| Show a I m ti 3 ea earn rn in a 0 of f LI L I F E Eti t 1 r. r Yo j u I 4 f Ie Y a Y t r from the DEATH CHAIR hot c Z en l is Have aye Disco Discovered ered in Unique Experiments at r 1 1 Sing Sing Prison of o Electricity ec as a Cause o of Death How and Ii A Ill W tl f I III rBy i t 11 iW M By Isabel sae Stephen Steph n WHAT HAT are the physiologicAl and nd c diem e ical effects of electric current o on n 1 the human b body dy Why is a healthy man more susceptible ble shock Ulan than a sickly man ti What V hat is it in electr electricity le that d destroy life What happens when a lethal shod shock enters a human body Why does the heart continue beating after death r i Does the man in in the electric chair ex experience ex- ex terrific agony Is it possible for an electrocuted d ma man still to retain a spark of life until he is i r br brought to the autopsy table These are arc tl the e questions question which can now be answered based on observations during electrocutions of criminals criminal J 1 at Sing Sing George 1 Ogle consulting power enI en en- r I of the A. A E. E Utilities N New w York City has accumulated a vast vas 1 amount of interesting material through careful technical checking of the results result f virtually every electrocution n in th the last seven years The Rockefeller Foundation Foun dation and various va ious physicians and power powe r Y companies throughout the world have r been watching his experiments wit with it j great interest rN Ii Warden Lewis A. A Lawes of Sing Sing iy I said recently before a me meeting ting of Rotarians Rota Rota- rians lians at Ossining that Mr Ogle had not c only saved the State of New York many i y thousands of dollars but he had eliminated eliminated many of the horrors connected r. r with electrocutions r Many pers persons ns believe that c criminals r are are doped before they enter the death 1 chamber Mr 1 Ogle said when inter inter- viewed This is not so It would notA not t. t i A be b fair to the man to deprive him of his rIght senses for a short time before he enters eternity Y The electric chair is an ordinary type of armchair having an adjustable back ba k and rest head and stockades at the bot bot- tom where the fet feet rest and ate are rigidly strapped in a fixed position Specially train trained d experts are placed so that all r straps are adjusted within a few seconds I TIIE HE man is placed in the chair an and d firmly strapped across the chest holding his back securely to the chair r with additional straps at the abdomen thighs and in the stockades The arms arm s are tightly s strapped at the wrist to th the arms arms of the chair and at the upper arm to the back of the chair which i is s insulated ed from the fhe ground by rubber fI cushions on the back and in the sea seat t of the chair I Contact js is made on the top of th the e head by means of a helmet constructed d of copper copper mesh in which arc woven wove n f sponges soaked in salt water before th the e t s helmet is applied to the head head This Thi s helm helmet t is held on the head under pressure pressure pres pres- sure by straps passing from the t e top o othe of f the helmet underneath the chin and at a athe t the base of the the brain in in order to void d the slipping of the helmet when the cur cur- 1 rent is app applied iea i The other electrode completing th the e circuit of the current is applied to th the e calf of the leg and consists simply of a i- i piece piece- of wire mesh also interwoven wit wita with h a sponge that is soaked with salt water Ovate r for good contact A signal is given to throw the switch h at the moment the man man exhales when n t his lungs are free from air The reason n for doing this is for the benefit of th the e spectators not for the man in the chair r the absence of air in his lungs make s no difference to him If the switch were e thrown when the mans man's lungs were fine filled d I I with air the effort of the lungs to di dispel dis- dis s- s per pel the air after the body pad had bee been n I shocked made such a b gruesome ue ome soun sound d that every layman present imagined th thit that at it was caused by horrible agony We Ve have learned the amount of cu current cur cur- r- r t rent necessary to kill each man without it leaving a mark on his body This varies vane s The same ame amount that will electrocute to one man will cremate another An electric current of approximately approximate lY 2000 volts is applied to the chair at ti the e start Almost instantaneously instantaneously-in le lethan less is th than m 1 of a second according to tests heart action ceases cease s. s Thump And it is still It takes twenty twenty- Y- Y four times as long as that tenth one of a second before the sensation made by the prick of a needle in the skin at ti the e base of the skull is recorded by ti the e brain While the current is on the he heart art remains dead still Immediately t the he current is shut off the heart occasional occasionally ly starts This is one of the pe peculiar cu- cu liar characteristics of the heart Fl Fib Fib- b- b of the heart muscles are t the he disorganized contractions as opposed to the synchronized action of the muse muscles es in normal heart action The man is dead This quivering has neither life life- li fe- fe t 4 sustaining i-sustaining