Evening star., 1899-03-20
MRS. S.PLACEEXECUTED
Electric Current Turned on at ll:0l
O'clock This Morning.
DEATH ALMOST INSTANTANEOUS
Condemned Woman Bore Up
BraveIy to the Last.
FEW WITNESSES PRESENT

A second Shock was tnen given.
Mrs. Place went calmly to the chair. She
leaned on Warden Sage's arm. Her eyes
were closed. and she seemed neither to see
nor hear. She murmured prayer.
Two women attended her, one a prison
attendant; the other a physician.
Mrs Pace was calm beyond expectation.
No one has walked into the death chamber
as serenely as she. Death was instantan-
eous and came with less struggle than was
ever witnessed here before.
Just SIS she sat down in the chair she
said: God help me-
The female attendants stood before her.
The physician adjusted the electrode to her
barred leg, while the prison attendant stood
with outspread skirts.
DR.. Irvine merely superintended.
Not an instant was lost in throwing down
the lever.
Hardly a witness saw the convulsiye
movement that follows an electrical shock.
The body merely stiffened The face re-
manned calm.
AIRS. Places thin lips closed tightly to-
gether. 1t was almost a smile as she died.
Witnesses Enter Death Chamber.
Twelve witnesses entered the death cham
ber at exactly 10:45. At 1850 Warden Sage
left the house for Mrs. Places room. He
| remained away eight minutes, during which
time a keeper outside in the corridor came
into the death chamber and called out an
other keeper.
1t was feared then that Mrs. Place had
broker down and would have to be carried
to the chair.
Nothing of that kind, however had oc-
Cured.
A moment or two before IL O'Clock there
was the shuffiing Of feet down the hall and
the death march was ended.
Mrs. Place leaned on the warden's arm.
towering above him. Her face was pallid.
hp 1ie&flC hrtf in,
eyes were closed, but she bore herself
steadily and seemed to almost pick her way
across the short space that separated her
The warden, too, was pale. and the wo-
men, with Mrs. Place, following behind,
helped to assist her to the chair.
She sat down and said word of prayer.
1T was all over in a moment Nothing
ever was done at Sing Sing so rapidly be-
fore.
She was dressed in black, the suit that
was lifted quickly to the knee She wore
-black stockings and low tan shoes
The eiectfode was fastened in a moment
another was placed over her thick light
had been clipped away. The STRAPS were
adjusted over her face and a pad over the
forehead Only her mouth was visible.
- Carried Prayer Book.
+ In her hand Mrs. Place carried prayer
DOCK and when the shock came she gripped
Il tightly. The other held fast to the chair
handle. The woman's mouth merely closed;
the face a trifle livid. Her heart ceased to
beat within minute
DR.. Irvine felt for the pulsations of the
carotid artery in the neck and then the
woman physician examined the heart.
After her all the physicians present ex-
amned the heart.
l. DIR. Irvine gave it as his opinion that
death had been instantaneous.
Rev. DR. Cole, who spent the night here.
went to Mrs. Places room at 9:15 O'clock
The clergyman is seventy-siX years of age
but strong and forceful.
Warden Sage asked him If he could stand
the strain of comforting the condemned wo-
man TO the chair. and he replied that he
could. He received his instructions before
leaving for Mrs. Places room. He asked If
brief service might be performed in the
death house, but 1t was decided that it was
best not to do SO, and that absolutely
nothing should be said after the death
march was begun.
/ Made No Written Statement
Rev. DR.. Cole, when asked If Mrs. Place
had made any written confession or state
ment, said no. He stated that he believed
the woman had been converted. and that
she herself had faith to go peacefully to
her death.
State Electrician Davis. who already had
made several tests of the electrical ap-
pliances, made a careful final examination
and test again at 10 o'clock.
The cards to the witnesses were given
out shortly before 10 o'clock, and it was
then announced that the names of wit
nesses were not to be made public. This
was in accordance with an arrangement
made some days ago. -...
DR.. Irvine also announced that the au-
topsy would be conducted privately, only
the operating surgeons being present
The NrtffaO rpnOrt will he led and the
contents, 1t was further announced, not
given out for the present.
Victim Notified Again.
Yesterday at noon Warden Sage decided
to again notify Mrs Place Of the day Of her
execution, and to tell her that she must be
ready. She had been SO hopeful that she
would be spared until Gov Roosevelt on
nounced his decision not to interfere with
the course of justice that the warden felt
1t would be simple mercy to warn her what
she must undergo.
Mrs. Place met him in quiet way, and
he said: II have come, Mrs. Place. so that
there will be no mistake; so that there may
be no misunderstanding, and :" explain to
you that you are to be ready on Monday
morning at II o'clock
The woman looked at him. and said
simply: Il will be ready; l will Put my
trust in God"
The warden spoke with Mrs. Place for a
few minutes in the manner that has
brought comfort to the hearts of many who
were to carry themselves through that
awful orde&fon the morrow
= After he left her Mrs. Place cried little
but bore up wonderfully well. She had ur-
derstood. she said, that she must die.
Day of Terror to Prisoners.
No one about the prison knew that Mon
day had been set as the day of execution.
An execution day is a day Of gloom here.
50
few. but when the doors of the death house
are to be opened the convicts show their
appreciation of the awful event They
speak in whispers. wondering whan 1t will
be over, and when it IL over there Is lobg-
drawn breathing of relief.
Yesterday, although there was no inlica-
ton that Monday was the appointed day,
Mrs. Place still occupied the room she had
tenanted since the day she WAS brought
here. It is the room in which Marie Bar
beri, the italian girl, spent her prison
days, on the top floor of the old building,
that served in years past as hospital
ALL that mand could suggest to give Mrs