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WILLIAM KEMMLER'S EXECUTION AS WITNESSED BY AN ELECTRICIAN.

In the late sixties, as a young sailor I was employed as temporary curator of the Electrical Museum at HMS Collingwood in Hampshire, England. The museum had been neglected and I had the pleasurable task of bringing it back to life. While sorting through many items, I came across bound volumes of the 'Telegraphic Journal - Electrical Review', an American publication dated September 5, 1890. In one volume I chanced across a letter, written by an electrician Charles R. Huntley, who attended the execution. In a later edition, a letter written by Edison (although more contemporaneous than Huntley's) was published in the Review giving his comments on Death by Electrocution. I marked the pages with bookmarks. Forty years later I returned to the museum and found the books with my markers still inside. I asked if I could copy the two letters onto a tape recorder and consent was given by Lt. Cmdr Legg. The following are the transcriptions of the two letters to the Telegraphic Journal.

KEMMLER’S EXECUTION AS WITNESSED BY AN ELECTRICIAN

(THE ELECTRICAL REVIEW, SEPTEMBER 5, 1890) By Charles R. Huntley

It is with pleasure that I comply with the “Press Electrical World” to give my observations on the Kemmler electrocution. One of the prime reasons which prompted me to attend the event was that the electrical fraternity would have the benefit, so far as I was able to observe, of what occurred at the electrocution.

The dynamo, as is well known, is one of the Westinghouse type, the exciter being of the usual pattern sent with all dynamos of this make. It was located in the second storey of the east wing of the prison, about one thousand feet from the room wherein the death chair was located. The power was supplied by a 45 horse-power engine belted to a 2 inch shaft through to the dynamo room. On this shaft is a 36 inch pulley and a 30 inch pulley. From the 36 inch pulley was run an 8 inch belt down to the 12 inch pulley on the dynamo, and a 6 inch belt ran from the shaft of the exciter. No voltmeter or ammeter was connected up in the circuit at this point. A resistance box was placed at the end of the exciter. The wires led out through the window up over the roof on porcelain and glass insulators, down across and around the dome at the front of the prison; from there down on the wall into the window that is known as the original room for the electrocution. This wire was of number 12B and ‘S’ gauge, rubber covered, and said to have been made by the Edison Company. On the switchboard were two Cardew voltmeters, both connected up as resistance coils. Both were connected as switches, and between the two was a lamp board, which, I am told, is of the usual type used in the Edison stations. In this were twenty, 100 volt lamps of Edison’s make, and an ammeter of Bergmann & Co’s make was applied to the lower portion of the board. Two draw switches – one known as the fatal switch and the other as the lamp board switch – which were placed on the board of easy access to the executioner. From the board there ran wires of the same gauge into the chair, one being fastened to the electrode on the bottom, and the other to the electrode on the top. This is all of the electrical apparatus and distribution that I noted. A Mr. Davis was the man in charge. I might say that my curiosity prompted me to go with him to witness the first test of the machinery on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Davis adjusted the brushes on both dynamo and exciter, and then left the apparatus in charge of three convicts who were assistants.

After going back to the switchboard, signals were given to start up the dynamo. At that time the voltmeter showed about 1,000 volts. The lamps were in circuit and were about two thirds candle power. Again, in the evening, all the witnesses summoned by law, together with doctors and professional men, witnessed another test which was substantially the same as that of the afternoon. There was no record taken of what the voltage was at that time but an assumption was made that it was from 1,000 to 1,200 volts.

