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05 - My Experiences as an Executioner by James Berry · My Experiences as an Executioner

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Speaker 1: Chapter four of My Experiences as an Executioner by James Berry.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
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Speaker 1: Ashley Jane, Chapter four, My Method of Execution, Calculations and Apparatus.
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Speaker 1: My method of execution is the outcome of the experience
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Speaker 1: of my predecessors and myself, aided by suggestions from the doctors,
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Speaker 1: and is rather the result of gradual growth than the
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Speaker 1: invention of any one man. The drop. The matter which
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Speaker 1: requires the greatest attention in connection with an execution is
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Speaker 1: the allowance of a suitable drop for each person executed.
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Speaker 1: And the adjustment of this matter is not nearly so
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Speaker 1: simple as an outsider would imagine. It is, of course
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Speaker 1: necessary that the drop should be of sufficient length to
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Speaker 1: cause instantaneous death, that is to say, to cause death
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Speaker 1: by dislocation rather than by strangulation. And on the other hand,
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Speaker 1: the drop must not be so great as to outwardly
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Speaker 1: mutilate the victim. If all murderers who had to be
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Speaker 1: hanged were of precisely the same weight and build it
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Speaker 1: would be very easy to find out the most suitable
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Speaker 1: length of drop, and always to give the same. But
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Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, they vary enormously. In the
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Speaker 1: earliest days of hanging, it was the practice for the
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Speaker 1: executioner to place his noose around the victim's neck, and
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Speaker 1: then to haul upon the other end of the rope,
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Speaker 1: which was passed through a ring on the scaffold pole,
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Speaker 1: until the culprit was strangled without any drop at all.
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Speaker 1: After a while, the drop system was introduced, but the
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Speaker 1: length of drop given was never more than three feet,
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Speaker 1: so that death was still generally caused by strangulation and
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Speaker 1: not by dislocation, as it is at present. One after another,
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Speaker 1: all our English executioners followed the same plan without thought
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Speaker 1: of change or improvement, until mister Marwood took the appointment. He,
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Speaker 1: as a humane man, carefully considered the subject and came
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Speaker 1: to the conclusion that the then existing method, though certain,
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Speaker 1: was not so rapid or painless as it ought to be.
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Speaker 1: In consequence, he introduced his long drop system, with a
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Speaker 1: fall of from seven to ten feet, which caused instantaneous
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Speaker 1: death by severance of the spinal cord. I was slightly
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Speaker 1: acquainted with mister Marwood before his death, and I had
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Speaker 1: gained some particulars of his method from conversation with him,
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Speaker 1: so that When I undertook my first execution at Edinburgh,
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Speaker 1: I naturally worked up on his lines. This first commission
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Speaker 1: was to execute Robert Vickers and William Inns, two miners
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Speaker 1: who were condemned to death for the murders of two gamekeepers.
