Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-10-16
PhenomenaI Tragedies.

There are times in the social life of
every people when actions become as con-
Lagious as certain diseases; hence we
have what are recognized as epidemlcs OF
suicide, murder and other crimes. Some
times there are great social and religious
movements that seem to draw every body
into their vortex, like cyclones and storms
| of unusual dimensions and severity. At
| another time the cOntagiOn will break out
| in the form of amUSements; one year it
| is chess, another billiards, again base ball,
! or, as now, it takes the form of Pedes-
| trianism,
| The reporters of newspapers, when
| they hear of a murder or a suicide, conf
| IDENTIFY expect to chronicle the particulars
| of from one to a dozen more before the
| series of tragedies is completed. Old
steambOatmen, in the days when boiler
! explosions and other river eatastrophes
were more common than now, dOlOrously
anticipated other disasters to the river
| interest, and they were not often disap-
pointed With railroads it was pretty
much the same way: We knew an in
telligent man who lived good deal on
the road who, if he knew of such catas-
| trOphe as happened on the Central Michi-
! gan last week, would stop over few
days at whatever place he happened to
be, so superstitiOus had he become that
there would be-aF4ftlaesh latorTts55' they
were headlined in the newspapers.
| Doubtless if these social and other phe-
nomena were studied it would be discoV-
cred that they were, in most cases, only
condolences, or if relating to purely
physical and moral conditions, a general
cause might be found for their frequent
recurrence. There are some tragedies
enacted, however, that do not find imi-
tatOrs like that ofAthe Tilted lover in Rus
sia, who recently resolving to put an end
to his life, fixed a row of candles under
: a bed, constructed of nOn-cOmbustible
materials, lighted them and deliberately
| stretching himself OH it, remained till he
was slowly roasted to death. When found
b, his spine was carboniZed. The amazing
. thing about it was that he kept an ac
n count of his suffeTings from time to time
getting up and making a record of hi
progress, until he was at last too nearly
: paralyzed to command the use of hi
= limbs.
:, He wanted to prove two things. First
that suicide need not necessarily be in
sane. He put an end to his existence
n simply because the world offered hin
nothing to compensate him for living il
= it. Second. He wanted to demonstrate
. the power of the will and the ability o
" a man, having formed a purpose, to ad
here to it, though the physical sufferin!
might tempt him to relinquish it. So h
Is took the slow method of roasting himsel
, by the heat afforded by row of candle
placed under his bed. 1t gave him tim
| 10 feH6cGs Inc record lie ltIJ SHOWS OH
$ one regret-that he could not die in thi
i manner without making the atmOspher
:. in the room offensive to himself and 9th
ID ers by the OdOr of burned flesh. Tha
was all.
We presume that suicide will stan
rs alone in the annals of tragedy. Th
l. young Russian will have no imitatOrs
, Men have been burned to death at tn
. stake and by accident. SardanapalU
L built his own funeral pyre, and Herculf
in his agony found relief in the flames
t. but King and hero alike were reduced I
o. HObson's choice, and no doubt made SUI
a. that the fire consumed rapidly. The
is have had their imitatOrs. The Russian
Dr. method will remain unique in history
" He exhibited the stOicism of the Indian
Sc but he has left no prOOf that he was M
In a monOmaniac-One of those cases WheI
m | the reason is sound and clear till a pa
3 ticular line of thought or action
e. touched, when insanity becomes at ont
w manifestation. Commercial.