Smyrna times., 1871-01-18
MiSceIIU ID e o IL s.
The Years Suicides.

The Years Suicides.
There is Spanish proverb which says there
is a remedy for everything but death and in
spite OF all the teachings of philosophy and re-
| hgOn, the universal feeling Of the European
civilization accepts dissolution as the one ir-
remedlable misfortune. We speak of our own
civilization, because the love OF lie and the
dread OF death is greater among those races to
! which the Christian religion has given a
weighty sense of personal responsibility, than
among those whose traditions and fanaticisIns
have made all the incidents Of living and dying /
a matter OF comparative unconcern. The Jap |
anese gentleman resents an atiront by ripping |
ny his own bowels, and his discourteous ad |
verSary must follow the chivalrous example or
be held "a bOOr aud craven. In some provin- |
ces Of China a man condemned to death can
buy substitute for few hundred dollars.
The vicariOus convict makes his wife and chill
dren comfortable for life, and then proceeds to
make himself comfortable Tor death by indulg-
ing in a protracted oreie Of rum and opium, at
the end Of which the executioner' 5 sword cures
r the logical head ache, and the troubles of life
e and housekeeping are ended. But this ind-
l. Gates a triumphant exercise Of what the Ger,
mans call Pure Reason, above the reach of the
Caucasian intellect A mans lite may be very
q worthless, bat he will not sell it for money.
ID He still says, In excuse for any meanness, " A
man must live and DR.. johnson, NJ. De
FalleyrAud, Di1askaos lis, and all the wits
4: aud sages since jest-boOks were written, may
reply in vain, do not see the necessity"
The gloomy wisdom of Soon warning to the
81 Lydian King-to count no man happy until
IN his death-is usually reversed in the Sanguine
m instincts OF average human hearts, which per
>i>tvntly refuse to despair this side of the un-
n discovered country.
+ The report OF the Coroner gives some hint,
m, thel eiore of the utter wretchedness which ex-
,E l>t> unknown at our very elbows, when it in
~ ~ forms US that in this, the most practical and
" prosperous OF all the world great cites, dur
ing the year Just finished ll2 persons founC
LIZ the miseres OF life more dreadful than death
~ y. and laid violent hands on their own existence
" OF these only sc were natives OF the UnlteC
States-Ihe element Ot hope Is stronger in the
Yankee than any other creature. Beer met
aphy>cs aud home sick give to the Teu
tonic Immigrant pred>pOsiiiOn to sct-slaugh
ter, increased 10y lndl>crcet reading of Herthe
. and the Robbers. The German suicides reacl
= the disIhoportionate number of SO. The Iris
. relatively much less nuAerous Many {
them would seem to have little to live fer an
yet only Is have thought best to die. OF tn
French, who at home have such a passion +,
charcoal and the Seine only three chose to ru
the ordeal of an alien Morgue As might ma
urally lie expected, the very young peOp
have not been eager to leave a world wheI
there was kissing and dancing. Under TWEEN
years of age there was but one solitary unto
l. oc tunate; under thirty there were 26 under for
:. there were 81 that grew tired OF the hard hgh
:" under fifty, 27 there were l6 under sixty al
10 under seventy, and one who had finish
}, the allotted limit OF mon grew impatient a
coulted his da!lying death. The suicd
aniIy were pretty evenly distributed through t
year. January was the month most affect
by the selt-saughterCrS, and in March tn,
were fewe.t. This is natural enough, as IN
wint'r is destitute of cheer to the wretch'
and hope wakes in every heart where it slt
90 at the fir t viviiying touch of Spring.
Either because they suffer less, or endl
StS suffering better than men, comparatively
'0~' women commit suicide. Last year the prop
ton was % to SO. There is a curious and ch
;3m acterstic difference i'll the manner in which
two sexes make way with their lives.
4a largest number OF men shoot or hang the
sWgS selves; but only five women used the ungra
- ful rope, and not one had the courage to l.
", and fIe pistol. Most of them took pois
which allows one to die in picturesque
heart-brOken attitude. Four, who had pc
bly, read Hood and seen Hamlet, sought '
}, cry grave, which they would not have don
ell, they had ever seen drowned person.
c'0k' blonde Bavarlan girl came before the Core
agreed to die now while we were young
Living. He brought two pistols and shot |
sell, and l was afraid" If this Romeo Of
u s'o'e' Bowery had brought a phial of Prussic a
~Esa his Juliet would have gone unfinchin0lv ,
anIeed him into the Silent Land.
Taetlcsl The prcdominance OF foreigners in all
lists shows that nostalgia is the most fru
RAIL cause OF that utter despair which makes
hateful a condition of misery among 81
gers is worse than financial ruin, or disg
or despised love. In the early days Of
Coolie Emigration, the contractors on the
mus Of Panama frequently found their v
lug gangs seriously reduced by suicide.
.E! Ssigsi ssSs%s@is ;Si1 aud S5h:%, 5rS@i"t n
down in platoOns on their faces in the
;, and shallow brooks and never move a
,ket. This they imagined was the easiest way
lment Of home.-M Y. Tribune.
,idaFy