, 1876-06-25

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| elected.
THE SUICIDE MANIA.
Suicide in the United States is renching
point where we are warranted in compctin
with France, both in the number OF those VIII
shuttle off the mortal coil. and in the uniqu
methods and motives of the operation. Th
uncouth Indiana farm hand, whose machin
for self-murder has already been describe'
in these columns, has never been riva1ed b.
any madman in France in cool and horribl
ingenuity, and the papers during tho pas
week or two have contained narratives O
suicide, the motives for which are as strang.
and uneccountable as ever impelled IN,
Frenchman to jump the life to come. Til:
mania for suicide is worth the attention O.
the moralists and the psychologists,
not alone for the alarming fre
quency of its manifestations but TO,
the apparent insuhiciency OF cause that
leads to it in SO many cases. There are
instances where suicide is not an unnat-
ural crime. man may be afflicted with
painful and incurable disease. He may
have suffered agonies with it for years until
life grows to be burden and death is q
happy release, and rather than suffer on
without hope he takes his life and ends his
| misery. A man may BE- broken down in
health, hopelessly ruined in business, perso-
cuted with creditors, deserted by his friends,
and sec no avenue Of escape from his suffer-
ings except by sen-murder. man in an
unguarded moment may have committed
some dishonorable action, and unable to en-
| dure his shame or to bear the pricks and
| stings Of conscience he frees himself from
his mental torture in the only possible way.
In all these cases, although they show q
lack of courage, there is sufficient motive.
| It has operated since the creation of the
world and will continue to do so to the end
Of the world, assuming that cowardly people
will live until that time.
There are numerous cases, however, in
which no decent cause can be shown, and
some for which there is no cause, decent or
indecent. In New Jersey, the other day,
one little girl attempted to take her life be-
cause she had been naughty and felt badly
about it, and another because her little COM
panion had died and would be lonesome in
Heaven without her. It might be possible
for very maud1in person to extract grain
Of sentimentalisn out Of these juvenile sui
cides, but the average opinion Of sensible
people will be that, if the parents Of these
precocious seH-murderers had been more
profuse in the use Of the birch upon their
dar1ings, they would hare had more sense.
In Atlanta, Ga, few days since, Miss LILY
HARRISON, schoolgirl Of Is, daughter of
the most prominent Methodist clergyman of
that city, threw herself into the river-rapids
and was drowned. The Columbus (Ga.) Sun
says that, "0n reaching the bank, which is
about 10 yards slope to the water, she discov-
cred MIR. NAMES, who, standing not far of,
she thought, and correctly too, was watching
her. She im1nediately rushed for the river.
Mr.. NAMES pursued her. When he was within
40 feet Of her she had reached the waters edge
she tore her collar loose IN front, looked
around with a smile as though exulting over
q conquest, gave three swings and leaped
from the rock" A very melodramatic exit
from the world, but no cause is known why
the young girl should wish to make any e1it
at oil. In New York City, last Sunday, a
young lad of 1G, clerk in q bankine-lonse,
shot himself, and no cause is known why be
did it. Sometimes the motive for suicide
verges on the ridiculous, rs in the case Of
D1EDR1cH BRAuSL1EnES, G2 years of age, and |
old enough to have known better. This !
precious fool cut his venerable throat be- !
cause his second wife refused to 20 with him !
and assist him paying his respects to the |
grave of his first wife The only creditable |
feature Of the affair is that he had the good |
taste to cut his own throat, instead of getting
mad with the second Mrs BgAus11EpzN and |
cutting hers.
For the suicide OF fools and madnen. of
grown-up male idiots aud adult maudlin
women, we may at least invent some EXCUSE,
but what excuse will bo sufficient to explain
this dreadful propensity of children to CON-
nit self-murder? What possible cause can
there be that the dawning Of life should be
30 clouded over? Young life never has de-
1ouement of tragedy. There is no situation
n childhood SO desperate and distressing that
here is not strong probability of relief.
rhe sky ID not always overclouded in youth,
The storm and shine alternate in every young
ife, however hard the circumstances Of its
urroundings may be. Despair only springs
rom the accumu1ations of years and the
Of fate continuing until the VIC
i'm is no longer able to endure them. The
ause of these juvenile suicides is hard to
ind, because, in natural. healthy child, the
Thole course and condition of life tend in an
pposite direction. The New York Tribune.
! recent discussion Of this subject, SAVE
cry pertinent1y:
Many boz has been ruined for life by mis-
understanding Of his idiosyncrasies on the part OF
aose to whom his culture was condded. II he has
aturaily bad temper, o. is continually despond-
g, orif there is an abnormal development Of his
aiganattop Or Of bis curiosity, he may, whenever
efficiently and peculiarly excited, seek sratihca-
On or relief through resource about which he | =.
oes not stop to reason. This may specially be the
lse with children Of an epieptic diathesis 1t is
Y parents carefully to watch their charges, and
lily to comprehend, Il possible, their peculiazl-