Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-10-30
SAVED FROM SUICIDE.

n ASLD F1sOM SSEN2DEs
As was coming out of the San Francis
-, co post-office one morning in the yea
1855, tall, dark-skinned man placed him
self in front of me, and fixing his in
tensely clttering eyes upon me, said, il
an excited tone:
''Sr, cati YOU give me half hour of you
.. time this nornng?'
"Yes,' replied II can be of any ser
vice to you by so doing"
Not here, but in your Office privately
he continued. 81 must speak to some
0. body, and having heard you preach in the
q o. church cn Pine street, | felt [ could ap
o. proaCli you; l am in great trouble and
$. danger, and must speak TO some one."
ae ae His manner was excited, his hand trenl-
A. bled, and his eye had an insane CLEAN as
he spoke. We walked on in silence until
We reached my office in Montgomery
% Street, when he hurriediy locked the door
> on the inside, saying as he did so:
: This conversation is to be private, and
do not intend to be interrupted.''
As he turned toward me saw that he
/. had pistol in his hand, which he laid on
a desk, and then sat down. waited for
him to speak, eyeing him and the pistol
closely, and feeling little uncomfortable,
: locked in thus with an armed madman of
almost giant-like size and strength.
'.Have you ever been haunted by the
idea IF shicide?" he asked abruptly, his
eyes glaring upon me as he spoke.
No. not particularly" answered, ''but
why do you ask?''
Because the idea is haunting tile;'' he
said, in an agitated tone, rising from his
chair as he spoke. IL have lain for two
nights with a cooked pistol in my hand,
calculating the value of my life. | bought
the pistol to shoot myself with, and won-
der that have not done it i; but something
has held me back"
What has put the idea of suicide into
yonr mind:" l inquired.
MY lifc's failure. sir: and their is
nothing left for such tool as ] have been"
he said bitterly. ..When man has no
hope left he should die'
! l was making some reply, when he broke
in:
Hear my history, then tell me if death
is not the only thing left for me.''
When he told ne his name recognized
it as that of A man of genius. whose col-
tributions to certain popular periodical
hal given hi n wide tame in the world of
letters. He was the son Of venerable
New England bishop, and graduate of
Harvard University. will give his story
in his own words, us nearly as can:
''ln 1880 | started for California with
honorable purposes and high ambition.
My father being clergyman and poor.
and greatly advanced in years. te't it was /.
my duty to make provision for him and |
for the family circle to which | belonged
Animated by this purpose, was full of
hope and energy. On the ship taking me
to California made the acquaintance and
tell into the snares of a beautiful but I'M /
principled woman. for whom toiled and
sacrificed everything for eight years of
weakness and folly. fever renting a dol
!af to those | intended TO provide for at
home. | made Immense sums of money.
but it all went for nothing but to feed the
and recklessness of my evil
genius. Tortured by reinorse, l made
many struggles to free myself from tie
evil connection that blighted my life, but
all in vain. when death lifted the shadow
from my path. The unhappy woman died,
and was free. felt like new man. The
glowing hopes that had been smothered
revived. | made money and sa:ed it, max
ng occasional remittances to thetamily at
home. who were overjoyed TO hear from d
lie after so long and guilty silence.
Il had learned to gamble, of course, but to
low resolved to quit it. For two years
kept this resolution, and had in the mean
lme saved over $4,000. Do you believe O,
hat the devil tempts men will tell you to
is true began to feel strange desire
o visit my old launts. yielded, and
ound my way to a well-known gambling ar
ell, where lost every dollar of my hard
armed money. My eet contempt was
omplete. sneaked to my lodgings, feel
lg that had somehow parted with my
lanhood rs well as my money. ''''
'The next day was surprised by the ~
fer Of a lucrative subordinate position in "a.
federal Office in San Francisco. This Wa
as not the first coincidence of the sort in po
" life where an unexpected influence had e''
ren brought to bear upon me, giving my Nv ~,
ans and prospects a new direction. Has W
cd anything to do with these things, or pc
it accident! took the place which was WI
iered TO me, and went to work with re- ia'
,wed hope and energy. made vow
.ainst gambling and determined to regain ''e'
| had thrown away. l saved every " ~
,llar possible, pinching myself in my us us
ing, and supplementing my liberal sala- 'np
by literary labors. My savings had si'
'ain run high up in the thousands and me
! gains were steady. The Frazer river rep
;nino excitement hrbke ont A, old dia
end of mine came to me and asked the lne
an of Slo0 to help Inn off to the new 'ais
nos 7 foId him ba sho,Id Lava .h. and
oney and that would have 1t ready fer "
n that afternoon. After lie left the oi'
ought occurred to Inc that 500 was'a =
ry poor outfit for such an enterprise, '"''
d that he ought TO have more. Then
: thought was suggested-yes, sir. it S"o
IS suggested-that L might take the u1" .s,
,l.ai 1,o,,.,. ,os. f,.o, hanL .u,I. ,.;., tilla
other hundred to place in the hands OF p'i'
I friend. Twas fully resolved to risk ,a. vac
I cent beyond this. We went togeth- N",' =,
and. after alternate Successes and losses !,
the faro table. it ended in the usual way; '"''
Jst the hundred dollars. The old pas -"
n was ronsed again. A wild determi- Is
ion to break the bank took hold upon is a
!. l. went night after night, betting lay,
klessly, until not a dollar was lett. now
is Happened last week. Can you won- ..Go
that have concluded that there is no / ouly
De for as weak fool as am? Now, erne
candidly, don't yon think that the best som
fg l can DO Is TO blow out my brains r der.
! he. cooking the pistol as he spoke. wint
he thOucht occurred to me that 1t was whe
fl;ne, sIo s..sc;.laY ,i.t