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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing) | 4 | 0 | Browse | Search |
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Browsing named entities in Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing). You can also browse the collection for William Kemmler or search for William Kemmler in all documents.
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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Electrocution. (search)
Electrocution.
The popular name of a method of inflicting capital punishment by electricity as ordered by the legislature of New York in 1888 and amended in 1892.
New York is the only State in the country where this method of capital punishment has been sanctioned.
The first person executed by the new method was William Kemmler, a convicted murderer, on whom the death sentence was thus carried out in Auburn Prison, Aug. 6, 1890.
The apparatus used in the execution, as officially described, consisted of a stationary engine, alternating-current dynamo and exciter, a voltmeter with extra resistance coil, calibrated from a range of from 30 to 2,000 volts, an ammeter for alternating currents from 0.10 to 3 amperes, a Wheatstone-bridge rheostat, bell signals, and a number of switches.
The death-chair had an adjustable headrest, binding-straps, and two adjustable electrodes, one of which was placed on the top of the head and the other at the lower part of the spine.
The execution