Show TESTIMONY the following account of the examination of edison in the famous kemmler case in reference to executions by electricity is given by the new york mail and express unusual interest was attached to the electrical commissions Commis hearing today in the kemmler case owing to the fact that thomas A edison the wizard was placed on the stand and testified on behalf of the state mr Edi sons testimony was very much opposed to the theory that kemmler will suffer pain if put to death in the manner prescribed by law his examination was followed with the closest attention by the electrical experts present mr W bourke cockran thinks that the great inventors testimony was the most satisfactory to his client yet received deputy attorney general post directed the examination and began A 4 on the great inventor in the follow follows ing fashion what is your calling or 4 sion inventor have you devoted a great deal deaI dearolf olF attention to the subject of el elen 1 triciti tri city yes how long have you been en in this work of an inventor w electrician f twenty six years I 1 I 1 you are familiar I 1 su suppose appose wa watib the various dynamos and their coni 4 st ruction yes 11 will you explain generally taft difference between an alternate alter alternating nati and continuous current as deal devoir aped by the various dynamos dyn amod A continuous cur current rentis is one abl flows like water through a pipe AA IL or alternating cu curren Jfe is the same as if the sal same ja e body b 0 dv at q water was allowed to flow the pipe in one direction for a 9 gi and then its time direction rever rev for a given time what kind of a cur current rentis is TOO deuced by the westinghouse d dyn mo an alternating current f you spoke of the alter alternation natio ot the intermittent current are thy x rapid or slow in the operation of taft dynamo 1 I believe the Westi dynamo has alternations of 1 50 DOB second Is that for the whole of the armature or of each di division viRion of the wheel t the whole of the current is aar versed times every second tb same way as water flowing th r a three inch pipe if reversed revers edN times a second how many kinds of dyn dynamos are there in practical use in he united states in the matter of trie lighting v there are two types the tha afa dating and continuous i how many makes or patents axe the there therea reI 3 about twenty I 1 should say 21 EDISON ON HUMAN desir have you observed or been ada nazant of experiments being mast j to determine the resi resistance stanco of te human body in regard to electra electrical currents VP yes I 1 have been present measurements have been maide ma my assistants what is your opinion as to reliability of the wheatstone tone I 1 R as a means of measuring ances P it is an absolute means of in ur ement probably more ae ac u than any other will you state generally wh going into details the resul your observations as to the subject I 1 the resistance of the human body two days ago we measured persons to ascertain their reds the average of the persona ank 1000 ohms my impression to Is ou one reached as high as I 1 1600 18 co another as low as will you describe the moth the application of your tes testa taVil we took two battery jam Jare 3 seven even inches in diameter and ten inches high and put in each jar a plate of copper in the jar we put water ater with a ten per cent solution of caustic potash tash the parties we measured plunged their hands into the liquid so that the ends of their fingers ft agers touched the bottoms of the jan jam after waiting thirty seconds the measurement was taken no one could go above eight voltz volts 11 then it is your opinion that the high m g h figures obtained in some experiments peri ments mente upon the human body are am largely due to imperfect contact yes tees but there is no difference Tereace di between 2000 and ohms hen the elements which enter jut into 0 the test which indicate imperfect contact always produce high fugures yes ayes the tendency is always toward high figures adix la it your pinion opinion that the condition or of the skin as to oil being upon it affects the measurement yes or if the hand is hard such as aa that of a workingman it would offer much more resistance what were those persons upon whom you experimented experiment edV Ci assistants in the laboratory clerks neighbors and workingmen la in the factories fito in fact men of all conditions v effect does the size of the electro lode have in obtaining after the first contact the diminution of resistance is about equal to the surface covered by the electro lode where chere in your opinion is the dwor part of the resistance located cc 1 I should say 15 per cent at the point of contact the balance in the body what is the law la w that governs the passage of an electric current when several paths of varying resistance are offered to it girt it divides in proportion to the resistance encountered if therease there ther eare are two paths one of kiwy high and the other of very low resistance which will it follow gt it win will follow both if there