The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1901-10-28
ON EVE OF COLLAPSE
He Will Probably Have to Be Car
ried to the Chair.
WRETCHEDEST STATE POSSIBLE
CzolgOsz Will Die Tomorrow and
His Body Be .Cremated
in Buffalo.


AuUurn, N. ~ OcC. Z6.-W1th no more
feeling than an animal, the strange wretch
that killed President Mckinley slumbered
in his cell last night less than thirty-six
hours from eternity. He evidenced no
interest in anything that transpired
around him in the death-house yesterday.
He saw no persons other than the guards
who watched his every move. He did not
utter twenty words during the entire day.
He ate but little of the extra food brought
him. He did not ask to see the brother
who had come from Cleveland at his re-
quest. His sole indication of interest was
at the noise made by the executioner in
the chamber of death twenty-five feet
from where he sat in sullen silence.
1t was just before his dinner was
brought. He had been sitting for three
hours without saying a word. Clarence
Egnor, another condemned man who oc-
cupied the next cell to him, was reading
aloud from one of the prison books. Sud
denly there came the sound of a hammer
and the voices of men moving in the death
chamber. 1t was State Electrician Davis.
the legal executioner, the twist of whose
hand has sent twenty murderers to
their death. Davis, with an assistant,
was testing the apparatus, arranging the
death chair to his satisfaction and con-
Meeting the wires. AS he gave directions
Egnor stopped reading and said to the
guard in front of his cell: They're get
ting the chair ready amt they?"
CzOlgOsz Is Interested.
The, guard made no reDly. but the ques-
tion aroused the wretch in the cell next
to him. He got up and paced the eight
foot from door to wall feverishly, sat down
again and then walked or rather stag
gered to the door. The guard came to
the grating.
Well he said, what's the matter?''
Nothing" said the assassin doggedly.
Il thought l heard something
The guard made no reply. The assassin,
hanging on the door, looked moodily out at
the outside wall. He said nothing for
minute
What do you want? asked the guard.
"Anything?"
NO." stammered the assassin, not look
ing up. Il thought 1 heard something that
was all, that was all"
What was it? What did he mean?
What did he mean that man in there?"
ready" said the guard.
The assassin staggered away from the
door and the other condemned man heard
moan as he sank back on his couch. He
had to be called twice before he obeyed
the command from the guard to eat his
dinner. He ate .sparingly and smoked only
an inch or so Of the cigar which was
handed to him.
Davis and his assistants were occupied
in ri of tha
sassin for an hour. Davis, who is a wiry
little man with mustache, was very
business-lik In making his report to the
deputy warden. He said: Everything is
all ready
His work consisted Of comparing the
measurements Of the assassin to see if any
changes were necessary. He found that
no changes would be required.
Won't Be a Long Job.
He said: GAS far as I am concerned,
everything is ready. 1t won't be a long
job"
Davis did not see the assassin. He will
not see him until he is led or dragged
from his cell to the death chair on Tues
day morning. An extra battery was
brought by Davis and will be placed in
position tomorrow. Every precaution
Will be taken to make the work of ex-
termination as swift and certain as pos
sble. The officials of the prison think
that within three minutes from the time
the assassin is brought from his cell the
current of electricity will be turned on
and he will be dead man They do not
anticipate any scene in the death cham
ber He will not attempt to make
speech, as he told his brother yesterday
he would make, unless he rallies from
the state of collapse into which he has
sunk. The guards believe he will not
realize his proximity to death until he
has been strapped in the death chair.
From his condition to-day it is not prob
able that he will revive sufficiently to
attempt a harangue.
No attempt will be made to brace him
up for the ordeal by administering stim-
ulants. Some of the men who have been
sent to the death chair have been given
drugs or whisky. The wretch who killed
President Mckinley will not be given
either. If he collapses in such a manner
that he is unable to walk from his eel.
to the death chair, he will be carried BY
the guards, strapped in the chair of death
and the current turned on.
The orders to the warden are to make
the execution as expeditions as possible.
The brother of the assassin Will be per-
mitted to see him tomorrow. He will
make a last attempt to induce the as
sassin to make a more complete confess
sion than he made to the Buffalo authori-
ties
The brother and the priest, Father
Fudzinsi, who saw the assassin last week,
will be the only persons admitted to the
assassin's cell to-day, unless his condi-
ton becomes such as to require the
services Of a physician
Priest on Hand Again.
Father Hyacinthe Fulizinki of Buffalo,
who visited the assassin last Friday, was .
with him for nearly an hour last even
ing. After leaving the prison he said
that the assassin was in a better frame of
mind and that he was disposed to accept
consultations. He would not say, however,
that the assassin had repented. Said the
priest:
He has admitted that if he had his life to
live over he would be a different fellow.
have strong hopes for him.
Father Fudzinksi said that the prisoner
was in morbid, highly nervous state, SO
paralyZed with fear that he is in semi
stupor which gives him an appearance or
He volunteers 1t as his per-
sonal belief that the assassin was on the
verge OF collapse and would be carried to
the death chair Father Fudzinski said he
would offer his services and hoped they
would be accepted He is a strange
product, a puzzle" said the priest.
All the details for the execution are
complete. The death warrant will be
read to the assassin in his cell this attoE-