Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-01-11

rope breaking as It was snapped taut
by the weight of the condemned man,
when the drop fell In the opinion of
Dr. S. ". Mckewen, the prison physi-
clan, who Witnessed the execution.
Kent suffered no conscious thought
after the first tightening of the moose.
In an official statement the doctor SAID
that the mans neck was only partly
broken hy the fall
The trap was released at lis y. IN.
ny an electrical device. AT Il signal
each of six deputy shcriffs pushed an
electric button one of the buttons
connected with a wire which released
the trap II worked instantly and
Kent shot downward. but the strain
was too great for the rope, which
hroke near the ring in the top of the
sallows. AS Ken,s body fell to the
floor the deputy shcriffs and physi-
clans rushed to the condemned muir
dcrcr's side while some nf the Wit
ncsscs were lifting the body others
took the unnooscd end of the rope and
fastened i, over the balustrade in the
renr of the gallows At l:25 y. m. DR..
Nc iewcn made an examination ana
found that there was slight pulse.
/
taken down.
PHYSICIANS STATEMENT
The following statement was issued by
Dr. Mcilewen after the execution had
been completed:
owing to an unavoidable accident
hch no one was responsible Tor, m"
condemned mans neck was only pa tal-
| ly broken by ihc fall. But h. suffered
no conscious thought and ded from the
, shock"
before the execution. the prison orIi-
Gals had tested the sall"Ws With bag
of sand weighing more than leo pounds
Every thing worked perfectly a. the trial.
| kent west to the scaffold without ex-
hbitnS any emotion. He replied no
when Sheriff J. II. l<inirN asked him he
fore adjusting the cap over his face
whether he had any thing to say.
hn autopsy was performed on the
body by pr. Il. II. Stone of Burlington.
the state pathologis,. assisted by Dir. {.
| +. Dalton. with three other physicians
as witnesses. II Was found that Kent
was in good physical condition and moth
| ing abnormal was found. The brain was
removed and taken to burlington
| Three hours after Kent had been pro-
nounced dead his body was lowered into a
| grave in the lot owned by the prison in
the Ascutney cemetery. None Of his rela-
| tives was present
SECOND SIMILAR ACCIDENT
This is the second execution in Yer
mont in recent years which has been
marred by an accident. When Mrs. Mary
Rogers paid the penalty on the scaffold
on December s. 1905. Tor the murder of her
husband, the rope, which is the same one
used to-day, stretched so that her toes
touched the floor. The incident led TO an
agitation for the abolition of the deatl
penalty in Vermont, but no action re-
suited.
Before the execution to-day seNcra
senators and representatives made II
plain that they intended to carry cam
pairn into the Legislature for the re-
nloval of capital punishment and the sub
stitution of life imprisonment as the pen
atty for murder in the first degree, ina
their purpose was strengthened by the ac
cident at the galloWs was the genera
feeling here tonight.
KEN''s LAST DAYS.
Ills last days were spent in room
near the hospital in the east wing OF I'M
prison. over the old kitchen. ana from his
window he could see the beautiful out
lines of Ascutney mountain, which now
ever never appealed to him. He gave hi
keepers very little trouble. and husie'
himself in writing upon scraps of paper
keeping u record of the number Of day
until this fatal NTH of January
The scaffold. the same one by the va,
which has been used since the doub
hanging in lSA, was erected In the wes
) wing, near the iron stairway leadin'
to the cells and in plain "ieM of the Guar'
room
After the reading Of the death warran
to the condemned man by Sheriff kin'ry
Kent marched with firm steps to tn
gal!ows. accompanied by the she''ffs AM
the prison chaplain. A. W, Ford
Among the deputies present and as
sist,ng we've r. A. s;parorh of Whit
rivev Junction y. G. Tinkhar of Roches
tc:. D. j. Mcdonald ara W l.. Fair
oanks OF Springfield. g. ]. Wnohip o
Weston S. y Taylor Of Windsor, y. NJ
Newton OF Fclchyile +. \. Leland o
Chester and f.. f.. cushman of Bethel.
RENT A DEGENERATE.
Kent was 10 years old and vas az tn
type OF man known as moral degener
ate. his career OF CRIME beg inning n
the time when he was seven years ol'
with pctit larceny. lie came Originally
from Warnshoro. bu, "a Sood deal of hi
time, when ne was not in states priso
or an insane asylum, was passed in tn
vicinity of Waiingford. II" never worke
at anything for any lcnS'h OF time IA