The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-05-20
How Jones Killed Himself.

certain Julia Bangs, over at Wilmington,
and Julia refused him He was perfect
ly desperate over his defeat, and his
| friends feared tbst some evil conse-
quences would ensue. Their spprehen..
| sions were realized. Jones called upon
Peter Lamb, and asked him If he had q
revolver, and Peter said ne had. Jones
asked Lamb to lend it to him, and Peter
did so. Then Jones informed Peter that
he had made up his mind TO commit
suicide. He said that since Miss Bangs
had dealt so unkindly with him he felt
that life wss an insupportable burden,
and he could find relief only in the tomb.
He intended to go down By the river
shore and there blow out his brains, and
so end all this suffering and grief, and
bid farewell to world that had grown
dark to him. He said that he mentioned
the fact to Lamb in confidence because
ne wanted him to perform some little
Offices for him when he was gone. He
intrusted to Lamb sonnet entitled a. 4
Last Farewell" and addressed to Julia
Bangs. This he asked should be de-
livered to Miss Bangs as soon as his
corpse was discovered. He said it might
excite pang In her bosom and induce
her to cherish his memory. Then he
gave Peter his watch as a keepsake, and
handed him forty dollars with which he
desired Mr.. Lamb to purchase tomb
stone. He said he would prefer plain
one with his simple name cut upon it,
and he wanted the funeral to be as I'M
ostentaiious as possible.
Peter promised to fulfill these COM
missions, and he suggested that he would
lend Mr. Jones bowie-knife with which
he could slash himself up if the pistol
failed.
But the suicide said that he would
make sure work with the revolver, al
though he was much Obliged for the
offer all the same. He said ne would
like Lamb to go around in the morning
and break the news as gently as posi-
bic 10 his unhappy mother, and to tell
her that his last thought was of her
But he particularly requested that she
would not put on mourning for her
erring son.
Then he said that the awful act would
be performed on the beach, just below
the gas-wOrks, and he wished Peter to
come out with some kind of vehicle to
bring the remains home. II Julia came
TO the funeral she was to have a seat in
the carriage next 10 the hearse, and If
she wanted his heart it was to be given
TO her in alcohol. II beat only for her
Peter was to tell mis- employers at the
store that he parted with them with re-
greet, but doubtless they would find some
other person more worthy o. their con-
| fidence and esteem. lie said he didn't
care where he was buried, but let it be
in some lonely place far from the tur
MOL and trouble of the world, some
place where the grass grew green and
where the birds came to carol in the
early spring -time.
Mr.. Lamb asked him if he preferred a
leep or shallow grave; but Dir. Jones
said it made very little lliference-when
the spirit was gone the mere earthly clay
was Of little account. He owed seventy
cents for billiards down at Schotrs sa-
loon and Lamb was TO pay that out of
| the money in his hands and to request
the clergyman not to preach a sermon at
the cemetery. Then he shook hands
with Peter and went away to his awful
doom.
The next morning Mr.. Lamb wrote TO
Julia, stopped in to tell them at the store,
and nearly killed Mrs. Jones with the
intelligence. Then he borrowed Cooley's
wagon, and taking with him the Coroner
| he drove out to the beach Just below the
| gas-works to fetch home the mutilated
corpse. When they reached the spot the
body was not there, and Peter said he
away by the floodtide. So they drove
up to keyser's house, about half a mile
| from the shore, TO ask if any of the
folks there had heard the fatal pistol
shot or seen the body. On going around
to the wood-pile they saw Keyser hold
ing terrier dog backed close up against
a log. The dogs tail was lying across
| the log and another man had the ak up
| lifted. A second later the ak descended
| and cut the tail off close to the dog, and
| while Keyser restrained the frantic ami
NAL, the other man touched the bleeding
stump with caustic. AS they let the dog
! go Lamb was amazed to see that the
| chopper was the wretched suicide. He
was amazed, but before he could ask
any questions Aleck stepped up to him
and said:
| Hush-sh-sh, Don't say anything
about that matter. | thought better of
it. The pistol looked so blamed danger
Gus when cooked 1t that changed my
mind and came down here to Keyser's to
stay all night I'm going to live just to
spite that Bangs girl"
! Then the Coroner said that he didn't
| consider he had been treated like a gen
tleman, and he had half notion to give
| Mr.. Jones a pounding. Bat they all
drove home in the wagon, and, just as
Mrs. Jones got done hugging AIeck, a
! letter was handed him containing the
| sonnet that he had sent Julia She re-
! turned it with the remark that it was the
awfullest slush she ever read, and that
| she knew he hadn't courage enough to
| kill himself. Then Aleck went back to
the store, and was surprised to find that
his employers had so little emotion as to
dock him for half days absence. What
! he wants now is to ascertain if he
cannot compel Peter Lamb to give up
that watch. Lamb says he has too much
respect tor the memory of his unfortu-
nate friend to part with it, but he is
really sorry now that he ordered that
tombstone. On Washington's birthday
Jones' bleeding heart had been so far
stanched as to enable him to begin Skin
mishing around the affections of girl
named Matilda Mullen, and if she refuses
him he thinks that tombstone may vet
come into play. But we all have our
doubts about it.-Har Adeler, in Neao
York Weekly.
Food and Its Preparation.
IT is popular notion that man is less