The Washington times., 1901-10-30


men in the other death cells. one of
| whom. Fred Krist. OF Waverly. Is to die
| next Monday. were very quiet.
Many of the execution witnesses were
nervous. and they had hardly time to
| take in all that they saw and heard in
| the next few minutes before ii was all
over, and CZolgosZ was pronounced dead
| Ihey saw Davis and ThaYer soaking the
| sponge-wrapped electrodes Ia salt water.
| and giving final look at the straps anc
| wires. They heard the warden request
them to mSke no commotion ana refrain
| from conversation during the execution,
| and inform them that there were plenty
| of guards present.
They saw p bank of incand'Scent elfc-
| trio fights. which had been placed across
| the arms of the death chair and connected
with the wires which were to conduct the
| fatal CT trent to Czolgosz. They saw the
| chair itself. a grim looking piece OF fur
| niture, with its belts and wiring. While
| they We're still loOiIing they saw the lamps
| in the bank across the chair arms glow
| suddenly and then slowly fade away, and
| suddenly blaze out again. as Davis made
| his last test of the apparatus.
The bank Of lamps was removed at 1909,
| and not three minutes had elapsed since
| the witnesses had entered the death
| house Four guards had been sent TO
| Czolgosz's cell at 1906, and at 7:iO the
| warden went TO the door leading from the
| execution room to the inner corridor and
raped on II.
A half minute ltter the door flew open
and Czolgosz plunged into the room be-
| however, support him, with two more
| showing him ahead. He Wore a grey
| flannel shirt, open at the neck so that
| the stethoscope might be quickly applied
| later. as it was explained in whispers
| among the witnesses; dark grey trousers
| of shoddy. with the left leg slit from the
knee to the ankle. the same trousers the
| assassin wore when he came to the
prison; grey prison socks and prison
shoes.
BoastfuI to the Inst.
All this the witnesses saw. They saw him
| trip on the edge of the rubber mat on
which the death chair stood and stumble
over the left anklets projecting in front of
the chair legs. They noticed then that
his face was flushed and that his eyes
| were glittering and glancing wildly from
one end of the rows of the witness chairs
to the other. They noticed that there was
| nothing to indicate a breakdown-every-
thing TO show that the assa ssin would not
recant, as he had said he would not, but
they were not prepared for what followed
shortly after he sank back into the chair.
The guards and Davis and Thayer work.
ed with the straps and electrodes. Work
as rapidly as they would, they could not,
however, work fast enough. The anarch-
ist felt that he must strut once more
across the stage; make or. more flourish
for anarchists to remerIrer when they
called his name to mind. His lips opened,
but no sound came from them. though his
jaws worked convulsively. His face paled.
Then sounds came from the open mouth,
inarticulate speech at first and then the
phrases-jerked out with difficufty-of
vainglOrious boasts.
Some words that he said died away in
murnurs Other had no coherent relation
to one another. Enough was heard,
though, to make his meaning plain, and
witnesses confessed afterward that they
kept their chairs with difficulty. and with
difficulty refrained from execration Com
missioner Cole was one of these. and
thought it right to say so. No one felt
ashamed to admit similar impulses
Truly it was an audience which Gel
gosz addressed himself to, but he was
thinking of others whom his words might
reach: thinking more Of that, probably,
than Of the fate that was approaching.
As he snapped out the declaration that
he was not sorry for his crime the head
strap was affixed, blindfolding him and
closing his mouth.
That's the end Of talk from him." one
man whispered TO his neighbor. But it
was not As the mask shut out the last
of these words some trace of affection
revived in him and he mumbled behind
the leather which bound his jaws:
II am awful sorry 1 could not see my
father. That's all.
Even at that he was egotist to the last,
thinking not OF the fathers sorrow, but
of his own II was now lacking a few
seconds of 7:131z O'Clock. Only two min
utes had elapsed since the assassin had
been brought in and everything was ready
to put him to death The hand and leg
electrodes had been affixed, and as the
second hands of the watches held by
those who were keeping time pointed to
7:121s the warden's extended arm fell
The Current Applied.
Davis turned on the current. The watch
ers heard a CHASTITY sound-a sound like
blow-as the current of LOO volts-eight
amperes-sped through the body. every
muscle Of which contracted at the shock.
i TT,,
sponges of the leg electrOde. pour down
in stream and heard 1t splash on the
floor. And that was all they saw. except
a dead man In the chair that had held
a living occupant only few seconds be-
fore for there was no doubt in anyone's
mind, physician or layman, that the first
contact killed.
He never knew what hit him. said
Davis afterward.
The current was held at !. 100 volts fer a
few seconds. then reduced slowly to 200
volts. As the current lessened the con-
tracted muscles relaxed fmperceptibIy,
but so much so that when the full cur
rent was turned IN again at 7:l3. there
was another convulsion in the chair. The
full current was applied for a sew sec
ondS only. and then reduced to almost
nothing. At 7:13i. DIR. Macdonald and DR..
Germ made a brief examination of the
pulse. ard then suggested that there be
Once more, at 7:l41%. the fun current
swept through the body. and then was
shut off After an examination with the
stethOscope by Eir. Macdonald and DIR.
Germ, the assassin was officially pro-
nounced dead. The other physicians pres
ent accepted the invitation to satisfy
themselves that this was
Czolgosz died probably in a little over
two minutes after he had reached the |
death room. There was no cae there to |
whom those two minutes an the two |
that followed had not seemed longer |
stretches Of time. periods TO be measured |
by emotions only, not by clocks and |
watches. They filed out rapidly, leaving /
only the guards and electricians. who re- |
moved the body and placed it on the |
floor.
An hour and a half later. when it had |
grown cold. the body was placed on an |
operating table. brought in for the pur- |
pose. and the autopsy was performed The !
detailed report on that autopsy. 50 far |
as II related to the brain. was filed late |
this afternoon. II was Sc technical that |
only the conclusion was intelligible TO the |
lay mind. This was:
THE brain in general is well developed, |
sufficiently marked with assures, and the |
lobes are in normal proportion"
QuickIime and Acids ed.
Mr.. Spitzka took several drawings of |
the brain for future study.
The only thing that was left to do in |
the passing of Czolgosz was to bury his |
body The burial took place this after
noon. The body was placed IN a coffin
case. ard loaded on a wagon, which car
ried il by a roundabout way to the prison
cemetery. Another wagon, going ny an
other route had brought quickli.1p and |
acids to the graveyard The preta.tions |
taken had been successful IN ev9i uE- /
crowd and CAly n few pcrsons saw he |
scene wPich followed when the coffin 'ase
was opened. lowered into th -,.. and
quickime and acids durIp d 3arth |
was shoveled on quickly, IN .Hs grave |
dllcd up. 1t viii be hard I' 20 find