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Speaker 1: The respective weights were ten stone four pounds and nine
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Speaker 1: stone six pounds, and I gave them drops of eight
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Speaker 1: fort six inches and ten foot respectively. In both cases
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Speaker 1: death was instantaneous, and the prison surgeon gave me a
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Speaker 1: testimonial to the effect that the execution was satisfactory in
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Speaker 1: every respect. Upon this experience, I based a table of
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Speaker 1: weights and drops, taking a man of fourteen stone as
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Speaker 1: a basis and giving him a drop of eight foot,
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Speaker 1: which is what I thought necessary. I calculated that every
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Speaker 1: half stone lighter weight would require a two inch longer drop,
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Speaker 1: and the full table, as I entered it in my
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Speaker 1: books at the time, stood as follows. Thirteen and a
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Speaker 1: half stone eight feet two inches, thirteen stone eight feet
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Speaker 1: four inches, twelve and a half stone eight feet six inches,
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Speaker 1: twelve stone eight feet eight inches, eleven and a half
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Speaker 1: stone eight feet ten inches, eleven stone nine feet ten
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Speaker 1: and a half stone nine feet two inches, ten stone
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Speaker 1: nine feet four inches nine and a half stone nine
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Speaker 1: feet six inches nine stone nine feet eight inches eight
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Speaker 1: and a half stone, nine feet ten inches eight stone
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Speaker 1: ten feet. This table I calculated for persons of what
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Speaker 1: I might call average build, but it could not, by
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Speaker 1: any means be rigidly adhered to with safety. For instance,
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Speaker 1: I have more than once had to execute persons who
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Speaker 1: had attempted suicide by cutting their throats, or who had
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Speaker 1: been otherwise wounded about the neck, and to prevent reopening
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Speaker 1: the wounds, I have reduced the drop by nearly half. Again,
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Speaker 1: in the case of persons a very fleshy build, who
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Speaker 1: often have weak bones and muscles about the neck, I
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Speaker 1: have reduced the drop by a quarter or half of
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Speaker 1: the distance indicated by the table. If I had not
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Speaker 1: done so, no doubt to or three of those whom
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Speaker 1: I have executed would have had their heads entirely jerked off,
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Speaker 1: which did occur in one case, to which I shall
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Speaker 1: again refer. In the case of persons with scrofulous tendencies,
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Speaker 1: it is especially necessary that the four should be unusually short,
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Speaker 1: and in these cases I have at times received useful
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Speaker 1: hints from the jail doctors. Until November thirtieth, eighteen eighty five.
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Speaker 1: I worked to the scale already given, But on that
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Speaker 1: date I had the awful experience above referred to, which
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Speaker 1: caused me to reconsider the whole subject and to construct
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Speaker 1: a general table on what I believe to be a
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Speaker 1: truly scientific basis. The experience referred to was dealt within
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Speaker 1: another chapter. The man with whom it occurred was Robert Gordale,
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Speaker 1: whom I executed at Norwich Castle. He weighed fifteen stones,
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Speaker 1: and the drop indicated by the first table would therefore
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Speaker 1: be seven feet eight inches, but in consequence of his appearance,
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Speaker 1: I reduced it to five feet nine inches, because the
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Speaker 1: muscle of his neck did not appear well developed and strong.
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Speaker 1: But even this, as it turned out, was not short enough,
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Speaker 1: and the result was one of the most horrible mishaps
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Speaker 1: that I have ever had, as will be seen from
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Speaker 1: the full report of this case in another chapter. The
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Speaker 1: coroner exonerated me from all blame and testified to the
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Speaker 1: careful way in which I had done my work. But
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Speaker 1: I felt that it was most necessary to take every
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Speaker 1: possible precaution against the reoccurrence of such an affair. I
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Speaker 1: therefore walked out a table of the striking force of
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Speaker 1: falling bodies of various weights falling through different distances, which
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Speaker 1: table I give on page thirty four. Working with this,
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Speaker 1: I calculate that an average man of any weight requires
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Speaker 1: a four that will finish with a striking force of
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Speaker 1: twenty four sewt, and if the convict seems to require less,
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Speaker 1: I mentally estimate the striking force that is necessary, and
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Speaker 1: then by referring to the table, I can instantly find
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Speaker 1: the length of drop required. To see how this new
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Speaker 1: table works out, we may take the case of Robert
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Speaker 1: Goodell again. As he weighed fifteen stones, his striking force
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Speaker 1: with a drop of two feet would be twenty one
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Speaker 1: ce wt twenty one pounds, or with a drop of
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Speaker 1: three feet twenty six c w t seven pounds, so
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Speaker 1: that if he were a man of ordinary build, the
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Speaker 1: drop necessary would be two feet six inches. As I
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Speaker 1: estimated from his appearance, that his drop ought to have
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Speaker 1: been about one sixth less than the standard I should
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Speaker 1: have given him, working on the new table, about two
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Speaker 1: feet one inch instead of the five feet nine inches
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Speaker 1: which was actually given. This is an extreme case with
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Speaker 1: a very heavy man, but all through the table it
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Speaker 1: will be found that the drop works out shorter than
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Speaker 1: in the first table. For instance, Vickers and Inns, the
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Speaker 1: two Edinburgh murderers previously referred to, would have had their
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Speaker 1: drops reduced from eight feet six inches and ten feet
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Speaker 1: to five feet six inches and seven feet, respectively, if
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Speaker 1: they had been treated according to the present revised table.
