posted
Old electric-chair tale loses some of its spark
Alan Johnson The Columbus [Ohio] Dispatch News; Pg. 01B 26 February 2002
The oft-repeated story about prisoner Charles Justice -- who supposedly helped build Ohio's electric chair and was later executed in it -- seemed too strange to be true.
Posts: -99014 | From: Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2000
| IP: Logged |
Amanda Sedai
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
Isn't the name "Justice" a bit ironic?
IP: Logged |
javaman
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
is it true that a dentist was invented the electric chair?
IP: Logged |
IMightBe Giant
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
quote:Originally posted by javaman: is it true that a dentist was invented the electric chair?
Yes, it was a dark day in the summer of 1903. The city of New York had built its electric chair with the help of Thomas Edison and were planning on using their contraption on a doctor who had gone mad. This doctor enjoyed torturing his patients by refusing to give them anesthesia, saying it was the tool of the devil. His real name has been lost in the annals of time, but he has been known since as Dr. Pain.
Well, he got careless one day, and a patient died under his scalpel, and he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to death in the chair. Little did they know what the chair had planned for them...
After 100,000 volts of electricity flowed through Dr. Pain, a change came over him. The shock didn't kill him, but made him into a new man. Since he couldn't be electrocuted again for the same crime (double jeopardy, you know) they released him on the unsuspecting public. Dr. Pain went into business as the first dentist, still refusing to allow anesthetics.
And that, boys and girls, is the true story of how the electric chair invented a dentist.
posted
You have made me smile, grin, and perhaps even chuckle with your caustic wit Giant. Thank you for this piece of levity in the depths of an otherwise dark and dreary day.
The first electric chair *was* "invented" by Thomas Edison, but for different reasons.
At the time, Edison was in competition with George Westinghouse over whose 'system' of electricity delivery was better. Edison favored his direct current generators over Westinghouse's alternating current (which was actually invented by Tesla). To discredit Westinghouse and show just how dangerous A/C was, Edison built an electric chair using A/C and killed a wide range of animals (even an elephant) before graduating to condemned humans.
Sparverius, Flying Rodent Control
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
Which brings up the punchline, "But how did the elephant GET into your electric chair, Mr. Edison?"
IP: Logged |
the fragility
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
quote:Originally posted by Sparverius, Flying Rodent Control: Which brings up the punchline, "But how did the elephant GET into your electric chair, Mr. Edison?"
posted
The execution of Topsy, the elephant, in 1903 has to be among the top ten acts of animal cruelty in history. I saw the film of the execution on the Discovery Channel and it really disturbed me. Extremely violent and brutal. For those who are unfamiliar with the story, here is a link: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/pet/topsy.html
IP: Logged |
posted
Seems like I remember an electric chair story on "this date in rotten history" on rotten.com, but the details are fuzzy. Something to the effect of an inmate stuffing his underwear with pins and needles, so when the current started, they'd "explode" out, and injure others?? or something......
-------------------- "this could increase your brain power, or it could kill you..." "Increase my killing power, ehh???" Posts: 1153 | From: Houston, TX | Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged |
Spf 3000
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
quote:Originally posted by IMightBe Giant:
The shock didn't kill him, but made him into a new man. Since he couldn't be electrocuted again for the same crime (double jeopardy, you know) they released him on the unsuspecting public.
That reminds me of an old Johnny Cash song, I cant remember its name now, another song about drinking and getting executed with frontier justice. He said something like "I couldnt choke, I broke the rope. So they had to let me go."
That reminds me of an old Johnny Cash song, I cant remember its name now, another song about drinking and getting executed with frontier justice. He said something like "I couldnt choke, I broke the rope. So they had to let me go."
Now they tried to hang me down in Oakland And they did in San Frisco But I wouldn't choke And I broke their rope They had to let me go
-------------------- "No matter what kind of a twisted sexual mutant you happen to be, you've got millions of pals out there. Type in 'Find people that have sex with goats that are on fire' and the computer will say, 'Specify type of goat.'"
quote:Originally posted by Spf 3000: That reminds me of an old Johnny Cash song, I cant remember its name now, another song about drinking and getting executed with frontier justice. He said something like "I couldnt choke, I broke the rope. So they had to let me go."
In my opinion, the definitive hanging song is I'll Be Hanged If They're Gonna Hang Me. As sung by Rolf Harris.
-------------------- "Danger is a good teacher, and makes apt scholars. So are disgrace, defeat, exposure to immediate scorn and laughter." - William Hazlitt; _Table-Talk: Essays On Men And Manners_ Posts: 1055 | From: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: Sep 2000
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic
