DEAD MEN MADE TO BREATHE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 371, 28 May 1880, Page 11

DEAD MEN MADE TO BREATHE.

The execution of John H all and Burrell Smith for the murder of Major Pugh was witnessed by a gloating crowd numbering thousands,, animated by a bloodthirstiness that would have done ciedit to a Roman rabble in the time of the Csesais. A feature, never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it, was the display of dy\otional sentiment of the wild, fantastic, exuberant tort, common among negroes, on tho scaffold, and during a few hours previous to the execution. A number of songs were sung by them and other i>r.souerg in the gaol, while waiting for the sheriff to come and take tho condemned men to the scaffold. Among them was a refrain ; " I've found my robe and it fits me well ; I've tried it on at the gates of hell." The two condemned men and Bill Smith, another negro, Wihose testimony with theirs combined to send eight men to the penitentiary, as members of their gang of incendiaries, who are declared by many to be innocent, kneeled down on the gaol floor and swoie they had told the tiuth, calling each other " brothers iv Christ." Hall and Smith came upon the scaffold with their blackfaces wreathed in ghastly smiles,and sat trembling in every limb during the preliminary preparations. Smith tried to mum-h a -piece of pound-cake he bad in his pocket, but he did not look an if lie enjoyed it. When the last prayer had been pronounced, ami just bvfore tUe 1 black caps were drawn over their faces, they uimlo a few fuiewell remarks, saying that they hoped to meet all present iv Wwireu and " God bless you." As the rope was cut Smith fainted and fell, which gave him au ; awkward fall, causing him to writhe in agony at the cud of the rope Hall died easily. After they had been suspended for seventeen minutes, they were cut down, and Dr. Sieger, of Nashville, and Drs. Byu.e and Aiu?feo« of this city, attempted the experiment in lesuscitatiou which was proposed some days ago. They did not bigin until thirty minutes after the men bad been cut down. A number of phyhidans wci« present to witness the experiment. After the clothing bad been taken off, their bodies were wrapped in hot blanki U, app'icalions were made to their necks to reduce the swelling, and an artificial respiration brought about by the means usually applied iv cast* of persons who have been in the water for a losg time. All Lbu yob preliminary to the application of electricity. Batteries were placed in juxtaposition to the spinal cord and different portions of thy bruin. The effects of the application were soon apparent, lint c&me nervous muscular twitchings in those paits of the body with which the batteries came in contact. The temperatuio was gradually increased until it reached over 1000 degrees.

The effect was immediate. The muscular contraction* increased, the limbs twitched like men asleep and struggling under thy spell of a horrid nightmare. The regular drawing in and expulsion of air produced by the appliances referred to were horribly leal and Hfeliktv The suspiration came with an effort, however, and eoumkd like th« gasps of men struegling for breath. Dr. Sieger put his hands to their wrists. " The pulse is beating,* he said, " you can feel it, but faintly,"

Their eyes nest opened under the effect of the electric current and turned about the room in a vacant gaze. There was no sound but the laboured gasping at their lips. All in the room sU>«d still with horror.

"Gentlemen," said Dr. Sieger, "the experiment is concluded. Our main object was to show the effect of electricity upon tho muscular centre?, and we have exhibited that, I -think, in a remarkably realistic way." — Chicago News.

The Catholic population of Canada numbers 1,816,800. There are four archbishops, 19 bishops, and 1,599 priests ; 1,617 churohes, 18 seminaries, 40 colleges, 85 academies, 247 convents, 43 asylums, 34 hospitals, and 3,544 elementary schools.

The Archbishop of Cashel has addressed % letter to the editor of the Vnivers, acknowledging the receipt of 1000f., part of a first subscription made by that paper in aid of the distress in Ireland, in which he says:— "l am more proud of having received this Bum from France, through Monsieur Veuillot and the Univers, than I should be to receive twenty times the amount from any other country or through any other medium. After Ireland I Jove France beft, tj> whom God giant peace and prosperity." r