The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-02
BUCHANAN DIES IN THE CHAIR.
THE CURRENT TURNED ON TWICE
BEFORE HE SUCCUMBEn.

Two Seconds After IL Was Turned
On-Mrs. buchanan Makes "a Final
Appeal 10 the Governor on Her
Blended Knees.
Sing Sing. y. Y, July 1.-Dr. Buchanan
was electrOcuted this morning. The cur
rent was turned on at l121 O'Clock. at !, ,7iO
volts for four seconds reduced to 400
volts. and then left on for thirty seconds,
when II was turned on to 1.7iO volts again
and gradually reduced until it was turned
or, fifty-eight seconds after it was first
applied.
Buchanan entered the room with his eyes
closed, and did not open his eyes at all.
He walked along beside his attendant
without assistance TO the chair.
His leg was slightly scorched and
smoked during the last seconds of the exc
cution. The body was perfectly notion
less after the current was turned on.
Mrs Buchanan returned from Rhinecliff
at 1850 O'Clock. She was met at the depot
by an officer from the prison. She wished
TO be driven to the prison, but II was
thought best not to allaw this, so she was
driven away ard Is supposed to have been
taken to Mrs. Sage's private apartments.
Thirty-two seconds after the current was
turned of Buchanan was examined by the
physicians, who discovered a slight pulsa-
ton Of the heart The victim also gasped,
and the doctors declared that life was not
extinct. The current was again turned on
at the full force Of 1.74O volts, where II was
held for twenty-thTee seconds, when Il
was again turned off. Buchanan was dead
at II 23 a. m.
Nothing was heard from Buchanans
counsel this morning until few minutes
before WI
that they had exhausted every means Of
further prolonging his life. and had given
up the case. At 11:15 O'Clock, however,
the following message was received by
Warden Sage, signed by Arthur c. Butts
and George w. Gibbons: "Opinion of at
torney general misleading and mlsstates
facts as to appeal. Buchanans case is in
the supreme court OF the United States
and your authority Is stayed You must
choose between supposed duty to the state
and obedience to the supreme laws of our
country
No attention was paid to the message
which was simply a protest and had no
force in law
About the same time, the following mes
sage was received from Gov. Morton's
amanuensis:
Rhinecliff n. Y, July Ito o. " Sage.
Warden: The governor informs me he has
no further communication to make to you.
He Informed Mrs. Buchanan this morning
he could not interfere Cook
Before the-autopsy DIR. Gibbs made the
following statement: II think the cause
Of the apparent partial failure
of the first application was the
fact that the straps were drawn
too tight about the neck and chin,
perhaps preventing the immediate expul-
sion of air from the lungs, and therefore
causing the slight pulsation of the heart
nhapgnFaA 4 hal aknt4
was unconscious after the first shock and
was beyond resuscitation before the cur
rent was turned of the first time. The
evidence which we found Is sufficient to
render It necessary in our opinion to ap-
ply the current the second time. There
can be no doubt of the ia
tai effect of the second shock
The entire time OF the execution from the
time the current was first applied
until 1t was turned off the second time,
was less than two minutes, and am con-
vinced that 1t was absolutely painless"
AS soon as Buchanan was pronounced
dead, the body was turned over to the
physicians, and the post mortem examina-
tion was begun at 1870 o'clock. All of the
physicians in attendance took part in the
autopsy.
The persistence with which Buchanan
clung to life marked his case to the end.
Since the death of the wife whom he MUIR
dered on April %, 1892 in order TO re-
marry the wife whom he had previously
divorced, his case has been marked by un-
certainties which have made 1t famous.
He at first seemed likely to escape sus-
picion. and was not arrested until June 6,
following the woman's death. His trial
was delayed until March 20, 1893, and dur
ing its early stages, his acquittal appeared
probable. When he was convicted on
April 26, 1898 a motion for a new trial was
adj ha tod to ka
court were such that a decision was not
rendered until Aug. IA, following, when he
was sentenced to die Oct. q 1898. On Aug.
15 1893, he was brought here and has been
here uninterruptedly since, with the ex-
ception of two days when he was taken
away to be resentenced-once to New York
and once to Albany. His case has been
twice before the court of appeals of the
state, once before the supreme court of
the United States, and any number of de-
lays and unusual legal proceedings have
marked it's course through the lower state
and federal courts.
Invitations to his execution were sent
out four times by Warden Sage, but in
the first three instances, on one ground
or another, a respite was secured and
the infiction of the death penalty was
postponed, and finally after every means
of staying the execution was exhausted,
it required two applications of the deadly
electric current TO overcome the tenacity
with which the man clung to life.
The most remarkable thing developed
by the post mortem was the size of the
brain, which weighed but 3l3i ounces, or
less than three-fourths the average. All
the doctors agreed after the post mortem
examination that the execution had been
as successful as any which has preceded
It in point OF painiessness. The condi-
ton of the brain indicated the impossi-
bility of consciousness after the applica-
tion of the current.
Dr. Irvine, who has witnessed nearly all
the executions in the state under the new
law, said: "The failure Of the first shock
to effect death in this case was, In my
opinion. due principally to the character
Of the subject In the first place. Buchan-
an sat so motionless in the chair before
the current was first applied that it was
impossible to detect his respirations No
doubt, the current struck him at a mo-
ment when his lungs We're filled with air
instead OF nearly empty, as they should
have been. This caused the expulsion OF
air after the first application OF the cur
rent, and also probably contributed to
cause the slight pulsations which we de.
tected after the current was turned Off
Apart from this. the fact that Buchan-
an had nerved himself to resist the shock