The morning of the execution came, and those that were to witness the first experiment on human life by electric current found, in a dimly lighted room, the death chair, and around about the walls in a circle, seats for their accommodation. I do not know that it would be of any interest to your electrical readers to record here (in as much as the press has given all of that) what took place with references to the incoming of Kemmler and his spiritual advisors, but suffice to say that the man who stood before us exhibited the most unconcern of any of the twenty-three men within the room. After being strapped and pinioned to the chair, Kemmler assisting, and to quite an extent the electrodes at the head and back were securely placed, with the straps securely fastened over his face by the warden, the word was given to the three men who were in the room behind a closed door, and we witnessed the effect of the first contact by a contraction, or rather drawing up of his whole body within the bonds. The time by actual count was seventeen seconds. The current then, by the direction of Doctor Spipzka, was turned off, and to all appearances Kemmler was dead. The doctor inspected the man and stated, “I have looked at the evidence of death about his nose, and I have never known such a condition as is demonstrated from this man except in death.” One of the attendants then removed the electrode from his head and those who were advocates of the killing by electricity were elated beyond expression. The look of entire satisfaction which spread over the countenance of some of the learned doctors was an indication of the joy their labours had brought them in the death of Kemmler, apparently so painless and still. The next sound that was heard was of Doctor Spipzka saying: “This man is not dead. Turn on the current.” The electrode, in a hurried manner was again applied to his head, and the signal sent out by one of the attendants in the room to start up the machinery. This was done. How soon I cannot say. The laymen were all in a confusion at the horrible sounds that were coming from the man who had been pronounced dead. Words fail with me with which to give you the faintest idea of what these were. There were men in that room who had witnessed executions and had seen death in various forms, but each and every one of them was horror stricken at the sudden change in the condition of the culprit. Various reports have been made as to the length of time of the second contact, but it has been my privilege to be associated somewhat with the gentleman who was in the dynamo room while the machine was in operation. He tells me that after the first shock the signals were given to shut down. This was done by the convicts. Then a short space – perhaps two minutes – and the signal was given to start again. Instantly another signal was given for more speed, and so on, until the dynamo was running and, and as he stated, it was fairly jumping from the floor. I forgot to mention that during the time of the second shock the circuit was made and broken three times. At each of these periods the dynamo be nearly stopped, and the belt after the first shock was nearly thrown off the dynamo pulley. Then a convict was instructed to hold the belt on each side of the pulley, this was done during the time that the dynamo was running, which was about three and a half minutes. Added to the horror of the sounds emitted by the so called dead man, or what the doctors said were convulsions, or what ever it may be, convulsions are not I am told by one of the physicians, as reputable as any there, that life did exist in the man, though not sensibly, after the first shock. The electrode at the back of his head had become loosened, admitting of a sparking, and at this point of contact the flesh was literally roasted, the stench of burning flesh was almost unbearable to those familiar of such. What occurred in the lamp room no one will ever know beyond the three persons present. I endeavoured to ascertain what the voltage was, but I did not succeed in getting any information, and I question very much whether Mr Davis himself, in charge of the electrical appliances, knows to what voltage Kemmler was exposed at either time.

From an electrical standpoint there was nothing gained to show what amount of current it takes to kill. No data of either the electrical or mechanical apparatus was taken, and whoever assumes to say what the voltage was that Kemmler received must guess between 800 and 2000.

The following particulars of the end of Kemmler, the first person to suffer the extreme penalty of the law by death from electric shock, were telegraphed, on the 6th inst, to The Standard:- “The convict Kemmler was today executed by electricity at Auburn Prison, New York. The execution, which took place at 7 o’clock in the morning, was a trying spectacle, as owing to either imperfect regulation of the strength of the currents or faulty contacts of the electrodes the convict’s death was not instantaneous. There were present in the chamber where the execution was carried out twenty six persons, including several physicians, scientists and officials. The unhappy man showed great nerve, placing and adjusting himself in the execution chair with perfect calmness. The lethal shock continued for eighteen seconds. Two minutes after the current was suspended there was evidence of respiration. As soon as possible current was renewed and coupled, but again respiration was evident, and a minute or two afterwards saliva issued from the mouth, the chest heaved, and a wheezing sound came from the throat. The shock was then applied for the third time, and Kemmler was pronounced to be dead. The physicians say he was unconscious from the moment of the first shock. Smoke appeared at the back of the body, where the flesh was burned by the intensity of the current. The voltage at the first shock was 1,800. The duration of the first shock was seventeen seconds, after which it was supposed that Kemmler was dead. The spectators, however, were then horrified by the respirations being renewed, the entire body being wracked in the efforts of the organs to resume their functions. The current was then started again. The convulsions marked upon the first application of the electric current, and the culprit was declared to be dead thirteen minutes from the first stroke. The flesh on the back was burned, there was also a spot on the top of the head. The doctors who made the autopsy agreed that unconsciousness set in immediately, and declared that death was apparently painless, not withstanding the slight defects in the apparatus, which required a second contact to ensure death. There was a considerable charring of the body at the points of contact of electrodes, and a minute haemorrhage was found in the serous membrane and ventricles of the brain. The blood was fluid and dark in longitudinal sinuses, corresponding with the region of contact. The blood was carbonised, and then was a decided changes in the consistency and colour of the brain, corresponding with the point of contact. The destructive changes in the blood corpuscles were noted. The consensus of opinion of the spectators of this was about the execution by these means as a failure, even if properly carried out, but the fact that it was not instantly successful today because of a low voltage, or owing to a too short application of the current, or for both reasons. Had the current been maintained for thirty or forty seconds at the first application, it is believed that there be no possible question of unsatisfactory results.”

