Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-11-04
KILLED
IN CHAIR
r1urderer of President Nc
Kinley Pays Penalty
for Crime
Refuses Priestly Attend
anCe and Dies Without
Sign of Repentance
Autopsy Held and Body
Buried in Quicklime
to Destroy 1t.

Auburn, N. Y, Oct. 30.-President
McKinleyss assassin is dead. Leon z.
Czolgosz, alias Fred Nieman, was sue
cessfully electrocuted at Auburn
prison yesterday morning. He was pro
nounced dead at 7:15 a. m.
With Warden Mead and Superin-
tendent Collins in the lead, the little
procession marched down the stairway
leading to the south wing Of the
prison and into the corridor. Although
the guards had mounted the walls at
the usual time, o'clock, the thous-
aid convicts were not turned out I'M
til after the execution.
1t took but a minute to reach the
death house. The door opened and the
party passed through an antechamber,
formerly used as detention house, into
the corridor leading to the execution
chamber. AS the witnesses filed
through the corridor the occupants of
the death chamber could be seen.
Czolgosz heard the tread of the wit
nesses and grimly awaited the final
summons. Other murderers in their
cells waited for the appearance of the
condemned man. In the cell next to
that occupied by Czolgosz was Alfred
Krist, the Owego murderer, who is to
meet death in the same chair on Mon
day next
The door of the execution chamber
was opened and as the witnesses filed
slowly in they took their seats in the
chairs ranged along the sides and
back of the room. The chamber was
lighted by a number of incandescent
lights. Electrician E. F. Davis, who
has officiated at every electrocution
since the electrocution of Kemmler,
August 6, 1890, was waiting for his .fif-
been arranged with great care and all
was in readiness.
Warden Mead and Superintendent
Collins quickly took up their posi-
tions, Mead standing few feet from
the chair and in a position where he
could signal Electrician Davis when
the moment arrived.
The door was unlocked and swung
wide open. CzolgosZ was ready. He
was hustled out of the cell, and with
a brawny guard on either side was
marched to the chair. AS he entered
the death chamber he looked about
him. He stared blankly ahead and
was apparently nerving himself for his
last words.
The prisoner came forward with a
shambling gait, yet walked with free
motion. His sullen face was almost
CHASTITY in the dim light, but it was not
strained. Those who saw it for the
first time noted the effeminacy of the
lips, the long jaw and thick nose, the
unevenly nodded features of his round
face, the left eye being higher than the
right and the left ear higher than the
right. The guards hustled him into the
chair and in less time than it takes to
tell Czolgosz was on the brink of eter-
nifty.
The attendants seized Czolgosz'
1883 oAu3 pCio01LS L1O 81 ops AOuIO
them, bound them firmly. A cut had
been made in the right leg Of his trous-
ers, ready for the electrode, which was
applied after the mans leg had been
barred above the knee
His arms were bound to the arms of
the chair and straps were quickly
passed across the abdomen and chest
until he was firmly bound down Then
the face straps, covering the chin and
a part of the nose, were fastened in
place.
All was now ready for the adjust
ment of the wires. With his face al
most hidden by the straps, Czolgosz
made one final effort to talk. He was
evidently thinking of home, for just be-
fore the current was applied he said:
81 am sorry I could not see my faith
err"
Electrician Davis glanced earnestly
at the electrode and straps to see that
all was in readiness. He stepped back
and placed his hand on the lever. Then
Warden Mead gave the fatal signal
EIoCLflCldu Davis, SLduuIuS partially
concealed in the closet in the corner
turned the lever quickly and LOO volts
went coursing through the murderer's
body, which stiffened with a sudden
ness that was startling. Then the cur
rent was slowly reduced to 200 Then
the full current was turned on again
and slowly reduced to almost nothing
DR.. Macdonald. standing at CzoI-
gosz' left, stepped up and placed his
finger on the assassin's barred neck to
discover if there was still life in the
body. DR.. Germ, the prison physician
who was attired in the uniform re-
CURED by law. stepped on the right
and did likewise.