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Speaker 1: On August twentieth, eighteen ninety one, at Kirkdale Jail, Liverpool,
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Speaker 1: at the execution of John Conway, an attempt was made
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Speaker 1: to dictate to me the length of drop, and a
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Speaker 1: most unfortunate scene ensued. From seeing the convict Conway, I
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Speaker 1: had decided that the drop ought to be four feet
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Speaker 1: six inches, a little under the scale rate, and I
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Speaker 1: was surprised and annoyed at being told by Doctor Barr,
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Speaker 1: acting I believe under authority, that I was to give
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Speaker 1: a drop of six feet nine inches. I said that
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Speaker 1: it would pour the man's head off altogether, and finally
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Speaker 1: refused to go on with the execution if such a
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Speaker 1: long drop was given. Doctor Barr then measured off a
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Speaker 1: shorter drop, some ten or twelve inches shorter, but still
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Speaker 1: much longer than I thought necessary, and I reluctantly agreed
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Speaker 1: to go on. The result everyone knows. The drop was
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Speaker 1: not so long as to absolutely pull off the victim's head,
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Speaker 1: but it ruptured the principal blood vessels of the neck.
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Speaker 1: I do not know who was really responsible for the
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Speaker 1: interference with my calculation, but do not think that the
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Speaker 1: long drop was doctor Barr's own idea, as the drop
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Speaker 1: which I suggested was on the same system as he
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Speaker 1: had previously commended, and was almost identical with the drop
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Speaker 1: that would have worked out on the basis of his
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Speaker 1: own recommendation in a letter to the time some years ago.
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Speaker 1: Doctor Barr's letter to me, written in eighteen eighty four
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Speaker 1: was as follows, One Saint Domingo Grove, Everton, Liverpool, September second,
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Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four. Sir, in compliance with your request, I
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Speaker 1: have pleasure in giving you a certificate as to the
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Speaker 1: manner in which you conducted the execution of Peter Cassidy
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Speaker 1: in Her Majesty's Prison, Kirkdale. I may now report the
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Speaker 1: statement which I gave in evidence at the inquest, that
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Speaker 1: I had never seen an execution more satisfactorily performed. This
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Speaker 1: was very gratifying to me. Your rope was of excellent quality, fine, soft,
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Speaker 1: pliable and strong. You adjusted the ring directed forwards in
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Speaker 1: the manner in which I gave recommendation in my pamphlet
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Speaker 1: Judicial Hanging. You gave a sufficient length of drop considering
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Speaker 1: the weight of the culprit, and completely disticated the cervicult
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Speaker 1: vertebrae between the atlas and axes first and second vertebrae.
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Speaker 1: I have reckoned that the weight of the criminal, multiplied
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Speaker 1: by the length of the drop, might range from one thousand,
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Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty to one thousand, two hundred and
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Speaker 1: sixty fort pounds. And I have calculated that this vis
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Speaker 1: fever in the case of Cassidy amounts to one thousand,
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Speaker 1: one hundred and forty fort pounds. The pinioning and other
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Speaker 1: details were carried out with judaicorum. I hope whoever be
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Speaker 1: appointed to the post of public executioner may be prohibited
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Speaker 1: from also performing the act of a showman to gratify
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Speaker 1: a depraved and morbid public curiosity. James Barr, m d.
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Speaker 1: Medical Officer Her Majesty's Prison, Kirkdale, to mister James Berry.
