The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-10-20
DOES THE HEAD LIVE?
1t Does, Says a Naval Surgeon Who
Has Seen Many Decapitations.

1t Does, Says a Naval Surgeon Who
Has Seen Many Decapitations.
Does decapitation cause instantan-
eous death? DR.. Oliver D. Norton of
the United States Navy declares that
it does not, and his conclusions are
based on personal observation gained
as a witness of nearly fifty executions
DR.. Norton has been in the naval SER
vice for eighteen years. He is at pres
ent stationed in the receiving ship Min
neapolis, at the League Island Navy
Yard. He has been around the world
several times. He has seen much SER
vice in the Philippines, and when the
allied forces marched to the relief OF
Pekin he accompanied them. 1t was on
this expedition that he gathered the
tdata that forms the basis of, his
| declaration that the death Of a man be-
headed is not instantaneous. At Cam
ton he witnessed the executions of
thirty-six Chinese in one afternoon,
and studied the gruesome spectacle
from a purely scientific standpoint In
| telling about the spectacle yesterday
DIR. Norton said:
| 1t was on a Sunday afternoon in last
November that the wholesale execution
took place I was standing outside
pottery where the official execution
ground is situated, when there were
loud shouts and a crowd Of Chinese
came running up. The thirty-six con-
demned men followed in filters carried
by coolies. The mems elbows were
drawn back and pinioned; their hands
were bound together and heavy irons
were on their legs. The filters were
turned over and their occupants, spilled
out on the ground. Seven came in the
first batch, and these were forced to
kneel In the street and wait nearly ten
minutes for the arrival of the others.
Piracy and murder were the crimes
for which the majority of the men were
to be killed
When the others arrived they too
were made to kneel, the party being ar
ranged in a long line. two and three
abreast A tag was attached to each
mans pigtail and a similar tag was
fastened to the blouse. This was for
the purpose of identification and to in
sure the burying of each head with
1.-THE body to which it belonged. A stick
stuck out of the collar of each mans
blouse and to this was attached a pa
per containing an account of the GRIM
inal and his crime. The men showed
no signs of being under the influence of
opium and were apparently uncon-
cerned
| A high official, with a red umbrella,
came out to see that justice was done,
and a guard of fifteen soldiers lined
up to prevent any attempt at a rescue.
Many of the condemned men exchanged
farewells with friends in the crowd OF
on-lookers, but there were no signs of
grief or collapse on the part of any
one.
| Two executioners performed the en-
tire thirty-six decapita tions. The
headsmen were armed with heavy two
handled swords. They did their work
clearly and rapidly, and in all but three
cases the heads fell at a single stroke
There was no pause on the part of the
executiohers and each seemed to BIZ
anxious to Guido the other by perform
ing the greater number of decapita.
lions. Before each stroke the heads.
men rose on his toe and delivered the
blow with all his force. His assistants
followed him and when the bodies die
not fall they pushed them over.
The executioner began their work a
the front of the line and those behind
saw their companions accept the fate
that was to be theirs in a few mo-
ments. There was no f1inching, how
ever, and not a man tainted or showed
any symptoms of being about to d.
so.
A remarkable feature of the occasion
was the demeanor of the spectators
AS the sword fell on the first victim
there was wild outburst of cheering
and this was repeated after eacl
stroke I asked Chinese the reason
for the demonstration and he salt
that it was to make the doomed mel
brave.
AS each head was severed a stream
of blood spouted from two to three fee
in the air, and by the time the las
> man had been beheaded the bodies la,
in lake of red.
DR.. Norton's observations on the re
suits of decapitation have created