od of E

ONS AND A

cessors and myself, aided by suggestions from the doctors, and is r

Dr

tion is the allowance of a suitable drop for each person executed, and the a

strangulation; and on the other hand, the drop must not be so great as to outwardly mutilate the victim. If all murderers who have to be hanged were of precisely th

ne man, carefully considered the subject, and came to the conclusion that the then existing method, though certain, was not so rapid or painless as it ought to be. In consequence he introduced his long-drop system with a fall of from seven to ten feet, which caused instantaneous death by severance of the spinal cord. I was slightly acquainted with Mr. Marwood before his death, and I had gained some particulars of his method from conversation with him; so that when I undertook my first execution, at Edinburgh, I naturally worked upon his lines. This first commission was to execute Robert Vickers and William Innes, two miners who were condemned to

es 8 ft

" 8

8 "

" 8

8 "

" 8

9 "

" 9

9 "

" 9

9 "

" 9

10

re-opening the wounds I have reduced the drop by nearly half. Again, in the case of persons of very fleshy build, who often have weak bones and muscles about the neck, I have reduced the drop by a quarter or half of the distance indicated by the table. If I had not done so, no doubt two or three of those whom I ha

n another chapter, the coroner exonerated me from all blame and testified to the careful way in which I had done my work; but I felt that it was most necessary to take every possible precaution against the recurrence of such an affair. I, therefore, worked out a table of the striking force of falling bodies of various weights falling through different distances; which table I give on page 34. Working with this, I calculate that an "average" man, of any weight, requires a fall that will finish with a striking force of 24 cwt., and if the convict seems to require less, I mentally estimate the striking force that is necessary, and then by referring to the table I can instantly find the length of drop required. To see how this new table works out we may take the case of Robert Goodale again. As he weighed 15 stone

and I was surprised and annoyed at being told by Dr. Barr, acting, I believe, under authority, that I was to give a drop of 6 ft. 9 in. I said that it would pull the man's head off altogether, and finally refused to go on with the execution if such a long drop were given. Dr. Barr then measur

NG FORCE OF FALLING BODI

st

ll

F

9 Stone 10

Qr. lb. Cw. Qr

?0 ?9 0 ?0 1

12 2 23 14

15 2 15 17

18 0 ?0 20

19 3 ?5 22

22 0 ?5 24

23 3 11 26

25 2 ?4 28

27 0 12 30

28 1 23 31

st

ll

F

13 Stone 14

Qr. lb. Cw. Qr

?0 13 0 ?0 1

18 1 12 19

22 2 ?9 24

26 0 ?0 28

28 2 11 30

31 3 11 34

34 1 22 37

36 3 15 39

39 0 18 42

41 0 12 44

st

ll

F

17 Stone 18

Qr. lb. Cw. Qr

?0 17 0 ?0 1

24 0 ?1 25

29 2 ?4 31

34 0 ?0 36

37 0 16 39

41 2 16 44

45 0 ?5 47

48 0 26 51

51 0 23 54

53 3 ?1 56

as the drop which I suggested was on the same system as he had previously commended, and was almost identical with the drop that would have work

Domingo

er

, Sept. 2

i

d the execution of Peter Cassidy in H.M. Prison, Kirkdale. I may now report the statement which I gave in evidence

a sufficient length of drop, considering the weight of the culprit, and completely dislocated the cervical vertebr? between the atlas and axis (first and second vertebr?). I have reckoned that the

r be appointed to the post of public Executioner, may be prohibited from also per

Barr

er, H.M. Pris

James

ndon, shortly followed by a second letter, and as they throw some useful light upon the sub

22nd,

ecution a

i

to your account, and at the same time be brought forward by a mass of misguided people as a reason for the total

omentum," the convict's weight multiplied by the velocity of his descent at the end of the fall. Now, in estimating the convict's weight, I conceive that you ought to leave out the weight (as far as you can guess it) of his head, because the weight of his

de the number 412 by the square of t

I constructed th

ht o

t head

d

es 1 ft

2 "

2 "

2 "

3 "

4 "

5

6

8

0 stones 2 lbs, so that a drop of 4 feet and a few inches[B] would have been, according to the doctor's rule, quite enough for him. Regarding the value of the rule, I am, of course, unable

s tr

.

nd le

25th,

ecution a

i

e number 412, I ought to have given the number 539. The corrected rule based on Dr. Barr's momentum of 2600 lbs. is, therefore, as follows:-Length of drop, in feet, is found by dividing the number 539 by the square of the numb

corrected,

ht o

t head

d

es 2 ft

2 "

3 "

3 "

4 "

5 "

6

8

11 "

s., 1 stone for the head, I may be allowing too much; it is a mere gue

s tr

.

ng weight of head makes, you will see, a

an's hanging weight, works out the drop to a rather greater length than my own table, but t

Ro

he most important item is the rope, which must necessarily possess certain prop

freely. It should be as thin as possible, consistent with strength, in order that the noose may be free runn

using a rope for an execution, I thoroughly test it with bags of cement of about the weight of the condemned person, and this preliminary testing stretches the cord and at the same time reduces its diameter to ? of an inch. The rope consists of 5 strands, each of which has a b

ope with a wire strand would possess no possible advantage that I can see, and it would have so many practical disadvantages that I do not think anyone who had studied the matter would dream of using such a thing. At any rate I have not done so, and

s I have used for twelve executions each. These are now in the possession of Madame Tussaud. At the beginning of 1890 a new rule was made under which a new rope is ordered to be supplied and used for most of the executions in England

r end of the rope is passed to form the noose. A leather washer which fits the rope pretty tightly, is used to

in or even behind the head. The position behind the ear, however, has distinct advantages and is the best calculated to cause instantaneous and painless death, because it acts in three different ways towards the same end. In the first place, it will cause death by strangulation, which was really the only cause of death

ng Stra

d a half wide, with strong steel buckles, clasp the elbows and fasten them to the body-belt, while another strap of the same strength goes round the wrists, and is fastened into the body-belt in front. The legs are pinioned

levation o

Scaf

ed a thoroughly good one, as, indeed, it has since proved to be, in actual practice. The design is supplied to the authorities of any gaol where a scaffold is to be erected, from the Engineers' Department at the Home Office; and, with a slight alteration, has been the pattern in general use to the present day. The alteration of which I speak, is a little one suggested by myself, and consists of the subs

and laid away immediately after use, but in Newgate, Wandsworth, Liv

oks are usually fastened. In some cases this cross-beam stands on two upright posts, but usually its ends ar

ked C C C, which are continued under the door B B. When the trap is set the ends of these long hinges rest on a draw-bar E E, as shown in the plan. The draw-bar is of iron, 1? in. square, sliding in strong iron staples, F F F, which fit it exactly. When the lever D is pulled over in the direction of the little arrow, it moves the draw-bar in the opposite direction, so that the ends of the long hinges drop through the openings H H H, and the two doors

wg

g

g