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Speaker 1: A few days later after Conway's execution, I received a
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Speaker 1: letter from a gentleman in the south of London. Shortly
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Speaker 1: followed by a second letter, and as they throw some
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Speaker 1: useful light upon the subject, I give them in full,
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Speaker 1: omitting the writer's name, as he does not wish to
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Speaker 1: be published. August twenty second, eighteen ninety one. R the
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Speaker 1: execution at Kirkdale, Sir, as the accident attending the execution
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Speaker 1: on the twentieth instance at Kirkdale may be falsely and
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Speaker 1: very unjustly charged to your account, and at the same
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Speaker 1: time be brought forward by a mass of misguided people
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Speaker 1: as a reason for the total abolition of capital punishment.
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Speaker 1: I think the following remarks on the subject of hanging
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Speaker 1: may not be out of place. Some years ago, doctor
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Speaker 1: James Barr, medical officer at Kirkdale Jail, published a letter
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Speaker 1: in The Times regarding what he considered the proper length
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Speaker 1: of drop. He said that the length of drop ought
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Speaker 1: to be such as to produce a momentum of two thousand,
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Speaker 1: six hundred pounds, meaning by momentum the convix weight multiplied
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Speaker 1: by the velocity of his descent at the end of
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Speaker 1: the fall. Now, in estimating the convix weight, I conceive
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Speaker 1: that you ought to leave out the weight as far
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Speaker 1: as you can guess it of his head, because the
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Speaker 1: weight of his head is supported by the noose when
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Speaker 1: the jerk takes place, and therefore cannot affect the amount
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Speaker 1: of pull or strain on the neck. From what doctor
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Speaker 1: Barr says regarding the two thousand, six hundred pounds momentum,
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Speaker 1: it is easy by little mathematics to deduce the following
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Speaker 1: rule to find length of drop in feet. Divide the
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Speaker 1: number four hundred twelve by the square of the convix
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Speaker 1: weight of body in stones. By the above rule, I
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Speaker 1: constructed the following table weight of body without head to
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Speaker 1: length of drop fifteen stones one foot ten inches, fourteen
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Speaker 1: stones two feet two inches, thirteen stones two feet six inches,
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Speaker 1: twelve stones two feet eleven inches, eleven stones three feet
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Speaker 1: five inches, ten stones four feet two inches, nine stones
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Speaker 1: five feet one inch, eight stones six feet six inches,
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Speaker 1: seven stones eight feet five inches. Convict Conways weight you
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Speaker 1: are reported to have said was eleven stones two pounds,
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Speaker 1: leaving one stone for the weight of his head, which
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Speaker 1: is perhaps more than sufficient. His hanging weight would be
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Speaker 1: ten stones two pounds, so that a drop of four
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Speaker 1: feet and a few inches would have been, according to
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Speaker 1: the doctor's rule, quite enough for him. Regarding the value
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Speaker 1: of the rule, I am, of course unable to speak,
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Speaker 1: nor do I know from what I remember of the
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Speaker 1: doctor's letter that he meant the two thousand, six hundred
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Speaker 1: pounds momentum to apply in all cases. Much depends on
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Speaker 1: the convict's build, strength of neck, etc. Yours truly, x Y.
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Speaker 1: Second letter, August twenty fifth, eighteen ninety one. I e.
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Speaker 1: The execution at Kirkdale, Sir, in constructing the table I
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Speaker 1: sent you two days ago, I find that I have
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Speaker 1: made an absurd mistake. It rose from me carelessly taking
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Speaker 1: a stone weight to sixteen pounds instead of fourteen pounds,
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Speaker 1: which I beg you to allow me correct. Instead of
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Speaker 1: the number four hundred and twelve, I ought to have
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Speaker 1: given the number five hundred and thirty nine. The corrected rule,
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Speaker 1: based on doctor Barr's momentum of two thy six hundred
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Speaker 1: pounds is therefore as follows, length of drop in feet
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Speaker 1: is found by dividing the number five hundred and thirty
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Speaker 1: nine by the square of the number of stones in
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Speaker 1: weight of convict's body exclusive of the weight of his head. Thus,
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Speaker 1: if a convict weighs eleven stones altogether, and we take
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Speaker 1: his head as one stone, we have length of drop
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Speaker 1: equals five hundred and thirty nine divided by one hundred
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Speaker 1: equals five point three nine feet five feet five inches.
