1st gas chamber execution in United States in 1924...
Item # 726246
February 08, 1924
THE DAY, New London, Conn. Feb. 8, 1924
* Chinese National Gee Jon execution - executed
* 1st person in the U.S. by lethal gas chamber
* Nevada State Prison in Carson City NV
The front page has a one column heading: "USE LETHAL GAS TO KILL CONVICT" (see images)
Complete with all 14 pages, some tiny binding holes along the spine, good condition.
Background: This authentic 1924 edition captures a chilling milestone in American jurisprudence: the first-ever use of the lethal gas chamber for capital punishment. On February 8, 1924, at Nevada State Prison, 29-year-old Gee Jon—a member of the Hop Sing Tong—was executed following his conviction for the gangland-style murder of a rival in the mining town of Mina. This report provides a visceral, "on-the-scene" account of the experimental procedure, detailing the technical malfunctions where liquid cyanide failed to vaporize in the morning cold and the makeshift conversion of a prison building into a pressurized chamber. A quintessential piece for collectors of Western Americana, legal history, or macabre ephemera, this issue documents the controversial shift from the gallows to "humane" chemical execution, marking a grim transformation in the American death penalty that would spark nationwide debate for decades to follow.
* Chinese National Gee Jon execution - executed
* 1st person in the U.S. by lethal gas chamber
* Nevada State Prison in Carson City NV
The front page has a one column heading: "USE LETHAL GAS TO KILL CONVICT" (see images)
Complete with all 14 pages, some tiny binding holes along the spine, good condition.
Background: This authentic 1924 edition captures a chilling milestone in American jurisprudence: the first-ever use of the lethal gas chamber for capital punishment. On February 8, 1924, at Nevada State Prison, 29-year-old Gee Jon—a member of the Hop Sing Tong—was executed following his conviction for the gangland-style murder of a rival in the mining town of Mina. This report provides a visceral, "on-the-scene" account of the experimental procedure, detailing the technical malfunctions where liquid cyanide failed to vaporize in the morning cold and the makeshift conversion of a prison building into a pressurized chamber. A quintessential piece for collectors of Western Americana, legal history, or macabre ephemera, this issue documents the controversial shift from the gallows to "humane" chemical execution, marking a grim transformation in the American death penalty that would spark nationwide debate for decades to follow.
Category: The 20th Century
