Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-03-08
Mfs<arss TeyApaaaien.
rHE SUICIDES OF rar cyr.-


THE SUICIDES OF raE eREAr warrr-
ri, lh ., D.so'' % Liuerpoe, Merc,1yl
young and senti' mental hears n tender and
romantic meis' Icholy being the chosen prop
ioSye "a a. ST., Niagara is the pilgrimage of
OF genus Mount Vernon the pilgrimage OF
Pa.t,olP IN, and Santiago the pilgrimage of
nrfa sauon. At Niagara happy lovers
ding The lonely woods the flashing waters
'.nd The rising clouds OF spray, as witnesses
Sf their burning love and steadfast truth. At
niagara .hapless SWANS and maidens. crossed
IN their affections, blighted in their prospects,
wander by the isles and banks for one last
hour OF bliss, and then, with arms entwined
aud hearts inseparable, go headlong over.
Not long ago, young man came across from
the American side, accompanied by a pretty
girl and by q little child. He hired q boat not
far above the rapids, put the lady and the
child into the stern, and throwing his oars i'm
The boat pushed of into the stream. An old
boatman warned him TO beware of going ont
loo ar The young man smiled andded, but
pushed straight out into the food. At once
the boatman saw that he had lost control of
his httle craft, and shouted TO him eagerly TO
edge about, as he was running In the rush
Inc ROVER raised an oar in answer TO his cries:
the shaft was snapped across-but whether
not say. "God help youi" sighed the boat
man; in a moment they were gone. When
Trends came TO seek the bodies, lit was found
10 De ease OF passion and despair Loving
each other madly, they hal fed from home
and parents who opposed their union: they
ha1 sought Niagara, the cure of disappointed
and dis tracted love, and i'm these waters they
hsd found their everlasting rest.
fTcm Table rock toward Lake Ontario
sweeps chasm for many miles, through
which the rapids race with velocit y to make
inc eddles of the Danube at the Iron Gates
Feem tame, the whirlpoOs of the Neya round
ne rock OF Schlussel commonplace. This
Chasm is The favorite grave of hapless lovers
anu despairing maids. The mighty fissure
mas i oeen eaten out, the teeth gnawing deeper
surveyed this bed and told Us how far down
into the earth these volumes of descending
water plunge. You dare not push your boat
INTO INTO the loan. But on the outer edge Of these
great circles you may drop your line a hun
dIed feet, two hundred feet and find no bottom
Many persons dive into the deep, but never
rise agaiI to tell the tale Their dive is taken
once for all. The bodies of the dead are rarely
found: Some months ago, a lady came alone
10 hotel on the American sfde-a pretty
woman, young and well attired, who gave
her name as the wife of a merchant in Chi
cago. For day or two she roamed about the
rams, the cataracts and the river banks. No
one noticed her, for pretty women are seen at
every tuIn, and at Niagara every one roams
about the falls the cataractS and the river
IN lhe evening of the third day she was
missed at her hotel. A guide had seen n
woman fling herself into the torrent from n
bridge on one of the sister isles, but whether
she was drowned or not he could not say. A
telegram was sent TO Chicago; and, by noon
OF the. second day, a man arrived who said he
was the lady'S husband. The guide could NOT
assure him that the lady missing from the
notei was the woman he had seen spring from
the bridge He had never noticed her before
The lady from Chicago might have simnIv
crossed The bridge When high rewards Were
oHered Tor the body, men who knew every
stone and gully in the ravine, as they knew
the logs aud ladders of their own shanties
s SCI, through every crevice i'm the rocks,
Dul not a trace OF the lost woman could thew
ma, and the diSconsoate widower had To
leave Niagara without securing legal evil
dence that his wife was dead.
100 Oftpn. If ic tlnnqnt hp ,T
suicide is little more than the weird and
solemn tempting of the fall itself. A lady
came one day, to Clinton, from town on
Lake ontario, accompanied by her mother
and her child. She walked about the VILLAGE
stood ON Table Rock, listened to the boom
admired the buffalOes and fed the bears like
DINER 1dlers on the spot and seemed as happy
as her child, to whom these sounds and sights
were new. As they were looking at a Shop
", tt she turned toward The water, gazed
at me falling sheet an instant, slipped away
from her companions, ran TO the water edge
AT Cedar place, and sprang into the food. A
cry for help was raised Some guides were
near at hand with ropes and other gear and
one OF them, grappled safely by the waist
plunged after her, and, by a daring effort
caught her as she rolled among some rocks
and carried her back to land unhurt For
some time she was speechless, but on coming
10 her senses she told her mother that her
husband had been cross with her, that morn
ing, wanting her TO take holiday when She
had no mind for il; that she was jusi a little
vexed and fdgety; and that on seeing the
II,
lovely as il fell. she saw pleasant way of
ending all her worries. The water tempted
her: Yet she was glad they had caught her
In The rapids. For, from the moment She be
gan TO glide, helpless waif, the waters lost
their power-the romance of her life flashed
on her brain-hc husbands trust her haDpv
nome, her parents dOting, and her children
love. The heart cried out for life-for one
more trial of her duty. Sine was saveI. Next
year, she came to Clinton with her chilli To
look at the ledge from which she had sprung,
ana thank the guards once more for Having
saved her life She never spoke of the af1't'r
again, out every summer she returns to Nj
agara. and those who know her notice that
she always fingers for q moment at the
ledge, absorbed and grave, as though her
heart was beating with an inarticulate
prayer.
Anothercase OF suicide, ATTEMPTED by n fe-
male under nervous irritation, was less fortu-
nate. woman, living on the spot became
afflicted with a malady as common and as
latal as consumptiOn-fear OF penury. That
she had no good reason for this fear her neigh
bors knew, but ii possessed her like q secret
ana lncurable disease. 81 can't bear it," she
used 10 say "and; some day, you will see me
over the fall. :" Her neighbOrs laughed, say
ing people who talk of suicide are i'm for length
OF life. But, one day she leapt off The rock at
Cedar place. A brave young fellow named
DAVIS saw her slip in, but was too far of to
eaten and draw her back The lad was used
tosulcides, as every one becomes by livingat
the lalls. lie saw that she would pitch
against the ravine wall. some ten or twelve
feet under the rock on which he stood Peer
ing over the bank he saw a little shelf of
earth just broad enough for man 20 light on
ana no more; he scrambled down a moment
ere the woman came rolling on, put out his
hand toward her. caught her shawl and tore
IL from her body as She fioated down. and
stared in horror as the wooden rag hung dang
ling in his grasp. The suicide had kent her
promise, and escaped from her imaginary
poverty into eternal sleep.