Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-02

Sinced that it 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 II 80 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 murdered on April 23 1892, in order to
 remarry the wife whom he had previous ly divorced, his case has been marked by uncertainties, which have made 1t fa- nous. He at first seemed likely to escape suspicion, and was not arrested until
 June 6, following the woman's death
 His trial was delayed until March 20, lSsa' and during its early stages his &C., quittal appeared proba ble. When he was convicted April 26, 1893, motion for new trial was made and the questions presented to the court were such that decision was not rendered until August l4 following, when he was sentenced to die October 2, 1893.
 On August 5 1893, he was brought here, and has been here uninterrupt- edly since, with the exception of two days, when he was taken away to be re- sentenced-once to New York and once to Albany. His case has been twice be- fore 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 its course through the lower state and federal courts.
 Invitations to his execution were sent
 out four times by Warden Sage but as ir,
 the first instance on one ground or an- other fespitcs postponed the execution. and finally, after every means of stavine
 the execution was exhausted, it required
 TWO applications of the deadly electric current to overcome the tenacitv with
 Which the man clung to life
 The most remarkable thing deveIoned
 by the post mortem was the size of the
 brain, which weighed but 31% ounces or. less than three-fourths the ayeraoa All the doctors agreed after the post morter examination that the execution had bean as successful as any which preceded if In point Of painlessness. The condition of the brain indicated the impossibilitv Of consciousness after the application of the current. Dr. Irving, who has wifi
 messed nearly all the executions 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 Buchanan sat SO motionless in the chair before the cur- rent was first applied that it was impos- sible to detect his respirations No doubt the current struck him at moment when his lungs were filled with air. in stead Of nearly empty, as they shouId nave peen 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 Buchanan had nerved himself to resist the shock had much to do with his tenacity of life
 It is well known that any one can stand heavier electric shock when prepared to resist 1t than when it strikes him un- awares. I3uchanan was an educated man and fully understood the punish ment which he had to undergo. There fore, he undoubtedly exercised a greater resistance than an ordinary man would have done and contributed by his own will power to prolong his execution. I have no doubt, however, that the first shock destroyed consciousness and that the execution was humane and painless one"
 Mrs. Buchanan notified Warden Sage as soon as the execution was over that she intended to claim her husbands