashed in the lamps
| and through the recording instrument
| The eXecuhoner was heard to rise from
his chair in the closet and place himself
ready to do his duty.
! With an attempt at q smile Slocum
seated himself in the chair and leaned his
head back against the rubber rest as
| though he was simply preparing to be
shaved. The forced smile remained on
ms face, and as Fathers Creedman and
Lynch took up their positions in front Of
him, he again directed his gaze at the
cross, while Connaughton began fasten-
ing the straps The straps crossed and re-
crossed the body, and the legs were
tightly bound to the foot-rest. Then his
/
longer move muscle. Finally the oddly
arranged set Of straps that bound the
chair III one position and covered the eyes
were put in place.
Now Drs. Macdonald and Rockwell
! and Professor Landay approached to
attach the electrodes. The positive cleo
trOde was placed on Slocum'S head the
same as in the kemmler execution,
| The negative electrode was attached TO
| the right leg, the trousers having been
rolled up for the purpose before Slocum
was bound in the chair. When the elec-
trOdes We're adjusted and the wires
attached the three scientists glanced at
the switchboard and said the current
was steady and registered 1,6O0 volts.
DrS. Macdonald and Rockwell then
stood on either side of the chair. The
other physicians among the witnesses
drew near, while the laymen stood back
as though not sure OF their nerves, Drs.
Daniels, Southwick and Ward took spe-
clal interest in these preliminaries, and
with watch in hand waited the signal,
Professor Landay's hand grasped the
handle of the switch which turned the
current into the wires in the execu-
toner's closet. Warden Brown raised
his hand, and Professor Landay turned
the switch. Then the Warden tapped
on the closet and the unknown inside
gave quick pull to the lever The cleo
trlc fluid was released before the Sound
Of the tap reached Slocum's ears, and
sped through his body. There was not a
tremor of the body as the physicians
counted the seconds, and when Professor
l.anday turned OF, the current Slocum sat
rigid and lifeless in the chair.
When the electrodes were removed il
was discovered that the skull and flesh of
the leg had been slightly burned, but there
was no smell Of roasting flesh, such as
made the Kemmler execution so hor-
rible.
The straps We're unlOOSed and the body
was carried back into the rear room.
Smller did not hesitate when told that
his hour had come, but when the death
chair appeared before him he almost fell
to the floor. His knees knocked to-
gether, and but for the support of his
spiritual adviser he would certainly have
collapsed. Warden Brown quickly read
the death warrant, and Smiler was
hastily seated III the chair. His face took
on CHASTITY hue, and Connaughton got
no assistance from his victim in arrang-
ing the straps Smiier was bound and
the electrodes applied in a much briefer
time than in the case of Slocum, and in
few moments Smiler was also dead The
same light was burning under the cleo
trode's as in Slocum's case
Wood had been prepared for death by
Fathers Creeden and Lynch while Smiler
was going to his death, and he was all
ready. He uttered no word when his
time came. He walked to death sup
ported by the priests. Wood BETRAYED no
emotion when he gazed on the chair, but
kept his eyes on the crucifiX. He sat
down in the chair dif1idently, and the
binding was accomplished so quickly
that it was only twenty-four minutes
from Smiler's end until death came to
hlm. 1T was becoming easy to kill men,
The witnesses displayed no emotion.
There was nothing TO cause nausea, and
death came TO its victims so quickly that
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