Experiments in Execution by Electricity

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 121, 5 April 1890, Page 3

Experiments in Execution by Electricity

A Pittsburg telegram says that the apparatus fur the electrical execution .at Chatham (U.S.) prison was tebted recently in the presence of the State Commission. Mr Harold P. Brown, the New York electrical engineer, conducted the test. A steer weighing 4501 b was first experimented ou Two wires leading from the dynam > were attached to the body, one on the head, and the other on the flank. At theendof each wire was a water-soaked «ponge. At a given, signal Mr Brown turned on a 900-volt current, and at the same instant the animal dropped dead without a struggle or groan. There was no lapse of time between the time the current was turned on And the animals evidently painless death. Further tests without the Westinghouee dynamo and alternating current were also satisfactory. This is the ivay the preparations for the * execution will be made 1 : An electro covered with a wet sponge will be ..placed on the top of the condemned person's head, and another in a large «hoe on one of hie feet. His arms will the*ir I>e strapped across his breast rjand a stfeiiar strap placed around his •■^ltffif B -'" / * ; ft? w *^ taea c placed on taw^hair, and the straps attached to books provided for the purpose. A button will be touched, and all will be over. ■' '