Telegrams to New York yesterday were as follows. Further particulars regarding the execution by electricity show the signs of dissatisfaction made by the spectators when application of the third current, smoke was seen to occur from Kemmler’s back. The warden, therefore, again gave the signal to open the switch, when the culprit’s body in the chair was surcharged with four distinct shocks. After this no further movement was observed. Doctor Shradey, the editor of the Medical Record, has written a letter, in which he says that nothing has been gained over the ordinary methods of execution. Science has triumphed, but the question of humanity of the act is still an emotive one. The method requires elaborate preparations, involves the manufacture of new machinery and moreover, may endanger the lives of the executioners, and even the spectators. All the morning papers published articles upon the execution, and the opinion is generally expressed that the law authorising execution by electricity will be repealed by the New York legislature at an early date. It is also held that the various criminals now awaiting execution in New York gaols should be granted a stay of their sentences until the law has been repealed.

THOMAS A. EDISON’S VIEWS ON KEMMLER’S EXECUTION

(THE ELECTRICAL REVIEW, AUGUST 8, 1890) By T. A. Edison

Mr T. A. Edison, when interviewed, said: “In December, 1887, I wrote to a man who asked for my views, that I would join heartily in a movement to abolish capital punishment. If it is not to be abolished, however, I said, we should adopt the quickest and least painful method of accomplishing it, and I believe an intermittent dynamo current properly applied would best meet these requirements, I still believe this. In the Kemmler execution, according to the reports printed in the newspapers, the fault rests upon the doctors. They acted upon theory, and knowing the base of the skull to be the nerve centre of the human system, they determined to reach it as directly as possible. Theoretically they were right, but practically they were wrong, as experience has demonstrated. In not a single one of the thirty plus examples of the power of electricity to produce instant death that has occurred in and around New York was it applied to the head. What use has the death of these thirty men been? In every instance the fatal charge entered through the hands. In no case among these accidental deaths was the current that passed through the body one half what it was announced was to be used on Kemmler. Electricity travels through fluids, and especially through the saline fluid of the body, much more freely than through bone. The hands, when cleansed and immersed in a solution of caustic soda, afford an excellent contact for electric currents, and as the fingers, hands and arms are full of blood, they make a good conductor of electricity. On the other hand, bone is one of the poorest conductors, and by making the points of contact on the thickest parts of the skull, and the portion of the spine affording the most resistance, the doctors invited a degree of failure. Neither contact could have been made in a less desirable place. The hair of the head is also a non-conductor, and offers resistance to electrical currents. If, as is stated, Kemmler’s skin was burned at the point of contact, that proves that he received but a small portion of the charge. Had he received the full 1300 volt current for the length of time stated, he would have been carbonised or mummified. If as stated in the report that the twenty incandescent lamps were in the circuit and illuminated at the time the current was applied to Kemmler is true, the explanation is in part at least furnished. These lamps offer resistance to the flow of the current, and twenty of them would have greatly reduced the potential of the current. They should have been removed from the circuit.” “How do you account for the muscular action after the current has been once turned on?” he was asked. “Oh, I have no doubt he was dead,” replied Mr Edison “I think the doctors will probably agree to that. You know that there is often muscular movement after death by hanging. Kemmler was undoubtedly killed at the first, unless some big mistake was made. Undoubtedly all these present were greatly excited. I should have excited myself at such a time. In that excitement there has been some bungling. I think that when the next man is placed in the chair to suffer the death penalty, that death will be accomplished instantly and without the scene at Auburn.”