, 1873-08-26
SUICIDES By KEROSENE.

Ono Of tho questions upon which thore Is d
wide difference Of opinion, is whether oVoFy Por-
eon committing duicile Is not necessarily moro
or less insano It is possible that como light
may DO thrown upon this subject by tho great
number Of suicides which are now sommittod in
tho insane attempt to kindlo firos in stovoB and
furnaces By pouring koroscno oil upon tho
lighted wood OF coal. Within tho last thirty
days over thirty doatha hnyo been recorded as
having taken place from this cauae- In tho
light Of long experience, and OF common kno"t-
edge of tho iuf1ammablo charactor Of
tho oil, and tho certain consequences 1t
tho fro communicate with tho contents OF
tho eau, mon and women continue day after day
to pour oil upon Lighted fires, and arc thereby
themselves burned to death. II any person woro
to undertake to hasten the ignition of fro by
pouring gunpovder on It, ho could hardly bo
called sano, and yet tho danger Of IN explosion
and loss of life from tho use Of kerosene for tho
samo purpose Is hardly less than from tho use OF
powder. Tho uRe Of korosono by po1aonH in tho
kitchen to bhatou tho combustion OF fuol Is more
general than is Bupposcd. It is used in hundreds
of houses without the knowledge and against
tho ordors Of tho housokoepor. In countless
caaeB tho fatal accident IL tho first knowledge TINT
tho head Of tho family hns Of the uso Of tho
hazardous oil. 1t ia said by thoas who habitual-
II uso It: "I have uaod 1t for months, and mover
had an accident but tho Incident, nevertheless,
comcs, and tho victim dies In horrible pain and
suffering. That it may bo uBod carefully with
out an explosion il possible, but that tho caro-
full uso Of it will soon fall into tho careosa use,
ending in tho litoral burning alivo Of the unfor-
tunato operator, is reduced to m ovontual cer-
tainty. So certain is tho ultimate fatnlity from
the uae OF koroaono to haston combustion Of fuel
In d stove that tho poraon who ndopts It for that
purpose, md is burned to death, may
ha said to commit suicide. AB vol experiment
with loaded roYolyer against the body, or with
powder poured from flask, or with nitro-glycer-
ino, as to pour kerosene from q can upon n
Lighted fro mud not oxpout fatal consequences.
With a full knowledge Of NIL thia and with a
moral certainly that death will follow, it is por-
sietcntly usod in thousands OF houses oyory day.
LII Luld AOL HooltAAE toAkA ut4lboAhto443 Hill WILL
o knowledge Of tho moans employed ? 1s it not
such o reckless disregard Of probabilities az
amounts either to Indifference as to tho conse-
qucnccs, or An expectation OF fatal result ?
It is difficult to suggest romedy, or tho
menus Of preventing such tragodios. Everybody
| .kuowa tho dangerous character Of koroHono
| whom thus used md It is no uso telling such
| porgons what they know already. But It's use
! may DO abridged, and the number of deaths ro-
| ducod, ii heads of famiIios would not only pro-
hibit tho uBo Of kerosene, but tako e1rectunl
means to prevent it being used. 1t WIS rotated
some time ago, that tho head Of family having
some slight cause to diatrust ho1ong and solemn
donials TINT kerosene was used to hasten tho
| kitchen fire, tried tho experiment Of removing
! tho kerosene ut night and filling the can with
water. Tho next morning tho1a was no BRONX
fast, tho wood being reported as too wet to
| burn, and tho stovo as half filed with
water. So with thousands Of other casos, where
Its uso ia kept aecret. The only safety H., whom
keroscno is permitted in tho houso, to sec that
it il kept under lock aud key, whore 1t cannot be
reaehod. Such procaution would have saved
hundreds Of IVoB, aud will continue to save
them, 30 long as 1t Is necessary to prevent people
committing suicide by burning themselves to
donth while pouring kerosene upon fire In The
M4chen-stoyo.