is plenty of current behind it the voltage of an alternating dynamo properly constructed be increased by means of a current owing from an exciting dynamo YO yes the voltage can be increased considerably but in most cases they xe worked up to the mark I 1 do bethink much can be gained in hda way ay from a westinghouse dynamo 4 01 f 4 does not the edison company nn a patent for a system for the distribution of alternating currents yes the 11 hero here the commission took a recess t while mr edison spelled the inventory inventors name for the stenographer gUno grapher is IB it used here no it to is used somewhat in V surope we dont like to use it 1 tt it Is dangerous AND PAINLESS DEATH a aai electric current be ap by artificial means in such a manner as to produce death in every case easel yes instantly yes MP painlessly yes when the greatest electrician of the age answered these questions there was rejoicing among the friends of the new system of execution and corresponding dejection among the friends of the alternating current mr post continued what form of electrode would you yon advise in applying the current in criminal execution put the criminals hands in jars of water with potash what amount of electrical energy do you think would be sufficient to produce painless death in all cases lol 1000 volts would that be true whatever current should be used no an alternating current or a continuous current very much interrupted should be used the latter can be produced by mechanical means will you state your reasons for advising the use of an alternative or an interrupted continuous current I 1 the me continuous current does not seem peem to have much effect on the nerves for instance eight v volts of a continuous current cannot be felt while three volts of an alternative current would be as much as you could stand have you ever made experiments to ascertain the effect produced upon muscular tissue by the application of electric current yes with a frog at one time a surgeon prepared several frogs legs laying layl ng bare the nerves I 1 took one leg and connected it with a wire running from washington to new york by the twitching of the muscles T was able to receive a telegraphic communication from that city without the aid of a sounder was that produced by the intermittent current ayes yes 11 what amount of energy did you use uee upon the frogs 1 q I should say about one five thousandth of an ampere but I 1 might say that the electricity was in the frog itself regarding the mechanical effect of an electric current mr edison said he did not know much about it in experimenting upon animal tissue or membranes he found that when the current was applied there was a powerful rush of water through the pores he had heard it through a telephone two hundred feet away he thought that a current passing through a human body would cause he be whole fluids to pass through the tissues As to the heat beat developed he said he had passed a current of 1200 volts through a glass tube filled with water the tube being as tall as a man and of the same resistance resist anee and found that the temperature only rose nine degrees centigrade in a minute anute in mr cockran then took mr edson edison in hand there were no new facts elicited in the cross examina tion the same paper of july 31 has the fol following lowin Min the kemmler niler electric execution hearing was resumed here today and referee tracy becker held two long and interesting sessions the testimony morny was all on the part of the 4 people buta but W bourke cochran was able to confuse some of the witnesses the investigation related to the killing of two men in th this s city by electricity in these cases it was sought to show that death was both painless and instantaneous the first case was that of lemuel J smith who took hold of the brushes of ef a dynamo in the ganson street electric light station this city august 8 1881 and was instantly killed philip fogarty an undertaker saw the occurrence he e sa said id that smith seemed to be lifeless as soon as he touched the dynamo policeman wallace harrington saw the accident smith put one hand band on one brush and the other hand band on another brush and that very instant fell downward his bands stuck to the brushes did you see any indications of life after he struck the brushes was asked 44 no sir air he turned purple his hands bands were cut and burned and had bad a sort of greenish cast he was a large man about 5 feet 9 or 10 and would weigh 11 at the coroners inquest it was stated that smith was heard beard to groan several times said mr cockran did you hear him groan no air not a groan charles wayner hayner a witness at the smith inquest ID quest testified that he be saw smith seize the brushes and fall the witness then caught smith un his arms but he could not pull him off he said any more than he could pull a house hause when the engines were stopped smith was released and after he was laid on the ground he groaned several times dr john A hoffmeyer made an autopsy on smiths body with dr barker who has since died he found