THE ELECTRIC CHAIR
A correspondent spends mc some interesting- details about the history of (he electric chair, which, however "humane" an instrument of death it may be to-day, has not always enjoyed this reputation (says an 'livening- Standard' writer). Electrocution was first introduced in the United State in 1880—largely as a result of in undignified advertisement competition between the Westinghousc and the Edison works. Ihe first execution, however, did. not take place till IS9O. It was a dreadful fiasco. The first attempt was a failure. The victim began to breathe again and to foam at the mouth until a second dose of current put an end to his sufferings. Again in 1893 the dynamo broke clown before the occupant cf the chair was dead, and for three-quar-ters of an hour he was kept under morphia until the dynamo was" repaired. In those days the burns were appalling. To-day, with . the increased knowledge of electricity, these defectis have disappeared, and death is said to ensue more, quickly and more humanely than in the case of the guillotine or of hanging.
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Cromwell Argus, 28 November 1927, Page 6
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179THE ELECTRIC CHAIR Cromwell Argus, 28 November 1927, Page 6
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