sustaining qualities nor acceleration a and andY nd Y Y it iU cant ant be strengthened by anything animals In up to the size of a Ne New New- w- w to d has been found possible ble 0 it f 5 r T 1 1 Why It Y Is Possible for a Shocked Per erson son to Be e R Revived v ved and an What a to Do With F r rJ I J J Victims s of Live JV Wires ires' ires dr Y w rJ in Accident Cases Cases' i G yh a t f Kr 9 r P r Y I nL y t 3 Y 1 1 r rl ryN 1 i J f t 9 R c fi t rF w it y z rf H r N Jf e L Lr i r t t t r y to bring bring back the she normal heartbeat from this condition but in the human being or an animal the size of ofa a bull bullI I it is impossible r rAfter After three seconds the voltage re re is-re- to or and held there for about seven fifty seconds This insures complete legal death no quivering or heart within action one minute after the application of the current MR R OGLE himself was almost electrocuted electro electro- dated so he knows how the man in inthe inthe the chair ir feels or d does s not feel He was knocked unconscious by bya a shock of electricity elec- elec t and woke up in the hospital thirty minutes later The shot ran through his body from his hand to his ankle By the appearance of the still remaining scar one might surmise that his hand must have been half torn off When asked how the knockout shod shock felt he said sa d that it was simply the ame ris as if a man had given him an extra big hearty thump on the back The men who are electrocuted in the chair dont don't feel even that much h he continued Our world work at Sing Sing ha has not only changed the method of electro eating prisoners into a system which speeds death but prevents mental an and physical suffering and disfiguration Our observations have shown sho that the healthier a person is the easier he i is to electrocute Apparently the health body conducts electric current more rapidly rap rap- idly offers less resistance and absorbs absorb the electrical energy injected into i it more thoroughly In cases of certain taro tain very ill persons men suffering from tuberculosis and Brights Bright's disease who wh would not have lived another two weeks week s if left in in their death cells or the prison hospital for instance as high as 2700 volts are now used For healthy per per- sons ordinarily only 2000 volts are used By adjusting the current to the physical cal condition of the patient better re results re- re suits are now obtained HE best protection THE human beings being s have against electricity is the epi dermis or outer skin If the skin were Over e removed from the body it be foun found d to have a higher insulating power th tha n bakelite or any other insulator Submit t the average man to ten volts of electric te pressure and his resistance will b be e ohms that is it would talc take e to force one ampere of ere electricity elec- elec through his body Increase th the theten e ten volts to measure the resistance e rand and it is found to be ohms Increase e this to 2000 volts and the resistance ha has s gone down to ohms This shows t the he protective power of the epidermis can an be broken down by the constant pressure re of the electricity You know if you take a piece of blo blotting blot blot- l t ting paper and hold it under undera a dripping drippin faucet the water will run off it at first firs t If you continue holding it it under t the he drops it will absorb the water However How How- v- v ever if you turn on the water f full ull force it will destroy the paper So it is with the electrical pressure and the 1 e human skin The reason for its being easier casler to electrocute a healthy man than a sick sickly y one is that the skin of the healthy mm man n is normally moist with perspiration which is a splendid electric conductor But the resistance of a given person varies largely from time to time in accordance with his blood and skin conditions conditions- as well as the percentage of f moisture emanated through the epi- epi dermis On a hot summer night when a prisoner may be bathed i in perspiration it requires far less current than on on a winter night when w en his body dy is ti r rt i t K V if 1 r. r r r 1 v M f t. t r rf f it d 7 j f ow o. o 3 Th The s skin kin of f a person who has tuber tuber- tubers 2 culos s or other diseases is usually dry resistance of the epi- epi increasing the ep 4 dermis The calluses on the laborers laborer's hands afford hint him protection if he should rM f grasp a live wire which would knock knockout knockout y out the white collar office worker whose i y hands are soft A woman womans woman's s resistance to electricity ic is 50 per er cent less less' than a amans aman's mans man's due to the fact that her skin is soft and the epidermis thinner When Tommy ton touches ches an electric socket and gets es a small shock he dares Yf his sister Polly to do the same She l Y fl f 4 s Y a t 9 y n Y The simple act of turning on a light m may y sometimes result in a shock if both hands touch the metal as shown at left The rhe correct way is shown at right Effects o of Electric Shocks Shocks' y Volts Not Usually Dangerous Will l pr produce shocks to the nervous system causing muscular reactions rea Volts Semi fay l cause caus death where moist accidental contacts are made Produces severe shocks tp to the nervous system May 1 cause