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Speaker 1: Nearly the table corrected stands thus weight of body without
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Speaker 1: head to length of drop fifteen stones two feet five inches,
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Speaker 1: fourteen stones two feet nine inches, thirteen stones three feet
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Speaker 1: two inches, twelve stones three feet nine inches, eleven stones
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Speaker 1: four feet six inches, ten stones five feet five inches,
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Speaker 1: nine stones six feet eight inches, eight stones eight feet
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Speaker 1: three inches, seven stones eleven feet. In allowing in the
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Speaker 1: case of convict Conway, who weighed eleven stones two pounds
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Speaker 1: one stone for the head, I may be allowing too much.
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Speaker 1: It is a mere guess. If his head weighed nine pounds,
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Speaker 1: the drop ought to have been four feet ten inches.
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Speaker 1: Yours truly x y ps. A mistake of three or
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Speaker 1: four pounds in estimating weight of head makes you will
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Speaker 1: see a considerable error in calculating the drop. It will
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Speaker 1: be seen that this calculation, which does not include the
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Speaker 1: weight of the head in a man's hanging weight, works
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Speaker 1: out the drop to a rather greater length than my
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Speaker 1: own table. But the difference is only small, and I
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Speaker 1: have always found my own table give quite a sufficient drop.
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Speaker 1: The rope. The apparatus for carrying out the extreme penalty
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Speaker 1: of the law is very simple. The most important item
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Speaker 1: is the rope, which must necessarily possess certain properties if
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Speaker 1: the death of the condemned person is to be instantaneous
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Speaker 1: and painless. For successful working, the rope must of course
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Speaker 1: be strong, and it must also be pliable in order
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Speaker 1: to tighten freely. It should be as thin as possible,
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Speaker 1: consistent with strength, in order that the noose may be
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Speaker 1: free running. But of course it must not be so
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Speaker 1: thin as to be liable to outwardly rupture the blood
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Speaker 1: vessels of the neck. Before undertaking my first execution, I
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Speaker 1: gave careful consideration to the question of the most suitable
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Speaker 1: class of rope, and after trying and examining many varieties,
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Speaker 1: I decided upon one which I still use. It is
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Speaker 1: made of the finest Italian hemp, three quarters of an
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Speaker 1: inch in thickness. Before using a rope for execution, I
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Speaker 1: thoroughly test it with bags of cement of about the
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Speaker 1: weight of the condemned person, and this preliminary testing stretches
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Speaker 1: the cord and at the same time reduces its diameter
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Speaker 1: to five eighths of an inch The rope consists of
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Speaker 1: five strands, each of which has a breaking strain of
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Speaker 1: one ton dead weight, so that it would seem unnecessary
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Speaker 1: to test it from any fear of its proving too weak.
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Speaker 1: But the stretching and hardening which it undergoes in testing
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Speaker 1: makes it far more fit and satisfactory for its work
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Speaker 1: than a new, unused rope would be. It has been
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Speaker 1: said that I use a rope with a wire strand
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Speaker 1: down the center. But the notion is so ridiculous that
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Speaker 1: I should not refer to it if it were not
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Speaker 1: that many people seem to believe it, and that more
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Speaker 1: than once it has been stated in the newspapers. A
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Speaker 1: rope with a wire strand would possess no possible advantage
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Speaker 1: that I can see, and it would have so many
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Speaker 1: practical disadvantages that I do not think anyone who had
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Speaker 1: studied the matter would dream of using such a thing.
