Edison and the Electric Chair_ A Story of Light and Death - Mark Essig [79]
Cockran, incredulous, repeated the phrase: "The instantaneous paralysis of the whole system?"
"A general paralysis of the entire nervous system," Gerry said.
"Don't you think that is a good deal of gibberish?" Cockran asked.
"No," Gerry replied grimly.13
The explanations of the physicians offered much of the same. Dr. George Fell explained that electrical death was "caused by the coagulation of the protoplasm of the body through the force of the electrical current." Dr. A. D. Rockwell, the expert in electrical medicine who had assisted the state in its killing tests, said, "Well, such a current would, I suppose, by its mechanical effects, produce a rupture of tissues in the interior of the body, the tender tissues; and it would immediately stop the action of the heart through the interior—produce paralysis of the nerve centers." He paused, then admitted, "No ones knows exactly the details of the effects, but that is about it."14
The testimony exposed the shaky scientific foundations of electrocution. As many observers recognized, in the absence of a precise definition of death or a clear understanding of how electricity killed, the claim that electricity caused death "instantly" and "painlessly" was entirely vacuous.
WILLIAM KEMMLER'S legal team had a two-point strategy: to prove that electricity could not be counted on to kill, and to hint that those who supported the law had unsavory motivations. Dash the dog and other surviving victims of accidental shocks had supported the first point. Subsequent witnesses gave Cockran an opportunity to work on the second.
Harold Brown sat at the elbow of Deputy Attorney General William Poste throughout the hearings, making notes and whispering advice regarding technical points. Cockran had the first opportunity to examine Brown on the witness stand, and he asked him about how he became involved in the animal-killing experiments.
Brown replied, "In June and July of last year I began a series of experiments, not having any reference to electrical execution, but to determine as nearly as possible the comparative danger between the two different classes of current."15
Referee Becker interrupted with a few questions of his own for Brown: "Are you connected in any way with any of the electric lighting companies?"
"No, sir."
"Or have you any connections with the Edison company?"
"No, sir."
"Or Mr. Edison?"
"No, sir, except a personal acquaintance. I have received a great many favors at his hands; it is entirely a personal friendship."
Cockran resumed his questioning: "Your motive was a purely philanthropic one?"
"And to defend my own reputation."16
Cockran then asked about the bitter patent battles being fought in the courts: "There is a contest between the Westinghouse Electric Light Company and the Edison Electric Light Company as to the use of these incandescent burners?"
"I understand so," Brown said.
"And there is considerable feeling between the two corporations?"
"Of that I cannot say."
"Don't you know anything about it at all?"
"Not from actual knowledge."17
At Cockran's request, Brown submitted to the court an illustration of the execution apparatus he designed, which showed a reclining chair with footrest and straps, a generator, a switchboard, and other electrical apparatus. Even here Brown had not been able to resist the opportunity for propaganda. On the generator, in the tiniest script possible, he had added a label: "Westinghouse Electric, Pittsburgh."18
Brown's counterpart on the opposing side was Franklin Pope, a Westinghouse employee. Pope used the pages of the Electrical Engineer, which he coedited, to attack both Edison and the electrical execution law. Cockran's positions on technical matters—even the particular examples he used—so closely matched Pope's that it is obvious the two developed their case together.
When Cockran asked him whether there was a difference in safety between the two types of current, Pope did admit that a "continuous current is probably less dangerous than an intermittent or alternating current." Although