paralysis o of muscles holding victim speechless in circuit Often produces bad electr electrical cal burns 1100 Volts Volts Produces ProduceS S' unconsciousness and total paralysis of all muscular and nervous n systems and in most cases will cause death or very severe b burns upon v very ry slight contact 2200 Volts Fatal destroy life Produces un unconsciousness unconscious unconscious- ness and total paralysis o of tIle the muscular system blood bl disintegration tion and the cremating of b body dy if l left ft in circuit Extreme care should be exercised in tire tRe handling of such currents Y yells ells takes his dare and Tommy feels mighty heroic and he- he he As Asa a matter of fact Tommy wouldn't be so eager to repent the trick and would have yelled too if ho had ad received so severe a shock as Polly received The boys boy's skin being drier and tougher than the little girls girl's had far more resistance Prominent medi medical al men often maintain main main- ain tain t that t they h y can a p person rs n after fter tt ti t i t j I.- I. t I 1 f L 1 7 a most s severe vere and fatal current has passed through the body provided ded they are are given the victim immediately upon removal from the circuit That such statements are carelessly made has been proved by our research work at Sing Shag but they have led ledsome ledsome some persons to believe that men taken from the electric chair chairo ir to o the autopsy table able may ay no not al always s b be del r. r rather tather ii 1 5 t i Si rii rrt rv m j a Ova y Sp a ad t d a i- i action a and d it will respond with three or r four foul again with one or two In time it will cease to respond Take the same heart and shoot adrenalin adrenalin adren- adren alin into it and it will vill cease to respond entirely This shows shows' that instead of being a heart stimulant adrenalin is a aheart heart depressant to a victim of electric electric- ity For still born babies it is is wonder wonder- but ful-but in the case of electric shock it itis itis is deadly Just recently a lineman in this vicinity vicinity vicin- vicin ity received 22 2200 O volts through very high resistance He was brought down and was found to he be still breathing There was heart action but whether it was as fibula tory or a true beat was not de- de The ambulance surgeon on arrival administered adrenalin the plainest plain plain- est way to produce death and the man died on the way to the hospital He might have died anyway but with that shot of adrenalin he didn't have a c chance ance ELECTRICITY may be compared with most poisonous drugs in this way A certain dose of a given poison may kill a particular person while an equal dose to another person with the immediate aid of medical treatment may not prove fatal but only place the victim victim vic vic- tim in a critical condition for a short time Electricity differs from poison however in that if the proper amount or of current is passed through the vital i organs there is no solution or salvation Among the more paramount charae- charae characteristics of an electric death are the temperature tem tem- rise in the body or disintegration of the blood corpuscles and the star fracture of the e eye e lens The eye lens of an electrocuted person looks like a piece of old fashioned rock candy Another peculiarity is that the blood does not congeal it remains wa watery r In the old days it was considered that hair acted as an insulator and the heads of condemned men were shaved We now know that hair soaked in a g good od saline solution is a good conductor Distilled water is a good insulator insulator- so is dry yet wood united they make a good conductor r t n r f t. t f. f f tt u Y w i o 1 t er i yr rr 9 1 g I 4 V 4 4 C c A y J C a The circuit is completed d when both hands grasp unprotected apparatus and the worker may be electrocuted as shown in upper left photograph To release the victim a nonconductor should be placed around his body so that the rescuer will not pick up the current also that itis st still ll possible to revive them Doctors are not unanimously agreed as to what causes death Some maintain that the current paralyzes the respiratory respiratory tory organs organs and that death is caused by y paralysis of the respiration organs others others others' oth- oth ers ers ers' that death ensues from paralysis of the nerve centers others that the disintegration of the blood corpuscles is responsible responsible re- re for foJ death That of course is all guesswork All those conditions take place any anyone one of them is fatal However However as it was impossible to perform per per- perform form experiments on a human being before before be- be fore we began the research work at Sing Sing it is of great interest to learn that complete disintegration of the blood cor- cor takes place With the blood corpuscles shattered to bits like Humpty after his fall they never can be put together again second A reason why it would be jm- jm lor a mah taken from the electric electric elec- elec chair to be revived is that a man manca ca cannot 1 t live ve at a temper temperature ture o oi than or degrees When a man has been electrocuted h his s temperature is 14 ill in h his s body and in his brain Another thing which we have learned which should shou d b be of great v value lue is that |
