A
way up in the mountains of the northern part of the state, Clinton
prison is now a place of interest to many in this city, since within
it walls Cornel Loth, Schenectady’s first victim to the new method
of execution, lies under sentence of death.
The date fixed for the execution is now rapidly approaching and
within a fortnight the murder of Mrs. Etta Demacsek will have been
expiated by a form of death which, because of its element of mystery,
seems doubly horrible, but which, in its execution, seems unattended
by any unnecessary pain.
So
little is known concerning the manner in which a murderer condemned
under the electrical execution law spends the few days allowed him,
and the preparations which are made to take the life which justice
demands shall be forfeited, that within a few days past a STAR
reporter visited the state prison at Dannemora with the intention of
gaining as much information on the subject as the law would allow to
be given. The prison
itself is situated but fifteen miles south of the Canadian border, on
the line of the Chateaugay railroad.
This road runs through one of the most desolate sections of the
state and it is said that Loth, who had been in good spirits while
being taken to the prison, became melancholy when this section of the
journey was reached and his last view of the outside world was filled
with such utter loneliness and desolation.
Arriving at the station at Dannemora a short walk brings one to
the prison, surrounded by a turreted wall of heavy masonry.
The reporter was received with great courtesy by Warden, and
escorted by him, was shown the working of the great institution.
Its factories, machine shops, cook rooms, bakeries, cells,
library, school room, hospital and chapel were all visited and would
furnish endless material for description
were not our interests centered in the more somber and
forbidding portion,--the death chamber and the bells of the condemned.
These cells are situated in the main building and are reached
by a corridor which passes the door of the warden’s office.
They are three in number and are entirely isolated from the
cells of the other prisoners. At
present they are all filled, Loth occupying the one in the middle.
On one side is Charles A. Wright, sentenced from Essex county
for the murder of Mrs. Taylor. He
has been granted a new trial by the court of appeals.
At his left is Peter Martello, an Italian, who murdered a
fellow countryman at Saratoga Springs.
Martello is also under a stay, his case having been appealed,
so that, of the trio, Loth is the only one whose death is absolutely
certain.
Warden
Thayer says that since Loth has been at the prison he has been an
exemplary prisoner, being well behaved and attentive to his religious
duties. He has made no further confession nor readmitted
the one which he denied at the trial. On the contrary he has
written a letter to Governor Flower, in which he repeats the story
which he told at the trial and in which he charges the crime upon the
man, Leichman, whom he says has fled to Hungary. This story is
contradictory and highly improbable and, as Loth does not appear to
have a friend on earth, there is no prospect of a stay in the
execution of the death sentence. Under the terms of the new law
Loth is allowed to see no one except the warden, his spiritual advisor
and the death watch. He is not fed on the regular prison fare
but, with the other condemned men is fed from the hospital
kitchen. The fare is that of an ordinary restaurant and he may
order anything he wishes which it is possible to procure.
Neither is he compelled to wear the prison garb and dresses as he did
while in jail here. At the time of his execution he will be
furnished with a cutaway suit of plain black. Reading matter is
freely allowed the condemned men and the prison officials furnish them
with many newspapers and periodicals.
LOTH
REPENTANT.
The
chaplain of the prison, Rev. Anson Cheeseman, is of the Methodist
denomination and, as Loth is a Catholic, he has for his spiritual
advisor a French priest named Father Belanger who lives in the village
of Dannemora. The reverend father was seen by the reporter and
said that he found Loth well disposed. He is repentant and, as
he himself puts it, wants to die a good death. While in jail
here Loth said he did not care how soon they killed him but now FAther
Belanger says he shows great desire to live, which was the cause of
his letter to the governor. He receives a visit every other day
from the priest. At Loth's request, Father J.N. Beaudry, a
French priest living at Redford will also attend him at the execution.
THE
DEATH CHAMBER.
The
portion of the prison devoted to the carrying out of the death
sentence is directly in the rear of the cells of the condemned and is
arranged as shown in the accompanying diagram. The death chamber
itself is a gloomy room, lighted from windows near the ceiling and
floored with cement. A wooden flooring covers the cement in the
end toward the death chair. This chair, which is the one in
which Cal Wood was executed, is of inch and a half oak and is of
peculiar construction, the office of the front legs being taken by the
ankle rest. A wedge shaped pad of hard rubber is fastened to the
back for a head rest and broad straps of black leather fasten the
victim to his seat. One of these straps is so arranged as to
form a mask when placed about the condemned man's head, only the nose
and mouth being visible. Similar straps fasten the victim's arms
and chest to the back of the chair and the forearm to the arms of the
chair. The ankles rest in hollows of the ankle rest and are also
strapped. One of the electrodes is bound to the calf of the
prisoner's left leg and the other to the top of his head. To
these are attached sponges which are kept moist by water which drips
upon them from rubber bags suspended from the ceiling. This is
to prevent the burning of the flesh which formed so repulsive a
feature of the first electrocutions.
In
a corner of the room and behind the chair is the executioner's
closet. Here is the switch which turns the current into the
victim's body, also a bank of lamps for determining the power of the
current. The executioner is out of sight of those in the death
room and cannot see the execution. He receives the signals from
the surgeon who stands beside the chair. At the lower end of the
room the witnesses will be seated in a semicircle while the warden,
his deputy, the two priests, three surgeons and two guards will stand
beside the chair.
Leading
from the death chamber is a corridor which passes to the condemned
cells and is the scene of the death march. Off from this
corridor is the morgue a toilet room, the reception for the witnesses
and the dissecting room.
Loth
was sentenced to be killed during the week beginning January 16, and
the execution will probably take place at noon either Monday or
Tuesday of that week. Before that time the death warrant will
have been read to him in his cell. The death march will be led
by Warden Thayer and Deputy McKenna. After them will come Loth
between the two priests followed by two guards.
Warden
Thayer, who will superintend the execution, is a former resident of
this city. He has held his present office for one year during
which time there has been but one execution, that of Cal Wood, who
murdered his father-in-law, Leander Pasco. While the warden does
not wish to gain a reputation as an executioner, he is proud of the
success of Wood's execution. At that time it was the most
successful electrocution yet held and he expects to do even better in
Loth's taking off. The new plan of lowering the voltage and
increasing the time of the second contact, which was so successful in
the last execution at Sing Sing, will be tried in this case.
After the execution the body will be turned over to the surgeons for
dissection.
The
time is rapidly approaching for the final act in the tragedy and soon
the law will have avenged the cruel murder of Mrs. Demacsek, a crime
so revolting as to stifle all sympathy for the condemned man even in
the loneliness and friendless condition to which he awaits death.
A
contemporary newspaper account.