the lungs congested the stomach congested anti and an alcoholic odor odo emitted remitted the blood was in a fluid condition and the brain ina in a normal state black marks were on the hands as ail if burnt did you discover the cause of death asked district attorney quinby it was not apparent you learned how he met his death and formed an opinion yes sir air how did you know it the doctor dould could not answer Do doctor etor said mr cockran UK you had not known that this man was killed by electricity would you have been able to decide the cause of death no sir air dr joseph fowler the coroner who held the inquest on smiths body made an investigation himself I 1 al he traced the electric current on the surface of the skin by a discoloration sufficient to be noticed and on dissecting the skin found the NR tissue discolored for a space two or three inches wide answering a question the witness said there was no apparent cause of death the blood was fluid after the if you had riot not known the cause of death would the condition of the body have revealed the cause to you no sir air so it was a phenomenon to you yes sir air the fluid condition of the blood would not cause death no sir air the other case was the killing of isaac moulton a colored sleeping car porter on michigan street feb 51 5 1888 wires had been wrecked in a midnight mid night gale and a horse was driven against a hanging wire which had crossed an electric light ligh circuit the shock killed the horse moulton tried to help the horse u up p supposing it had bad slipped and received a fatal shock the boy who dro drove the horse was rendered senseless and has not fully recovered dr delaney of rochester testified that the autopsy showed a similar postmortem post mortem condition to that of victim smith the blood was fluid which he had been taught would follow electric death doctor asked mr cockran if you had not known how the man was killed would you have known that electricity was the cause c c only from the fluid condition of the blood that would be the suspicion biclon iclon I 1 would not have known from from my own knowledge but that is the opinion I 1 would form from what we are taught the testimony of charles westcott cott an ani I 1 charles hauer who gave evidence in the coroners inquest regarding moulton Moul tons a death was read herbert C aldrich aid rich and joshua davis da vis linemen of the bell telephone company te testified stifled about the wres wires aldrich was at the scene of moul tons death soon after it occurred he said it was an incandescent wire that conducted the electricity to him this was an important admission mis as the incandescent dynamo is the th same style that has been purchased by the state for the purpose of electric executions being a light westinghouse alternating current dynamo john C webber superintendent of the brush electric light C company om said three different circuits were on at the time of Moul tons death conveying 1000 volts did anybody see moulton put his hand on the wire accio no I 1 suppose not did you understand that moulton took hold bold of the horse by the bit ihen he be met his death asked mr quinby of the witness 1 I understood so well said mr cockran pd id like to have positive evidence as to how the man came in contact with the wire dr george E pell fell the inventor of the tracheotomy method of saving suicides lives testified regarding a wholesale slaughter of dogs by electricity in which Southwick Dr and col rockwood Bock wood assisted him jk several hundred of the animals were killed by a current from a brush light wire A fifty pound dog w was as chloroformed chloro formed its heart exposed and the current turned on the heart instantly ceased beatin beating gand and forced respiration did not affect it 1 I believe said dr fell that death can be caused by an electric current sufficiently strong and aad without pain to the victim or chance of resuscitation what amount of voltage would that require suddenly asked lawyer cockran the doctor hesitated can you tell persisted the lawyer it is impossible for me to say said the doctor then said mr cockran as the experiment has haa never been tried on a human being no man can tell Is ie it not so the doctor assented and added that the resistance of human beings to the electric current was a matter of speculation largely mr cockran went into a long cross examina tion of the physician regarding the conductibility of the skin Is it not a fact that in the case of a bald headed man adipose tissue forms upon the skull asked mr cockran after he had questioned about the resistance of forty substances perhaps under the skull dryly remarked mr quinby not outside of buffalo said mr cockran the question remained unanswered A tabulated statement as to the resistance of electric currents made out by prof gray was offered in evidence but was objected to by mr cockran on the ground that it did not show the size of the electro used nor the length of contact it was admitted the case for the people will be closed tomorrow warden durstan of auburn prison will be called |