The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1876-08-10

the tWRntystifth TO make au aIV"SA, u"
der Clusters command, at point about
three miles down the right bank OF the
stream. Custer had apparently made an
attack on the Indians, and was compelled
to retreat, but was cut off from the main
body. They were forced into a narrow
recess, where horses and men lay slaught-
cred promiscuously. Here was found
the bodies of Custer, his two brothers
and nephew, Mr.. Read, Colonies Yates
and Cook, and Capt. Smith, all lying in
a circle of a few yards, and here one after
another of Clusters brave command fell.
Not a man escaped to tell the tale.
4 LABOR-SAVTNG SUICIDE MACHINE
The recent suicide at Lafayette, Ind,
of one Moore, for horrible ingenuity has
rarely if ever been excelled in the an
nails of self murder. The poor wretch
made his preparation in every unique
way, and displayed an amount of inven-
tive talent which would have accom-
plished immense results if it had been
applied to a legitimate mechanical Pur-
pose. Since a quietus can be made to
ones life with a bare bOdkin, it will
strike most persons that the Indiana
farm hand put himself to a good deal of
trouble with his ingenious machine for
head-cutting. His trouble, however,
secured absolute certainty in the opera
ton of his machine, The ak was sus-
pended in such manner that it was
sure to fall in a certain direction at
certain time. He placed himself in the
path of its decent, so that there could be
no possibility of avoiding its edge, either
by voluntary or involuntary motion.
Where the ak would strike, he placed
small box, open on one side, in which his
head reposed. He held his head firmly
in position and his chin up from his neck
by stick run across the box. He was
strapped tightly to the floor with two
straps, one around the arms and the
other around the legs, both straps being
screwed to the floor. Thus when the
candle which he had placed between the
cord holding the ak burned them of, the
weapon would swiftly and heavily fall
and perform its horrible mission with
absolute certainty. Nothing but a
miraculous interposition could stop it.
Having thus perfected a method which
was proof against failure, his next step
was to secure painless death. This was
easily done by filling the box, in which
his head reposed, with cotton saturated
with chloroform. Nothing could be
neater, surer, or more effective, and yet
nothing could be more grimly horrible
and desparingly courageous. The
denOuement is more thrilling than any
thing in fiction. He cody suspended
the ak, at a point fifteen feet above
where his head would lay, by the double
cord fastened to the ceiling. He then
Lit the candle, which was calculated to
burn down to the cords before he should
wake up from his unnatural slumber
By its light he arranged his box, stufing
it with cotton and saturating it with
chloroform. Then he threw himselfupon
the floor and fastened his head into
the box, and with remarkable skill
fastened himself to the floor, so that
there was no possibility that the con-
vulsive moYemenS which sometimes
follow the taking of chloroform would
disturb his position relative to the keen
edge above that was waiting for him.
The opiate did its work. He went to
sleep with perfect confidence that his
machine would do its horrible business
in perfect satisfactory manner. The
brief candle shed its little light upon
the ak and reflect upon the face of the
sleeping man. Slowly and steadily it
burned down until it reached the cord.
In an instant the cord snapped, the ak
decended with a crash through the mans
neck, and buried itself in the floor I'M
deneath him. Its work was sure.
There was no mutiIation, no suffering,
no tortur. In an instant he was in
eternity, without pang or a struggle.
Tribune.
ENGLAND AND EGYPT
London Examiner.