The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-11-01

was complete and the guards stepped
back.
THE DEATH STROKE

4
Warden Mead raised his hand and at
| 1890 O'Clock electrician Davis turned
| the switch that threw l. 100 volts OF elec-
! tricity into the living body.
The rush OF the current threw the
! body SO hard against the straps that
| they creaked perccptibly. The hands
| clinched suddenly and the whole at
| titude was one Of extreme tenseness.
| For forty-five seconds the full cur
| rent was kept on and slowly the cleo
| trician threw the switch back reducing
| the current volt by volt until IL was en-
| tirely cut of. Then just as IL had
reached that point he threw the lever
| back again for two or three seconds
| The body, which had collapsed as the
current was reduced, stifened up again
| against the straps.
When the current was turned on
again. DR.. Macdonald stepped TO the
| chair and put his hand over the heart.
| He said he 7elt no pulsation, but sug-
| gested that the current be turned on
| for a few seconds again.
Once more the body became rigid
At 7:15 O'Clock the current was turned
| off for a time.
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 o'clock the war
den raising his hand announced:
| 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 lald
| on the operating table.
| When the body of Czolgosz had beeTa
| removed from the room where he was
| killed TO the autopsy table, Auburn
| prison returned TO the routine or lts
| ordinary life. The prisoners who had
L hi lie 20
| leased at 7:45 o'clock and prison Work
| was resumed at once. There was no
| excitement among the convicts. Scarce
| ly hundred people had gathered out
| side the prison gate TO watch the Wit
| nesses enter and wait until they rCap-
| peared. The witnesses dispersed quick
| ly. some of them leaving for their
| homes as early as o'clock.
| THE AUTOPSY.
/ Naturally almost the entire attention
Of the physicians assigned to hold the
| autopsy was directed towards discov
/ ering if possible, whether the assassin
| was in anyway mentally irresponsible.
| The autopsy was conducted by DR..
| Carlos F. Macdonald, E. A. Spitzka
| and prison physician Germ. The top
| of the head was sawed off through the
| thickest part of the skull, which was
| found to be of normal thickness, and 1t
| was the unanimous agreement Of the
| microscopial examination that the
brain was normal or slightly above nor
i NAL. This demonstrated to the salts
faction of the physicians that in no
way was CzolgosZ's mental condition
except as it might have been perverted.
responsible for the crime.
i The autopsy was completed shortly
before noon, when the surgeons issued
the following brief statement:
L 1.-The autopsy was made by Mr.. Ed
I'D Crit tzly Of Vnrly lar
the immediate supervision and direction
of DR.. Carlos F. Macdonald, of New
York and DR.. John Germ, prison ply
sician. The autopsy occupied over
three hours and embraced a careful
examination of all the modify organs.
!, revealed a perfectly healthy state Of all
tH?e organs, including the brain.
"All of the physicians who attended
the execution were present at the au-
| topsy and all concerned in the findings
of the examiners"
: THE COFFIN FILLED WITH ACID.
The body was placed in a black stain
, ed pine coffin, every portion Of the anat-
omy being replaced under the super
ivision of DR.. Germ and warden Mead
| Shortly afterward it was taken to The
prison cemetery and an extraordinary
| precaution taken to completely destroy
, it. A few days ago under the warden s
. order an experiment was made to de-
| termine the power of quick time in the
destruction Of flesh and bone, which
| was not satisfactory. Warden Mead
at once conferred with some of the
!, physicians present and determined. in
) CONJUNCTION with superintendent Col
Inns, that the purpose of the law was
| the destruction of the body; that it was
!, not necessary to use quick time for that
| end. Accordingly a carboy of acid was
obtained and poured upon the body in
the coffin after it had been lowered into
, the grave Straw was used in the four
corners of the grave as the earth vas
> put in to give vent to such gases as
/, | might form.
1t is the belief of the physicians that
the body will be entirely disintegrated
within twelve hours. During that time
> and as long as deemed necessary a
: guard will be kept over the unmarked
:, grave.
aI A lengthy report prepared this after
noon by the autopsy surgeons related
q entirely to the brain and was of a
I highly technical character. After SCI
: entifically describing to the minItest
: detail the brain of the dead murderer
the report concludes as follows:
= mo anomalies We're found The
! brain in general is we'll developed. suf-
q ficiently marked with fissures, and The
lobes are in normal proportion"
The surgeons have not yet drawn 2
z report on what the autopsy disclosed
as to the other organs.
p Rev. Cordello Herrick. chaplain oi
= the prison, was in the death chember
' ready for any call that might b. made
for his services. He was not wanted
I by the prisoner, however, and sat qlIi
city in the rear of the chamber
Il throughout the execution.
Il The clothing and personal effects OF
81 the prisoner were burned under direc-
y ton Of warden Mead shortly after the
= execution.
a THREATENING LETTERS PRE-
| SERVED.
j Prison superintendent Collins made
the following statement to the Associ-
ated Press:
The execution was one of the most
successful ever conducted in the state
Extraordinary care had to be taken in
!, the case because both the warden and
j / received hundreds of Threatening LET
tiers, many of them asserting IN vfo-