Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1901-11-01

took a position to the left Of the chair.
Warden Mead stood directly in front,
and Electrician Davis retired to the
little room containing the electrical
switchboard.
Thayer gave the signal and the cur
rent was turned through the electric
lights, flooding the chamber with bril-
liant light and dramatically showing
the power that was used to kill the
prisoner.
Warden Mead gave the signal to
have the prisoner brought in, and at
7:1oA o'clock Chief Keeper Upper
swung open the big covered platform
upon which the chair rests.
His head was erect. and with his
gray flannel shirt turned back at the
neck he looked quite boyish. He was
intensely pale and as he tried to throw
his head back and carry himself erect
his chin quivered very perceptibly.
Talks in Death Chair.
AS he was being seated he looked
about at the assembled witnesses with
quite steady stare and said:
II killed the president because he
was an enemy Of the good people-of
the working people,
His voice trembled slight at first,
but gained strength with each word,
and he spoke in good English. Il am
not sorry for my crime he said
head back on the rubber head rest
and drew the strap across his forehead
and chin. AS the pressure on the
straps frightened and bound the jaw
tightly, he mumbled:
Il am awfully sorry l could not see
my father
1t was exactly Til o'clock when he
crossed the threshold, but minute
had elapsed and he had just finished
the last statement when the strapping
was completed and the guards stepped
back.
Warden Mead raised his hand, and
at 7:l2:30 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 atti-
tude was one OF extreme tenseness.
For forty-five seconds the full cur
rent was kept on and then slowly the
electrician threw the switch back, re-
ducing the current volt by volt until
it was cut off entirely. Then just as it
had reached that point he threw the
lever back again for two or three sec
onds.
Heart Ceases It's Pulsa tlOns.
The body, which had collapsed as
the current was reduced, stiffened up
against the straps. When it was
turned off again DR.. Macdonald
stepped to the chair and put his hand
over the heart. He said he fet no pal
sations, but suggested that the
current be turned on for few seconds
again. ..
Once more the body became rigid.
At 7:15 the current was turned off for
good
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 steth-
oscope and other tests to determine if
any life remained.
At TIT the warden, raising his
hand, announced:
Gentlemen, the prisoner is dead"
The witnesses filed from the cham
Der. many of then visibly affected, and
the body was taken from the chair and
laid on the operating table.
The Official Witnesses.
The jury that witnessed the execu-
ton of CZclgosz and returned the for
NAL finding in his case was composed
as follows: Foreman, John p Jacket
Auburn; Ashley w. Cole, Albany; H.
Fl. Bender, Albany; Charles r. Skin
ner. Albany; George Weston, Nor
wich, N. Y; D. L. ingalls,, Westfeld;
H. o. Ely, Binghamton; G. J. Wallace,
Syracuse; Charles r. Huntley, Buffa-
10; DR.. w. A. Howe, Phelps, N. Y;
DR.. G. r. Trowbridge, Buffalo, and
John A. Sleicher, New York.
The physicians were: DR.. Carlos A.
Mcdonald of New York and Dr.. Germ
of Auburn. Other witnesses were: E.
Bonesteel, Troy; w. D. Wolff, Roches-
ter; c. F. Rattigan, Auburn; George
r. Peck, Auburn, N. Y; w. N. Thay-
er, former warden. Of Dannemora
prison, who assisted Warden Mead
and three newspaper correspondents
WHERE ASSASSIN WAS EXECUTED
Death Chamber Is a Com parativeIy New
Building.
Auburn, N. Y, Get. 3l--The cham
her in which the murderer of President
Mckinley was executed was not the
same in which the first electrnc11tinn