Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-07-30

Johnson. who surveyed the figure that
was still mumbling the death prayer
in the chair. Johnson half turned
his head and the executioner jammed
the switch.
The First Shock
The first shock lasted a full minute
and the executioner said that 1t was
1850 volts and ten amperes in
strength. 1t came while Becker was
still commencing his soul to his
Maker.
The two prison physicians stepped
forward to examine the collapsed fig-
ure that sat supported in the death
chair by the thick black leather
straps. The stethoscope was applied
to the heart and Dr. Charles Farr, the
prison physician pressed his finger
against an artery in the neck. There
was still a feeble fluttering of the
heart.
Dead"
The physician stepped back from
the mat and again the electric current
pulsed through the body. After a
hasty examination DR.. Farr asked that
a third shock be given. This lasted
five seconds. An examination that
took several minutes followed. Three
physicians among the witnesses then
made an examination and DR.. Farr.
at 5.55 o'clock quietly announced II
pronounce this man dead"
During the night Becker pencilled
on a piece of paper what he caption
ed MY Dying Declaration" 1t was
taken to the warden's office where two
copies were typewriter, which Beck
er signed with his fountain pen in a
bold hand. To Deputy Warden John
son, who had charge of the execution
in place of Warden Thomas Mott Os-
borne, who does not believe in the
death penalty. the one-time police
lieutenant gave his fountain pen as a
gift. 1T is the last thing that I have
to give away and want you to have
it. I want you to give this statement
to the newspapermen." It read:
Declares Innocence
Gentlemen: I stand before you in
my full senses, knowing that no power
on earth can save me from the grave
that is to receive me. In the face of
that, in the teeth of those who con-
demned me, and in the presence of
my God and your God, l proclaim my
absolute innocence of the foul crime
for which I must die. You are now
about to witness my destruction by
the State, which is organized to pro-
tect the lives of the innocent. May
Almighty God pardon everyone who
has contributed in any degree to my
untimely death. And now on the
brink of my grave I declare to the
world that I am proud to have been
the husband of the purest, noblest wo-
man that ever lived-Helen Becker.
This acknowledgment is the only leg
acy 1 can leave her. l bid you all
good-by. Father. I am ready to go.
Amen.
(Signed) CHARLES BECKER"
His Wife's Photograph
After his wife had said farewell
shortly after midnight Becker main
tanned a casual conversation with
n
side the screen in front of his cell
Sometimes he smoked cigars, after
which he would let his head fall upon
his hand and gaze refiectively at the
concrete floor for minutes at a time.
Dawn found him seated on the edge
of his cot. carefully pinning a photo
graph of his wife on his white shirt
Just over his heart. Then, as if he
desired to have her all to himself
Becker put on a thin black alpaca
coat, which he tightly buttoned. The
photograph was not seen by the wit
nesses until the prison physician open
ed his coat as he sat in the death
chair.
Becker was put to death by the
State executioner whose name is un-
known to the public. This man sue
ceeded State Electrician Davis, and he
said he would not take the job unless
his name was kept secret He lives in
a little town up State and he went
about his work briskly.
Becker's executioner said that in his
opinion the man had died instantly at
the first contact.
An autopsy on the body of Becker
was performed, according to law, i'm
mediately after the execution.
Negro Follows Becker
After Becker's body had been re-
moved from the electric chair Samuel
Haynes, negro murderer, was
brought into the execution room and
electrocuted. One of Becker's last re-
quests to Warden Osborne was that
he be put to death before the negro
Haynes.
4 statement credited to Mrs. Becker
was given out here shortly after her
husbands death.
Il shall never rest, she was quot
ed as saying, until have exposed the
methods which were used to Convict
my husband. Whether he was guilty
or innocent there was no justification
for the means employed to convict
him.
"I would rather lose all the mem
bers of my family, as dear as they are
to me. than lose Charlie. No one can
take his place. In all of the ten
years of our married life, never had
occasion once to regret that 1 was his
wife.
Charlie was no angel. He made
no pretense of being one. He was just
an ordinary human being-and per-
haps that is why loved him So
DIR. W. o. StillmaR, of Auburn, who
assisted in the autopsy, said that
Becker showed unusual resistance to
the electric fluid. After the autopsy
DR.. Stillman said:
Becker a Powerful Man
81 noticed no unusual effects upon
Becker's vital organs. The way he
resisted the strong current was re-
markable, showing him to be an un-
usually powerful man."
1t was expected that Becker's body
will be removed some time to-day to
New York, where funeral services will
be held probably on Sunday.
Becker was affected greatly by the
parting with his wife, who stood stead
fastly by him until all hope was gone.
Wife's Appeal Fruitless
Mrs. Becker's last effort to save her
husband was made yesterday and she
appealed personally to Governor c. S.
Whitman, who, as district attorney of
New York, had prosecuted the case
against Becker. for a reprieve so that
an appeal might be taken to the State
Court of Appeals from the decision of
Justice Ford. Missing the Governor
at Albany. Mrs. Becker met him at
Poughkeepsie. The appeal was fruit
less and the untiring wife hurried m