River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-07-09
PAID THE PENALTY.
Murderer sIocum Executed by Electricit
at sing Sing. y. ".

PAID THE PENALTY.
Murderer sIocum Executed by Electricity
at sing Stag, y. v.
SING SING. y. v. July al 4:42 a.
m. Sloeum, one of the condemned mon,
was taken from his cell to the room
where the execution was To be held,
seated in the char, and in the presen "a
of the witnesses the current WIS
turned on. In second life was Zap
parently extinct. Smiler, Woody and
Jugigo, the other condemned men, viii
be sent to their doom one y one. the
LAP last.
THE APPARATUS OF DEATH.
The chair in which condemned men
suffer the death penalty is a substan-
tial as well as comfortable-lcolxin
piece of woodworkers' mechanism,
and with the connections with the
dynamo, was designed by Capt. Hill
bert, the prison machinist. under
whose supervision it was built 1t is
constructed in a very workmanlil1e
manner and differs very materially
from the chair used in the execution
Il
enters the room of execution he
faces the chair, which is placed at the
opposite end This article of furni-
ture, which is an object of terror,
is very solid. The seat is broad. and the
back, on which a heavy headrest is
constructed, has a slight curve. Above
the rest and fastened to the back by a
long strip is figure -, . which is in
tended to rest on the head of the occu-
pant 1t is through the wire in this
that the current passes. Besides this
there are number of straps used to
secure the prisoner in position after he
has taken his seat in the chair The
CONDEMNED man is strapped to the chair
Against the base of his spinal column
presses the cold. clammy webbing Of
the lower electrode, and against the
top of his forehead is pressed the moist
ened sponge of the upper electrode.
The chair faces the east, and direct
ly behind it is low cabinet for the use
of the man who turns on the current
and who is thus out of sight of every
one. Its sides, however, do not reach
the ceiling. SO the operator can have
plenty of ventilation. Directly back
of the cabinet and against which
the cabinet stands is door
leading directly TO the dynamo room.
On the side of the cabinet is "A sliding
door, which on being opened reveals
the switchboard, by which signals are
given to the operator, who stands in
the cabinet and turns on the fatal cur
rent. This apartment--of ordinary
partition height-eXtends into the room
about feet. Upon the south side is
the switchboard of the electrical
apparatus. Before this the scientist
stands. The dynamo which
generates electricity at the other
end of the prison yard is di-
rected by signals. When the scientist
is satisfied with the voltage and am
peres he pulls down the handle just un-
der the globes. This shuts off the
lights and throws so much more
strength into the current Then he is
ready to send the death-dealing current
into the control of the executioner
1t is the man in the closet who turns
the switch. He stands ready. AT
knock from the scientist, which is in
Dictated as he throws down the switch
handle. giving him all the currents he
knows that his duty must then be done.
His apparatus is simple. Heavy in
sulated wires come through from the
switchboard. The negative current
passes through the wire which extends
downward through the floor and
thence through coils at the bottom
of the chair to the negative
electrode up through the body of the
condemned The current to the pos
tive electrode is carried along an
upper wire. 1t passes through curved
tubing which is suspended above the
head of the victim. The eXecutioner
stands grasping the handle. The signal
from the scientist shows that all is
ready. The handle falls The switch
is dealing death.
CRIMES OF THE MEN.
James J. Slocum lived at Cherry street and
had Deen "A baseball player and common la
borer He had LONG been wife beater. but
commonly pounded his wife with his fists and
kicked her. On the night of December 81. 1889
he went home and took an which had been
used by his wife to break up boards for fuel
and beat the woman's brains out with it, He
was convicted in March 1890 before Judge
Martin, and was originally sentenced 10 die
curing tHt week beginning MAY p pl tudl year
Harris A. Smiler at one time a Salvation
army captain He was printer by trade, and
had developed a rare faculty for getting mar
ried A. the time the murder was committed
there were three women living to whom he
had been married, and none of them
had been divorced The last one to
go through the ceremony with him,
Maggie Drainey, was his victim. He had been
living with her at 2s4 Seventh avenue, but on
account of his brutality she had determined 70
leave him. He went home drunk on the night
Of April B. 1882 and when she refused to prom
Use TO remain with him he shot her TO death
He was originally condemned to die in the
week beginning August II, 1890 but the sp-
neals taken have saved his life thus far.
Joseph Wood was one of the negroes EN-
plOyed in building the new aqueduct. One
payday in May, 1889 he got in one of
the fights common among the gangs of
laborers employed there His opponent
was an Italian. Carlo Rum, also an
aqueduct laborer. Rum was killed. Wood
has always asserted that he took RUNS life in
self-defense His case was taken to the SUI
preme court Of the United States on the novel
plea that Wood was not tried by his peers. be.
cause no negroes were on the jury. The appeal
served only TO prolong the prisoners life.
The last of the four was a common specimen,
neither better nor worse, of the crews of the
ships that sail out OF the port OF New York.
His name is ShiOuyO Jugigo, and he IS native
OF Japan He was living IN one OF the James
street sailors homes while awaiting
the pleasure of the boarding house boss in
the matter Of putting him on board of
ship on which he had already signed
articles to return to Japan. He got into dis.
pute with a countryman, Mura Canni about
berth in the forecaste in the ship Jugigo got
a carving knife and stabbed Canni TO death IN
the course of the fight that followed.
SUMMER TOURISTS.
A TRAMP in IndianaDOlis stole "A bar