The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-11-25

remained stationary there three Sec
onds and then slowly through another
IL seconds moved around again to
maximum, where 1t remained vibra
tory for three seconds. Then back to
| the maximum twice again it took its
course, until, at the expiration of full
minute the current was shut off.
DEATH INSTANTANEOUS.
Beattie's death was instantaneous,
according to the prison surgeon. The
setting" Of the electrodes and in pre-
pairing the straps and clamps to with
| stand any strain.
There was no slip. The murderer's
| exit was as painless as modern science
could provide.
PASSED PEACEFUL NIGHT.
Beattie passed a fairly peaceful
When he arose this morning he
dressed with his usual care and ate
| sparingly. He did not appear either
nervous or apprehensive, although he
was necessarily under the eyes of his
guards, who had doubled their vigil
/ lance in the final moments so that the
! law might not be cheated.
During the reading Of the death
warrant, the doomed man maintained
his composure. He stood without a
tremor.
AS the superintendent finished, he
SWdyG u Dul So iIHpCICGpllply lldI IS
might have been shifting his weight
from one foot to the other. When the
deputy wardens fell in on either side
of him, he bowed his head a moment
Il am ready, gentlemen" he said
simply, and the death march was be-
gun.
Just before Superintendent Woods
and his men appeared, Rev. Mr.. Fix
knelt in prayer with the condemned
youth. He prayed for divine forgive
ness for him. Beattie appeared af-
| fected when the prayer was finished.
The father today is a broken man as
the result of his sons crime, although
he chung to the last to the belief that
| his son was innocent.
No member of the Beattie family
was present at the execution nor at
the penitentiary when the death march
| was begun. Preparations for the re-
! ception Of Douglas Beattie, brother of
the doomed man, had been made in
the superintendent Office, but Doug
las did not appear.
The failure of any member of the
family to be present was welcomed by
the prison authorities for they feared
their charge might break down at the
! last moment.
/ THE IDENTITY UNKNOWN.
Carriages were waiting for the wit
! nesses and they were driven rapidly
away The identity of but few was
known.
After the legal formalities had been
complied with and the witnesses had
gone, the body of Beattie was removed
from the chair and taken to the NOR
tuary room adjoining. Here It was
laid to await the coming of the coro-
ner, who arrived shortly afterward.
Rev. DR.. Fix remained as the sole
watcher.
All the preparations had been made
for the removal of the body. The
elder Beattie last night sent to the
undertaken the brown suit which his
son had worn in court when the jury
| declared his guilt. In this the body
| clad for burial
One feature of the Beattie execution
that aroused a great deal of interest
and speculation was the attitude as
summed toward it by the Virginia news
papers which are forbidden by a stat
ute to print the details of an electro
cution.
PAPERS VIOLATE LAW.
AS a part of the law which sub
stituted the electric chair for the
hangman's moose, the Virginia legis-
lature wrote this paragraph into the
statute:
No newspaper or person shall print
or publish the details of the execu-
ton of criminals under this act. Only
the fact that the criminal was exc
cuted shall be printed or published"
provide a penalty for a violation of
this section. Hitherto the law has
been complied with, out Of respect to
state authority. but the Beattie case
| has so enthralled the state during the
| past several months that there were
indications today that many newspa-
pers would feel compelled to disregard
the statute on this one occasion and
give as many details as could be OBJ
tanned.
There is some doubt as to just where
Beattie will be buried. 1t was thought
by the Beattie family that the way
had been made clear to inter the body
in the family plot in Maury Gene
terry, South Richmond. The family. it
is said, had planned to place the hus-
band as near as possible to the body
of his murdered bride. But no permit
for the burial has yet been issued by
the trustees of the cemetery.
This may or may not be an over
sight. but none of the officials of the
cemetery association would discuss it
today. The city ordinances forbid the
interment of the bodies of executed
criminals in city cemeteries.
In anticipation of the enforcement
of this rule. Councilman L. C. Patran,
of South Richmond, friend Of the
Beattie family. put through the city
council a special permit suspending
the ordinance in the case of young
Beattie.
That the cemetery association does
not recognize the right of the council
to take this action is presaged by the
fact that so far no steps have been
taken to prepare the grave.
Young Beattie's death chamber was
below ground. 1t has no windows. Be-
cause of it's isolation, and the death
cells adjoining, the chahmber is silent
as an abandoned tomb Into one
corner Of the chamber a black cable
dropped. 1t was the heavy main wire
leading from the dynamos of the city
lighting plant, half mile away. The
prison authorities do not depend on
their own dynamos for the fatal
shock.
over this cable poured 2.200 volts OF
electricity. 1t was as silent as it was
deadly There was no purring of dyna-
] mos to indicate its fatal power. When
the executioneer turned on the full
voltage and the body responded to the