The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-09-25
colder months, even in countries where

colder months, even in countries where
rivers are free from ice. It is very
evident that the GOODNESS of the water
acts as a deterrent to those who would
make the fatal plunge, but who want
to- do it comfortably. This strange
fact relates more particularly to the
.gel1tler sex, and is observable in the
mO.rtuary returns of our city. AL
thon, RI it is, of course, impossible to
saw Whether an unknown dead person
has bee n married or single, yet it has
been found that married people are
less likely to yield to the impulse of
sclf- destruc ton than the unmarried.
This NAV be due either to the greater
comfort of M. arried life, or to the fact
that the annGyances and petty ills
which would drive the unmarried to
suicide, may, in the married state, be.
divided with a partner.
The death-rate by suicide is much
greater among the kbersl professions
than among the mercantile, farming
and artisan classes, but the rate is espe
cially large among the unemployed of
every profession. Nothing, tends to
demoralize man, or cause him to lose
hope quicker than want OF employ
ment, more especially if he has been
accustomed to steady work. Always
on the lookout for something to do, but
always disappointed, he yields to tho,
sickness of heart occasiOned by hope
deferred.
Sudden yielding to passion, ending
in murder, is a frequent incentive to
suicide, when the slayer realizes that
he has killed perhaps his wife Or his
friend. Sudden and heavy losses in
business also swell the rates. But it is
noticeable that one seldom hears of a
defaultcr to a large amount, whether
he be dishonest bank official or mill
treasurer, who causes his ow n death.
This may be accounted for in the feel
ing that the defaulter may depend on
his freedom from imprisonment after a
few years seclusion.
The proportion of residents in the
country who kill themselves is small
compared with jewellers in the city, but
it IS asserted that the rate of insanity
and consequent suicide among farmers
wives in this country is large. This is
owing to the unceasing round of hard,
wearisome work, and the benumbi ing
restitution of company, variety and
pleasure to which they submit patient
w. and for which death appears to
some the only relief. Military me n are
more apt to commit suicide than civil
ians, owing to the enforcement Of strict
discipline and the feeling of personal
restraint, and the rate is higher among
the cavalry, owing to their dutres being
more onerous. Military suic ides are
usually connected with excessive drink
ing.
The suicidal tendency appea rs to be
inherited, as inquiry after man kills
himself often shows that Others of his
family have either taken or attempted
to take their own lives. This faint is
doubtless transmitted along: with the
predisposition to melancholy or insan-
ity. Deaths by suicide app ear to run
in cycles, following each other with
alarming rapidity, showing that man is
creature of impulse. as well as an imi-
tative animal. iowa rd the close Of the
last century Il man threw himself from
the top of the London Monument, and
in Il few days was foil owed by dozen
others. In 1906, in the French camp
Ill DOulOSuI1 SUIulcI hulCu AIIAsCiA Ill
sentry box, and so IN any Of his COM
rades initiated him That the box was
burned by order of the Emperor, who
declared that ''the man who commits
suicide is a soldier who fees from the
enemy This is true, but it is said
that Napoleon after his abdication took
poison, his life being saved owing to
the weakness of the drug which he
had carried on his person since the
Moscow retreat. Being great fatalist,
he decided he was not fated to- take his
own life, and never again made the at
tempt.
The use of liquor is a fruitful incen-
tive to suicide, as it is to the ommittal
of all crimes, and many poor wretches
of: both sexes have ended their lives
while in state of partial insanity in.
duced by liquor which has intlamed
their brains, and deadened their con-
sciences. But let all whose brains are
clear keep them so, and run with
patience the race which is set before
them, remembering that the poor sui
cide's last act is a crime, for which
there can be no repentance.-N y
Witness.