The St. Louis Republic., 1901-10-30

extinct. The body showed eight amperes o
an would be given by larger or stouter q
re chance TO percolate. II was as sue q
'eratsd at I'm all my experience" .
- . . O . . . . q q . . . q q y
| back and carry himself erect. his chir
| Quivered very perceptibly.
DEATH-DEALING
| CURRENT TURNED on.
1t was just exactly I'll o'clock when he
I crossed the threshold but minute had
| elapsed and he had just finished the las,
statement when the strapping was com.
pieted and the guards stepped back. War
den Meade raised his head and at 7:12:3
Electrician Davis turned the switch that
threw 100 volts of electricity into the
/. living body.
The rush Of the current threw the body
SO hard against the straps that they
creaked perceptibly. The hands clinched
suddenly and the whole attitude was one
Of extreme tenseness. For forty-five Sec
onds the full current was kept on. and then
slowly the electrician threw the switch
back, reducing the current volt by volt until
1t was cut OF entirely.
Then. Just as It had reached that point.
he threw the lever back again for two or
three seconds. The body. which had col
lapsed as the current was reduced, stiffened
up again against the straps.
When IL was turned OF again Doctor Mac
Donald stepped to the chair and put his
hand over the heart. He said he felt no
pulsation. but suggested that the current
be turned on for a few seconds again. Once
more the body became rigid. At 7l5 the
current was turned of for good.
EXECUTION CONSUMED
ONLY FOUR MINUTES.
From the time Czolgosz had left his cell
until the full penalty was paid. less than
four minutes had elapsed. The physicians
present used the stethoscope and other
tests to determine II any life remained. and
at 7:17 the Warden, raising his hand, an
nounced:
Gentlemen, the prisoner is dead"
The witnesses filed from the chamber,
many of them visibly affected, and the body
was taken from the chair and laid on the
operating table.
The jury that witnessed the execution OF
Czolgosz and returned the formal finding
In his case was composed rs follows: Fore
man, John p. jacket. Auburn: Ashley W.
Cole. Albany: H H. Bender. Albany:
Charles r. Skinner. Albany; George Wes-
ton. Norwich. N. Y; D. L. Ingalls,. West
field: H. o. Ely. Binghamton: Charles r.
Huntley. Bunalo; Doctor W. A. Howe.
Phelps. n. T.: Doctor @. r. Trowbridze.
Buffalo: John A. 1leicher. New York. The
physicians were: Doctor Carlos A. Mac
Donald. New York: Doctor Germ, Auburn.
Other witnesses were: II. Bonesteel. Troy:
W. d. Wolf, Rochester: c. F. Ratgan,
Auburn; George r. Peck. Auburn. N. T.;
". n. Thayer. former Warden OF Danemora
Prison. who assisted Warden Meade. and
three newspaper correspondent.
CELL WAS NEAR ROOM
CONTAINING THE CHAIR.
From the time Of his entry into the death
kuose Czolgosz was confined in the cell
nearest to the death chamber. 30 that when
- - ii
he had only to step a few feet through the
stone arch, and a. the great iron door
swung behind him he was beside the elec-
tric chair. The execution-room has seats
for the witnesses. and fs lighted with sever
a windows placed high in the walls In one
corner Of the wall Is the closet in which the
keyboard II situated and in which Electric
clan Davis stood when he switched the cur
rent on.
The prsliminaries were exactly like those
Of every other execution. The witnesses
gathered In the offce Of the Warden on the
second door OF the prison at 6:l5. At a
few minutes before the witnesses were
told to quickly follow the Warden and
State Superintendent OF Prisons, and after
walking through the long corridor took
their places silently beside the death chair
IN the execution-room.
The iron door leading to the condemned
cells was closed, but behind Il the War
den's assistants were preparing Czolgosz
for death. The Warden waited until the
witnesses were seated and then made the
usual formal declaration that those present
in the room were merely there as witnesses
to . legal execution Of murderer and that
under no circumstances and no matter
what the provocatiop was any one to leave
his seat or make any disturbance
When the body Of Czolgosz had been re-
moY ed from the room where he was killed
to the autopsy table. Auburn prison re-
turned to the routine OF its ordinary life
The prisoners. who had been kept locked in
their cells, were released at 7:s5 o'clock and
prison work was resumed at once. There
was no excitement among the convicts.
hundred people had gathered out
side the prison gate to watch the witnesses
enter and wait until they reappeared. The
witnesses dispersed quickly. some Of them
leaving for their Zones as early az 0
o'c,eck. .
Prison Superintendent Collins made the
following statement to the Associated
Press:
Just consider that within about six
weeks from the death Of his distinguished
victim, Czoigosx was regularly tried, con-
victed. sentenced ard executed. and this
despite the fact that the law compelled us
to give him four weeks to prepare for death. |
All has been done in a dignihed way, and |
the greatest credit ID due to Warden Mead |
for the care he has taken to strip the case |
Ct sensationalism. The execution was one |
of the most successful ever conducted in |
the State.
WILL PRESERVE NAMES
OF CzOLGOsZ's FRIRENDs.
Extraordinary care had to be taken in |
the case because both the Warden and |
received hundreds Of threatening letters. |
many Of them asserting in violent and In |
temperate language that tie prisoner would |
never be put In the chair. have decided |
for the present that We will not destroy |
any Of the hundreds Of letter. written to |
the Warden and myself as TO the |
case. Eventually they VIII be destroyed.
but II has struck me that perhaps We should |
make list Of them. especially Of those let |
ters signed with full and proper names, in |
which coincidence was offered to the prison. |
or or threats against us were made. |
my plan ID to get the addresses Of these |
people and keep the list for police refer |
snce. believe that there may come q |
time when such Q list would be valuable ln |
running down anarchists."e
K0T WANTED
Dr TIKE PRISONER. 80,
The Reverend CordelIo HerTick. chaplain |
pf the prison. was In the death chambae. |