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Speaker 1: At any rate. I have not done so, and I
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Speaker 1: know that neither mister Binns nor mister Marward ever did.
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Speaker 1: Mister Marward used ropes of about the same quality and
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Speaker 1: thickness as my own, while mister Binns used a much
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Speaker 1: thicker rope about one and a quarter inch diameter after
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Speaker 1: use of a rougher and less pliable class of hemp.
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Speaker 1: Until the commencement of eighteen ninety, I supplied my own ropes,
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Speaker 1: some of which, however, were made to order of the government,
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Speaker 1: and I was able to use the same rope again
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Speaker 1: and again. One I used for no less than sixteen executions,
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Speaker 1: and five others I have used for twelve executions each.
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Speaker 1: These are now in the possession of Madame Two's sword.
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Speaker 1: At the beginning of eighteen ninety a new rule was
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Speaker 1: made under which a new rope is ordered to be
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Speaker 1: supplied and used for most of the executions in England,
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Speaker 1: and to be burned together with the clothes of the
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Speaker 1: person executed, which were formerly a perquisite of the executioner
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Speaker 1: by the prison officials immediately after the execution. In Scotland
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Speaker 1: and Ireland. I still provide my own ropes. The rope
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Speaker 1: I use is thirteen feet long and has a one
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Speaker 1: inch brass ring marked into one end through which the
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Speaker 1: other end of the rope is passed to form the noose.
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Speaker 1: A leather washer which fits the rope pretty tightly, is
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Speaker 1: used to slip up behind the brass ring in order
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Speaker 1: to prevent the news slipping or slackening after it has
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Speaker 1: been adjusted. In using the rope, I always adjust it
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Speaker 1: with the ring just behind the left ear. This position
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Speaker 1: I never alter, though, of course, if there were any
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Speaker 1: special reason for doing so. For instance, if the convict
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Speaker 1: had attempted suicide and were wounded on the side of
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Speaker 1: the throat, death could be caused by placing the ring
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Speaker 1: under the chin or even behind the head. The position
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Speaker 1: behind the ear, however, has distinct advantages and is the
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Speaker 1: best calculated to cause instantaneous and painless death because it
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Speaker 1: acts in three different ways towards the same end. In
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Speaker 1: the first place, it will cause death by strangulation, which
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Speaker 1: was really the only cause of death in the old
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Speaker 1: method of hanging before the long drop was introduced. Secondly,
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Speaker 1: it dislocates the vertebra, which is now the actual cause
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Speaker 1: of death. And Thirdly, if a third factor were necessary,
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Speaker 1: it has a tendency to internally rupture the juggu vein
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Speaker 1: which in itself is sufficient to cause practically instantaneous death.
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Speaker 1: Pinioning straps, etc. The opinioning arrangement, like the rest of
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Speaker 1: the arrangements for an execution, are very simple. A broad
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Speaker 1: leathern body belt is clasped round the convict's waist, and
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Speaker 1: to this the arm straps are fastened. Two straps an
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Speaker 1: inch and a half wide with strong steel buckles clasp
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Speaker 1: the elbows and fasten them to the body belt, while
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Speaker 1: another strap of the same strength goes round the wrists
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Speaker 1: and is fastened into the body belt in front. The
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Speaker 1: legs opinioned by means of a single two inch strap
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Speaker 1: below the knees. The rest of the apparatus consists of
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Speaker 1: a white cap shaped somewhat like a bag, which pours
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Speaker 1: down over the eyes of the criminal to prevent his
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Speaker 1: seeing the final preparations the scaffold. Until recently, the scaffolds
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Speaker 1: in use in the various jails differed very much in
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Speaker 1: the details of their instruction, as there was no official model,
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Speaker 1: but in each case the local authorities followed their own idea.
