12

-12-

over their noses. I tried the same, but found that I couldn't get enough air, and so decided to breathe what I might, regardless of the stench of Washington's body being roasted."

"After a periods the current was turned off. Doctors approach with stethoscopes. Some one pried apart his feet so that the short circuit would not recur. There was a lively discussion as to whether his heartbeats were still audible. One man straightened Washington's fingers and pushed his nail into the numb of his thumb to see if curculation was still active. The he withdrew; the paddle waved again before the little window, and the dynamo began again to rock the building."

"This time the bodily reaction was much less pronounced; but there was another shot-circuit at the feet and again the sickening cloud with what was, to be at least, the most overpowering sensation of odor ever experienced. Behind me the crowd, no longer laughing, hurried rapidly to a wondow on one side, the door on the other. The big Birmingham detective crumpled a handkerchief to his nose, and then, as I glimpsed a surprised look on his face, crumpled to the door in a swoon."

"The rest was a quick-moving nightmare. From the door, where I had retreated for air, I saw the physicians go through the nominal application of aa stethoscope to the huge breast; and one arm raised in token that the man was dead. An attendant unstrapped the electrodes, and the great body slumped in the chair. From the hallway four other attendants brought a long wicker basket, and soon Charlie Washington was on his way to his eternal rest."

Charlie Washington has been dead for more than half a century.

His death served no purpose when it occured, and the deaths of other Charlie Washington's and Johnnie Birchettes will serve no purpose now.