The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1865-12-29

Ekssusrainary Case q seifsDessrucsion.
There are men who can perpetrate great
offence simply that they may achieve notoriety
by the act, and such man seems to have
been the wretched John Illnour, who, on Sa-
turday, hurried himself out Of existence by
swallowing dose Of laudanum, at Chicago.
Ill. The circumstances are detailed by The
Times as follows:
"The man Illnour had been employed as a
clerk in the Office Of Mr.. Charles r. Wander.
cook lime manufacturer and dealer In cement,
No. "a Monroe street. He was a native Of
Rome, N. Y, where his family At present
reside. He evinced during the trial, and also
subsequently, the keenest interest In the fate
OF the two men who were executed on Friday
and seemed to feel something Of Cisappoint-
ment when he saw that their names had be-
come notorious. Better it seemed to him to
fire an Ephesian dome than to go to the grave
unknown and 50 this miserable man-actu:
ated by no motive, stimulated by no extreme
indulgence, nerved by no object, supported by
no we'll grounded hope in the future-rushed
wildly from existence merely, as 1t appears at
present, that he might crafty the miserable
wish TO become notorious!
. :" For number of years Illnour had boarded
In company with a man named Samuel Barnes.
To him he said that he had been unfortunate In
business. He had made some money Al one
time, but had again lost 1t. He had gone to
California, and been unsuccessful there he
had begun to come to the conclusion that MS
life Ms mistake, when the excitement crea-
ted by the execution Of Corbett and Fleming
com menced. Then came the desire for nOtOri
ETY. which resulted in his death.
:" Barnes states that he went with 1llnour
into his office, on Monroe street, on Saturday
afternoon. Illnour had frequently expressed to
him his wish to die, and when the two con-
yicts were executed on Friday, he earnestly
and seriously expressed wish that he could
SWAP places with them He then prOcureda
phial Of laudanum, and, in Barnes's presence,
drank it nearly out. Barnes, his old friend,
sprang toward him when he drank, and snatch
ed the phial from his hand. But he had i'm,
btbed sufficient quantity TO insure his speedy
death and, after swallowing it, coOlly walked
to the Lum House, No. SIS Monroe street, and
sat reading the papers while the poison was
effecting'its work
"Soon after the fatal draught, Barnes and
Mr. Briggs, the proprietor of the place,
brought three doctors to see him. He acknOw
lodged to them all that he had taken the poi
son, but would not look at any medicines they
could offer in the shape of antidotes. He
wished to elie, he said, and he was determined
poison with perfect elaboration. He had a
rope fastened up in his office, which he had in
tended should be the means through which he
should escape the torments of this world. He
sat and read the newspapers with perfect
eQuanimity and GOODNESS till the sickness Of
death began and then he requested to be as
sisted to his ROOM He was conveyed to room
No. 10, and there, in a short time. expired.
The deceased was fifty years OF
age his family are all wealthy, and there can
be assigned no cause for the suicide but the
gloomy and morbid thoughts which had arisen
during his misfortunes, acting upon natural
weak temperament, instiga ted him to the COM
mission of this crime, for which he alone has
had to pay the penalty"