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Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty five, however, a design was drawn in
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Speaker 1: the Surveyor's Department of the Home Office by Lieutenant Colonel
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Speaker 1: Alton beamish Ari before being finally adopted. The design was
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Speaker 1: submitted to me, and it seemed a thoroughly good one,
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Speaker 1: as indeed it has since proved to be in actual practice.
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Speaker 1: The design is supplied to the authorities of any jail
23:32
Speaker 1: where a scaffold is to be erected from the Engineer's
23:35
Speaker 1: Department at the Home Office, and with a slight alteration,
23:39
Speaker 1: has been the pattern in general use to the present day.
23:43
Speaker 1: The alteration of which I speak is a little one
23:45
Speaker 1: suggested by myself, and consists of the substitution of a
23:49
Speaker 1: slope or a level gangway in place of the steps
23:53
Speaker 1: I had found in some cases when the criminals were
23:56
Speaker 1: nervous or prostrated that the steps formed a practical difficulty.
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Speaker 1: The slope or gangway was approved by the Home Office
24:04
Speaker 1: and was first used on April fifteenth, eighteen ninety, at
24:09
Speaker 1: Kirkdale Jail for the execution of William Chadwick. It was
24:14
Speaker 1: a simple improvement, but it has turned out to be
24:18
Speaker 1: a very useful one. At most of the jails in
24:21
Speaker 1: the country the scaffold is taken to pieces and laid
24:24
Speaker 1: away immediately after use, but in Newgate, Wandsworth, Liverpool and
24:29
Speaker 1: Strange Ways, Manchester it is kept standing permanently. The essential
24:35
Speaker 1: parts of the scaffold few. There is a heavy cross
24:38
Speaker 1: beam into which bolts terminating in hooks are usually fastened.
24:43
Speaker 1: In some cases this crossbeam stands on two upright posts,
24:48
Speaker 1: but usually its ends are let into the wall of
24:50
Speaker 1: the scaffold house. Of course, the hooks fastened to it
24:54
Speaker 1: are intended to hold the rope. The scaffold proper, or
24:58
Speaker 1: trap or drop, as if it is variously called, is
25:01
Speaker 1: the portion of the structure to which most importance is
25:05
Speaker 1: attached and of which the government furnishes a plan. It
25:09
Speaker 1: consists of two massive oaken doors fixed in an oak framework,
25:14
Speaker 1: on a level with the floor and over a deep
25:18
Speaker 1: bricked pit. The plan and section will explain the arrangements.
25:22
Speaker 1: The two doors are marked AA and BB on the plan.
25:27
Speaker 1: The door AA is hung on the three strong hinges
25:30
Speaker 1: marked CCC, which are continued under the door BB. When
25:35
Speaker 1: the strap is set. The ends of these long hinges
25:38
Speaker 1: rest on a drawbar EE as shown in the plan.
25:42
Speaker 1: The drawbar is of iron one and one quarter inches square,
25:48
Speaker 1: sliding in strong iron staples FFF, which fit it exactly.
25:53
Speaker 1: When the lever d is pulled over in the direction
25:56
Speaker 1: of the little arrow, it moves the drawbar in the
25:59
Speaker 1: opper direction, so that the ends of the long hinges
26:03
Speaker 1: drop through the openings H and the two doors fall.
26:08
Speaker 1: To set the trap, the door BB has to be
26:11
Speaker 1: raised into a perpendicular position until the other door is
26:15
Speaker 1: raised and its hinges placed on the drawbar. The arrangement
26:19
Speaker 1: is a very good one, as both doors must necessarily
26:23
Speaker 1: fall at exactly the same moment. Their great weight, for
26:27
Speaker 1: they are of three inch oak, causes them to drop
26:30
Speaker 1: very suddenly, even without the weight of the criminal, and
26:34
Speaker 1: they are caught by spring catches to prevent any possibility
26:38
Speaker 1: of rebound. End of Chapter four recording by Ashley Jane