American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-04-12
Fashionable Suicide.
By MAY WHITNEY.


IT is computed by the best authorities,
that of all the suicides which float in oul
rivers and fill our morgues, and make DIES
olate our once happy homes, a proport ion
| of at least twO-thirIS are women. This
estimate does not includethe unnuuber
ed multitude of women who die yearly,
victims of loHg-coutinued attempts at
self murder, over whose bodies the rites
of Christian burial are performed at
whose graves sorrowful friends bew;,ii
the special dispensatioRs which removed
them from earth in the, flower of youth
and womanhood, no one knowing that
| their daisY-dcCked mounds conceal tie
awful secret of=sujeide. =.
We see them everywhere, those fading
blossoms which the frosts of death will
blast, ere their fair. lives reach the
day Of golden fruitage. Or if the frost
delay little, vauqUished by the I'M
cTenchable summer in The veins of youth,
and the fruit grewsfair and shapely to-
1 ward maturity, the hidden worm which
! gnaWs ever 1t the life center, triumphs at
last, and il falls shriyeied to the dust.
How numerous they, are, those blasted
lives, whose ipsidious disease no skill can
discover, let the tear swollen eyes, and
quivering lips, and sob-shal1en breasts all
over the land reply.
| 81 cannot imagine what ais my daugh-
| ter" father ence said to nis; "shc vas
as strong q child as one could wish to see
She had no transmitted disease of any
| kind, and wegave her the the most care
full training, physically; yet, within few
Eyears, she has lost all her bounding beau
| tifying health. and lies on her bed most
of the time, just wasting away"
"What does her physician say?'
| ale seems unable to help her. At
first, he called it general debility then
| e hoe ri
was the cause of the disease; then her
lungs seemed to be the offending mem
bcrs; now believe nc calls it 'consump-
| ton of the bowels Ny opinion is, that
he does not know aetGt ais her"
"Well, my dear sir,'' said, firmly, 81
know what ais your daughter. She is
| committing suic!5ef'
| The afflicted father lifted 10th his
hands, and stared at me IN open mouthed
horror.
Il know what I say. She made the
| first attempt at Madame Boul!ards Semi
nary ten years ago. l saw her do it my
self. ! have since seen it repeatedly, and
l am certain it is the cause Of her present
condition.
"Why, in heavens name, did you not
tell her mother or MYSELF" he gasped.
"You would not have believed il posi-
be l used all my influence to dissuade
to her room, and l viii prove what
say"
The pale sufferer still insisted upon
robing herself each day rs usual. She
half reclined upon low couch, trying to
rise as we entered but sinking back eX-
hausted Size looked wondrously beau
tiful at that moment. Her golden hair
fioatcd about her like waveso of sunshine;
her luminous blue eyes were full of weird,
Gncarthly bTilliance; a rich carnation
blooncd upon her checks and lips-an
ominous flush like a gorgeous sunset
which precedes night. Her dainty, white
dress, with its lace edged ruffies, was
''faultily faultIess;" her feet were encased
IN the tiniest of slippers. Altogether, she
looked quite the reverse OF self Inur-
-derer. Thefather looked into her face
and lishelieyeti il instantly
I took from the table one of her school
books-a physioiogy-turned to the dia-
gram showing the natural form of a
healthy chest and the proper position of
the organs it contains, with the opposite
plate, showing deformity caused by COM
preston. / read from it:
cit is of the greatest Importance that
the motions of the chest and abdomen
should not be interfered with. Freedom
of action is absolutely essential here
where the lower portion Of the lungs,
liver, spleen, stomach, etc, are located.
The important organs of respiration, the
diaphragm, is also here. Compress these
parts and the diaphragm is hampered in |
its action, respiration is partially stopped,
the lungs and heart compressed, the stom
ach and liver either forced out of place,
or what is worse squeezed into half the
space they would naturally occupy. The
portal circulation is INSTRUCTED, and the
viscera become the seat of yenous en-
gorgement."
'fThat is precisely the condition of your
daughter, my dear FRIEND" said. Look
at her even to day, weak as she il, diff
cult as her lungs would iird this labor of
publication at any time, or her heart its
enormous work of forcing cut through
its ventricles three ounces of blood 1T each
stroke, doing daily work equal to lifting
one hu72dre6 and ts1enty- three tons one foot
from its level, she has compressed the
room in which they labor to almost half
its natural size. crushing the heart against
its walls, entirely closing at least one half |
of the lung cells, and deluging her bowels |
with impure blood, which produces con
gestion and Inflammation. A natural
waist for a woman of her size would |
measure from twenty-eight to thirty four |
inches, if never artificially compressed. |
Cora, what is the size Of your corsets:"
Eighteen inches" she answered Ian |
guidly, signing.
From ten to fourteen inches less room
in chest not q grain too iarge for the all
important organs contained in il! No |
wonder she is dying, sir. THIS L call |
suicide!'
The poor father was shocked indeed. |
He had "Never invaded the sacred pre- !
cincts of feminine mysteries - he Sup |
posed her mother ought to know" And |
So ought all mothers to know that with the |
first halfinc OF compression about the |
waist none too large when aGtR'"{ tor |
either beauty or life-their lsg ghters be- !
gan the crime Of t5l0 de Sc. How many Of /
them do know the fact? How many OF |
them realize that disease Of liver, dys- |
pepsia and cousumDtiOn are legitimate /
results OF such compression? That de- /
formities Of the worst character are pro-
duced in that manncr-deforniticS of
shoulder, of spine, of hip; deformitics OF
temper and mnd-for impure blood dow
ing to the braia will cause all varieties of
deTangcuients-all Physicians know, at
last. Why mil not mothers and daughters
be convinced?
We are told on every side that q slen-
der waist is beautiful Who has made it
so? Not the All-wisc Artist VIII, created
the human form, and made it the most
perfect gem in a universe uf beauty; not
the grand old masters,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors ~ tiuc;'
not the sublime gcuius Of the aculptor,
who pierced IN" srerpt Of sll forms, pnd
sought the highest purest line of urpcG,
emhody ing II in The imuprtll Venus.
The peTHiciuHs hnOil of compressor"
he wHist IS 81 much o relic ng hnIborism
ag tina eh avi M pf heaJa tatt15Fyrr asy