Show TUB FIRST k to pay the death ascii illy by means of electricity the first execution by electricity that ever occurred in modern times at least will take place in new york i some time during the present week the precise date is not known and will not be until it is all over the condemned himself will be informed of it only on the morning of the execution but he will be given time for such religions exercises as he may desire before the death penalty is inflicted these being over he will be strapped upon a reclining chair very much like that used by barbers excepting that it will be destitute of cushions or ornamentation and very much stronger the similarity will be further carried out in the matter of a foot rest his shoes will have been removed and a pair containing a powerful sheet conductor connected by means of wires with the battery put on his hands and arms will be securely pinioned a black cap also containing a conductor as its lining and connected like the shoes to the battery will be put on him a black curtain falling over his face and then at a given signal the electric switch will be turned a cur belc of volts will pierce the brain and death will be instantaneous and painless there will be a biffen ing of the body the least flutter of the heart and no other perceptible demonstration of the invisible agen cys work the victims name is william kemmler who on having the procedure explained to him he said he would rather be hanged a dozen times than go through that a ordeal the necessity of executing a certain class of criminals has been recognized in all ages of the world and among all its people it is not only sanctioned but commanded by holy writ and the wisdom of such apro vision is not now to be questioned those who would abolish capital punishment on humane or sentimental grounds are limited in number and do not greatly increase as the times and the people advance the safety of society through the example afforded no less than the effectual and eternal removal of the assassin demands it and one way or another it will be had even if the bible were silent on the subject to substitute closed confinement for life as has been suggested would be to forsake the equities of the case altogether and rhile meting out a lingering and therefore barbarous punishment instead of one that is swift and conclusive clu sive is at the same time inadequate and unequal the death penalty prevails everywhere and is upheld by the most wholesome public sentiment the means of inflicting it and the causes for which it shall be inflicted are various the object has been at leist in recent times and among civilized people to retain the punishment while reducing the sufferings and horrors of the situation to the minimum this was the object of the new york lawmakers law makers in abolishing the rope and substituting the wire but the scheme is a failure before being tried so far as mitigating the mental sufferings of the condemned is concerned it is hardly to be presumed that a penalty so anomalous so utterly at variance with precedent and which increases the present and anticipated punishment tenfold by reason of its very uncertainty will long remain upon the statute books science has proper fields to operate m but experimenting with human life even when the life la forfeit is not one of them neica |