The Shasta courier., 1864-07-02
SHASTA COURI Err.
Starving Himself to Death.

1here are lew more eAtFaoTuiidTt NO.
tives on record than that of Luc' ADtonio
Viterbi a native of Corsica. who volu"tar:'s
suffered the dreadful pangs Of Starvation W.
I,-;nq in nrisnn condemned on the charge oi
;ssassinating ,natu Fredlani. r.,
Lorn in the year l769. and it appears ma
from. .;,earlv period Of his life taere '',.'I
c,a,aj. .L.,,,.,,,, h,s. family and tbat oi reui
,ritse'.,-s'' ',,,,nsss carried on the quarrel
i.:.'I, and renforseiessiy. andon one oc-
III yiouse belon girsg the Niterbis was
l,nnt dn,yn and their property LAID waste.
n. u,a,,hers of the Fredlanl family subSe-
.,o,,lv fell. stabbed or shot, anil one OF these
I,e' intonia was accused of assassinatlng.
Political prejulices operated strongly against
Vterbi on his trial. and, with very little pre-
vinus formality. he was condemned to suffer
death on the guilntine.
Viterbi appealed against the decision of
judges-cnly, as it subsequently appeared I"
gain time in order thar he might bring about
his own end. He kept Journal during MS
imprisonment. and from this interesting doe
ument we shall CLEAN his story and lay 1t he
fore our readers. At first he tried to destr,y
himself hy opium but this failed, and having
no weapon az hand, he endeavored to Kill
himself by su-feit of food-but in this. too,
he was disappointed. Starvation was his last
resource. and the determination with which
he perseyered through all the stages OF his
slow suicide is little short Of marvellous.
On the 81 of December. 1921. he began to
fast. The first two days he felt little or no
pain. and on the third day he writes:
Il feel no uneasiness of any kind. The
stomach and bowels are in a state of perfect
quiet: the head clear and the imag gination
active and quiet; the sight extremely clear;
no anxiety of food or drink: indeed. | have
no anxiety for either.' On the 9Th of Decem
berthe fourth day of his fisting-he seems
to have suffered much from thirst and hunger,
and he records that his head began to be con
fused. On the 9TH he endured = burning thirst
with bitterness in the mouth, and on the
Sth his sensations appear To have been muc!
the same. with the addition of " failure of
strength, frightful swimming of the head and
general weakness"
On the 10Th. he writes: q At twelve o'cock
head firm-stomach and bowels qulet-Slght
clear-heaFng acute-the regularity of the
pulse continues-tbe thirst resumes its pow
er. / still continue to take snuff with pleas
ure feel no desire to eat, In the afternoon.
however, he had "a strong desire for food,
and on the following day the llthl J. he again
suffered greatly from hunger and thirst. At
ten at night on the 18th he records . Thirst
intense pulse very weak and irregular ces-
sation of the movement of the sysole and di-
astnle of the heart for several hours constant
watchfulness; universal languar; extreme
fatigue and inability to bear the light On
the l3tii we have long entry. of which the
following is part: = At midaig ght the pulse
became extremely feeble and intcrmitting;
intense thirst general prostraton nf strength.
AT this crisis my understandings abandoned me
and without the concurrence ofmy Judgement
stimulated bv an intolerahle thirst. | took The
jag of water and drank large draught this
increased the coolne>s of the parts: an in
stant afterwards my hands, feet, nose and
cars becoming icy cold: the pulse then en-
tirelv ceased to beat-dll the symptoms were
mortal"
Viterbi hoped that his hour had now come,
and stretching himself out on his pailat, en-
claimed 10 the soldiers standing around;
"Look how well have laid my.rlfout."
physician was sent for and n little wine CIV
en- to the sufferer, after which he drank enp-
ouslv of water Seven soldiers were placed
with him in his cell, and these men added
greatly t, the unhappy prisoners discomfort
1t does not appear that any attempt was
made to force him to take food. although vi
terbi saws: They want to prevent my dy
ing On the 10Th of Deeember-the 18TH
day of his abstinence he again suffered from
intense thirst and swoOned away for nearly
half an hour. On the 10Th his strength he
came much reduced; the 18th he suffered
hut slightly. and on the lSih--tbe ast day an
entry was made in the diary-the following
is the record At eleven o'clocl, | am about
to end my days with the serenH death Of the
Just. Hunger no longer tormeuts me thirst
has entirely suhsided the stomach and bow
els are perfectly tranquil; my head is uu-
elouded and my light clear; in short, uni
ver>al calm relgns not only IN my heart and
in my CONSCIENCE. but over my whole body.
The few moments which | have to live glide
placidly away. as the water OF a small brook
flows through beautifula and delicious plain
The lamp will soon he extinguiShed from the
want of food for The flame. Signed
ANTONIO NI1ERBI."
The unfortunate man hved for two day.
after this-ha died on The 20th, and in his
last moments he preserved the equanimity
revealed in the above entry. just before ex-
piring. he said Il am prepared to leave
this world.' and in a few moments his self
imposed sutferings were over.