Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1936-01-30

after he started breathing the cyanide
gas. In the period between the time
he was strapped in the death chair |
and the doors closed and sealed until
he finally lost consciousness evidence
of great mental suffering and torture
was shown by Foster. Those who. saw
the gas execution and who have seen
scores of electrocutions, with but one
exception, agreed that electrocution
was quicker and more merciful, since
electrocution brings instant uncon !
seriousness, while in the gas execution
of Foster he remained conscious for
at least three minutes after the gas
started to envelop him. The one ex-
ception was Dr. Charles A. Peterson,
Republican member of the 1885 Gen.
eral Assembly who introduced the
bill substituting the gas chamber for
the electric chair.
In the execution Of Foster, the gas
chamber was very cold-the temper
ature well below freezing-sO that the
nearly naked Negro boy, clad only in
scanty cotton shorts, shivered from
the cold as he awaited death by slow
strangulation from the gas. Some
chemists have suggested that the rea-
son the gas worked so slowly was be-
cause the air was SO cold that the gas
did not permeate it quickly enough.
According OF several chemists here
who have made a study of cyanide
gas, it attains its greatest volatility an
air that is about 70 degrees Fahren-
heit in temperature.
Another thing that added to the
horror of Fosters execution was the
fact that he was not hlfndfolded, nor
was his head strapped back, so that
he was able to turn him head from
side to side and watch the deadly gas
which looked like dense cigarette
smoke, as it slowly rose from under
the chair towards his nostrils. Those
who watched the expression of fear,
terror and horror on his face and in
his eyes as he waited for the deadly
gas to reach his nostrilS, will never
forget it.. News men and prison
guards who had seen scores of cleo
trocutions turned pale, grew nauseat-
ed and turned away until the gasping,
writhing man had lost consciousness.
Many Of them considered the. death of
Foster as one of slow torture and
agony, though without physical pain.
Most of the witnesses felt it would be
less agonizing both for the victim and
for them if the eyes OF the victim
should be blindfolded and his head
strapped In place. In electrocutions
the face OF the doomed men are al
ways covered with a leather mask so
that witnesses do not see the facial
contOrtiOnS.
In order to check again and see
if they are using the same formula
for the hydrocyanic acid gas as Is
used by the prison authorities in Col
orado, Nevada and Arizona, Chair
man Waynick wired the warden of
the Colorado prison for the formula
used there, he announced today. He
also wired the general details OF the
execution of Foster. The warden OF
the Colorado prison replied that the
length of time required before Eos
ter's heart stopped beating-eleven
minutes-was about the usual length
of time required, based on their ex-
perience in : Colorado, but that the
time required for Foster to lose con-
sciousness-three minutes-Was much
longer than their experience in Colo
RADIO, where As seconds has usually
been the longest time required for vic
TINS to become unconscious. The war
den suggested that the formula might
be increased to generate more gas
and generate it more quickly, but neg
lected to send the formula used there.
Chairman Waynick Immediately
wired back to Colorado giving the
formula used here, and supposed to
be the same as used in Nevada, Colo
RADIO and Arizonia and asked thel
warden to check it with his formula
and see how it compared. He expected
to reply to this wire today.
1--WE have done everything we know
to carry out these gas executions as
perfectly as possible, and with the ex-