Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-03
FOUR FATAL SHOCKS
Administered in Just One Minute
and IA Seconds, Sufices for
THE ELECTRoCUTION OF WOOD.
Religion Nerves Up the Condemned
Murderer to His Last Hour.
AN AUTOPSY is HELD AFTER DEATH


word from Warden Thayer, Murderer Cal
Woods cell door was unlocked and the
prisoner stepped out into the exercising
corridor upon which the cell of the con-
demned opened. The death warrant was
read to the prisoner by the Warden.
Wood listened to the Warden's words
with pale and slightly-drawn face, but was
otherwise unaffected and made no comment
He was the most collected person present at
the reading When Warden Thayer gave
the word for the prisoner to be brought out,
there was grouped the reporters, physicians
and others invited to witness the execu-
tion
Four minutes after II o'clock, after the
witnesses had entered the deathroom, the
machinery was started, the el ectric current
turned Oh, and an instant later the two rows
of electric test lights placed in the death
chair showed the deadly current was both
quick and powerful enough to satisfactory
fulfill its purpose.
The Murderer Appears in q Natty Suit.
Previous to the test the Warden cautioned
the spectators against any interference.
After the preliminaries were over, the spec
tators sat in silence, waiting for the coming
Of the prisoner. The condemned man
walked with firm and steady step along
the corridor toward the spot where the
Warden and two keepers were waiting for
him.
As the little procession entered the room,
half suppressed murmur of surprise es-
capped from some of the witnesses Wood
was neatly attired in black suit. His
shirt collar and cuffs were snow white and
white tie encircled his neck. His face
was smoothly shaven, except the mustache,
and with his calm bearing, Wood looked
anything but the desperate murderer-half
human, half brute-he has been painted in
some of the printed reports.
Crossing the threshold of the room, the
prisoner turned to the right, and with two
or three steps stood in front of the fatal
chair. The room was entered at 11:44
The condemned mans face was pale and
there was the slightest tremor about the
visibly cool, compressed lips; but he per-
mitted no other outward sign of the emo
tions which must have filled his breast
The Prisoner hanks Warden Ihayer.
When he reached the chair the keepers
stepped to one side, and, without hesita-
tion, the prisoner said: 81 want to thank
Warden Thayer for his great kindness to
me; also my keepers. My time on earth is
not long enough to return my thanks to
Judge Whitman for his noble efforts He
has been nearer than Q brother to me, and
hope he will live long time and die happy
in the Lord.
The religious feeling of the doomed man
found expression in these words:
'I pray that God will now give me the
strength of two men to go to meet him, for
I know 1 am going there. God bless you
all. May He make you all happy"
Here Woods voice trembled little, the
only indication of any lessening of the won
derful nerve the man had shown, and as he
sat down in the chair he said in a strange
voice: 'God, remember me- He repeated
this three times while the straps were being
adjusten. His last words were, "God bless
me-"
The fatal signal was given by Keeper
Welts, of Auburn prison. As the contact
GENE Woods body Strengthened out rigidly
and the hands turned upward on the arms of
the chair. Twelve seconds was the dura-
tion of the first contact.
Three Other Electric Contacts,
The second contact was two seconds
shorter, and as it reached full power a curl
of blue smoke arose from the murderer's
forehead and an odor of burned rubber filled
the room. This was repeated in the third
and fourth contacts of six seconds each.
Each time Woods body Strengthened out
This was followed by relaxation as the
current was shut off.
Wood was in the chair just one minute
and IA seconds An interval of three sec
onds was given between each contact. The
smoke came from the burning ends of the
rubber tube down which the salt water ran
to the electrodes. There was slight blis-
tering of the flesh on the forehead The
adjustment of the straps and electrodes
took but IL seconds, DR.. Ransom superln-
tending the four. keepers who per formed
the service.
The physicians in charge made an ex-
animation of the body Immediately after
the fourth contact. The voltage was 1850,
with amperage of Z. The witnesses were
then allowed to make an examination be-
fore the prisoner was pronounced dead.
Warden Thayer announced that the post
mortem would be held Immediately, and
the body was taken to the post-mortem
room on stretcher. The autopsy was con-
Quoted by DR.. Abbott, the other physicians
assisting. The death certificate was next
signed by the witnesses, and the first legal
electrocution at Dannemora was over. The
body was delivered to Woods wife,
The autopsy was held by Drs. Irving, Bull
lard and Abbott. Dr. Irving said subse-
quently that there were no traces of the,
electrical current found upon the remains,
save slight blistering of the skin under
the spot where the eIectrode rested upon
the left calf The Uranium, he added, was
thick, but the brain was large and a good
specimen. The heart was normal, but the
kidneys were slightly affected.
n
Joseph Wood, better known as Cal Wood,
was convicted on September II, 1891, of
numbering his father-in-law, Leander
Pasco, a farmer of Warren county, MAY 10,
1890. The defendant pleaded not guilty,
alleging temporary insanity. The successive
courts adjudged him guilty, and Governor
Flower refused to interfere.
On March 2, previous to the crime, Wood
had secretly married Pasco's daughter.
Immediately after the marriage they separ-
ated, returning to their own homes Pasco,
who was very severe with his children, was
displeased with the marriage and would not
recognize Wood. About a month later
Wood told neighbor that Pasco, who was
then living with his housekeeper, cough
to be put out of the way SO the children
could have his property"
After Wood and his wife went to live to-
gether they were subjected to some petty
annoyances which they charged to Pasco.
Wood sought to get warrant out for his
arrest, but being denied, uttered more
threats About three weeks later Pasco
was murdered by two gunshot wounds. 1t
was satisfactorily proved that Wood had
la in in am hush for his tother-in-law