Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-01-10
@isefllaneous Readina.
DOES ELEcTRocUTIoN kILL7
Says Modern Method Does Not Pro.
duce Death,

duee Death.
Does electrocution really kill? o,
does 1t only render unconscious-ths
patient dying, in point Of fact, upor
the operating table. during the autop-
sy?
There are able physicians who con.
tend that such is the case. Again 9th.
, ers say that 1t is not. Inasmuch as q
human life Is in the balance, this Is q
point worth considering-a question oi
some Importance from the ethical nc
less than the, scientific point of view.
America is the only country in the
world in which electrocution is the
form Of capital punishment employed
There are many who do not believe in
capital punishment at all; but this is
not the place to argue that point. AS
suming that death has to be meted out
to the prisoner, what is the safest, the
speediest, and the most humane way
OF doing SO? Is 1t electrocltion?
The preliminaries must be trying to
the strongest nerves! Embodied,
strapped into chair, having the ad-
justments made to the head, feet, etc.
there Is nothing heroic or stirring in
this, nothing that suggests anything
beyond the dCS whipped to its kennel,
and breathing its last alone, uncared
for, destitute! 1t is a miserable climax
to life which might have been full
| Of promise and hope.
The chair itself Is a forbidding look
Ing thing. at best, and suggests the
torture chair Of the Spanish inquisi-
tion. I once saw chair of this latter
description, in which the unfortunate
prisoners were strapped and tortured !;
and It assuredly looked no more omni-
! Gus than the chair of electrocution.
Then the death cell, Gagged in, as
though some wild beast were within,
presents curious paradox, in our
modern civilization and culture. In
front Of each Of these death cells
(there are quite a row Of them in
Sing Sing) white blinds are drawn, so
that when a prisoner Is led between
the line Of cells, their inmates cannot
see who 1t Is thus led to his fate.
The prisoner once in the death
chamber, the process Of strapping COM
mences, and in a few moments the
prisoner is secure beyond all efforts to
release himself. He Is blindfolded, and
the service for the dead Is read aloud.
A physician stands In attendance, the
electrician Is at the switch, waiting for
the signal to throw in and let forth tho
death dealing current. The signal Is
given; the lever is thrown home and
this is what follows, in the words Of
an eyewitness:
There Is not much to see. Those
who would witness a killing by elec-
tricity from morbid curiosity surely
would be disappointed. A deep whir-
ring sound shoots into the air, and for
a moment reminds you Of the hum
ming Of giant top. The face Of the
victim is hidden nearly completely by
the headgear attached to the chair, so
that the muscular writhing Is kept
from view to a large extent Only
the mouth can be seen clearly, and the
distortion is enough to make you feel
glad the whole face Is not exposed. AS
the current shoots into the body the
torso straightens out with bound,
and swells until you think the heavy
straps are about to burst. The strain
upon them Is intense. The fearful VOL
tage shot with lightning rapidity into
the body, and circulating through ev-
cry vein, makes the body quiver and
vibrate so quickly that the movement
Is scarcely visible. The current Is then
lowered and the tension Is taken off the
body; but again the current is turned
on and again the body stretches and
bounds, pressing hard against the
straps and what was once a man falls
limp and lifeless, huddled in heap In
the bottom Of the avenging chair. 1t
is this suddenness of death that i'm
! presses; this realization that a moment
before there stood before you a
breathing human being, while now be-
fore you lies lifeless corpse. The
prisoner had solved the great secret"
All this might not be so bad II the
electrocution really achieved the OBJ
ject sought. But does It? DR.. George
F. Shrady, late coroner Of Manhattan,
thinks that 1t does not, and In letter
written some time ago he said:
There seems to be great difference
Of opinion among eminent physicians
| and scientists as to whether the death
Of the criminal Is actually produced by
the electric current or by the doctors
who perform the autopsy. 1t has even
been hinted that the autopsy clause
| introduced in the law was added for
the purpose Of making certain Of the
death Of the criminal.
Prof. d'Arsonval, Of the French
Academy Of Sciences, goes so far as to
contend that the electric current mere
ly produces suspended animation, and
that the victim may be restored to
consciousness and life by artificial
respiration. Prof. d'Arsonval believes
that the electric shock does not kill
and considers electrocution objection
able and Of questionable effect"
My father" continues DR.. Shrady
was one of the medical experts Sc
lected to witness the first elctrocution
in New York state-that of William
Kemmier He unhesitatingly character
lied it as the most brutal and revolt
ing exhibition he had ever seen and
seemed inclined to believe that the old
method Of executing murderers by
hanging was. after all, the most hu-
name. Kemmier was subjected To
two contacts of the electric current
lasting seventeen seconds and seventy
seconds, respectively. After the first
contact the victim was pronou"" q
dead by one or two Of the physicians
present, when my father called theiI
attention to the fact that the man was