Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1885 — Hanged by a Single Hair. [ARTICLE]

Hanged by a Single Hair.

An explanation of the hanging of the murderer Waiselewsky, at Ban Jose, by means of a single hair, is as follows: The gallows trap on which the condemned stood had double doors, swinging from the center to both sides; These doors, constituting the trap, were held in position so as to form a' part of the platform of the gallows by a spring bolt. This bolt was sprung, thus opening the man weighted trap, by the falling of a fourteen-pound weight. This weight was suspended by a small cord, which came up to the. rail on the gallows back of the condemned. The cord, instead of being at once and simply fastened, was wound, around a “barrel.” This “barrel” was lying in a horizontal position, parallel with the rail, and held a few inches above it by upright supports at either end. The cord holding the weight was wound around the barrel until the re-. sisting power of t e friction almost held the weight. This “almost” was arrived at by previous experiments, until it was reduced to such a fine point that the additional strength of a single, hair waS enough to suspend the weight; or, more properly, prevent the from slipping. One end of the hair was fastened to the cord and the other end to a screw driven in the barrel. When the hair was cut the card slipped around the barrel, the fourteen-pound weight dropped ten feet, springing the trap-bolt, and Waieslewsky shot through the opening. It is said that Judge Belden, who tried Waieslewsky, suggested this peculiar- scheme of retributive justice, but the detils were worked out by {Sheriff Branham. The hair which was used came from a lock of the murdered woman’s hair.— Ban Francico Bulletin.