The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-22
sELF-DESTRUCTION.
srrCvuE or THE rAyuNG TELLER
Or THE MECHANICS AND
TRADERS BANK.

haa thus taken away the life that tOd CAV
him. But are the judgments OF men unim
peachabe. and In the iniinIty OF that spac
which oye,iiows with Divine mercy can 1t b.
danjed that there II a kind thought flashing
from the genius Of eternity for the poor sou
drivan tn madness and aelf-destruction by de
spairY Let us believe so, for IN these
trouhloue times many euccumb under tht
heavy weight of misfortune, and II is con
aolpg tn think that nj least In some cases
where pure hearts are smltten 10 madness b,
despair. misery does not follow them beyont
the grave.
Yesterday at about half past 10 o clock In thu
morning one Of these too frequent and always
incomprehensible tragedies occurred at the
Mechanics and Traders Bank, on CarondeIet
street MIR. Auguste Huard, an old and
highly respected citizen OF this community
there committed suicide by blowing bis brains
out with pistol.
"a appears TINT tho unfortunate man left
his home yesterday at the usual hour after
breakfast, and repaired 60 the bank. Az is
well known the sheriff had already taken
possession since Thursday at o'clock. 90
that he had very little TO do. lie was at the
time heard TO complain Of severe neuralgia
pain In the head Towards II o'clock
Sheriff Gauthreaux entered the bank and
proceeded 30 open The vault In order 10 make
an inventory Of the books. At that moment
Mr.. Huard disappeared from the room. The
cashier states that while Sheriff Gauthreaux
was taking box from the vault and holding
IL In his hands, he heard q noise like the ex-
plosion OF pistol, followed by sound Of
broken glass, which be at the time attributed
b the fall of q box containing some
explosive material Immediately upon the
explosion some Of the employees, who had
assembled near the vault, rushed out to SEQ
what was the matter, and one penetrating
into the small chamber IN the rear Of the
vault beheld there the lifeess body Of the
deceased his face on the ground and the
blood oozing from his mouth. Death must
have been instantaneous The unfortunate
man had evidently placed the muzzle Of the
pistol In his mouth and fired, the ball pene-
trating the skull.
Coroner Marley was quickly summoned to
the spot, and after holding an Inquest gave
verdict Of death by suicide. The sum of
Eli 70 was found on the person OF the de-
ttStstb, tNRthiti WIN ~ th'th 'pt EtVus bheNa
March IL. 1879, of the Mechanics and Traders
Bank on the Mutual National Bank, signed
Auguste Huard. cashier
II is reported that before leaving the Office
TO commit his suicidal act, Mr.. Buard handed
10 one 81 the employees The kay II hia pri-
vate drawer. stating that there was letter
In Il for his son, Augusta Huard, Jr. Upon
opening the drawer, after his death, II was
found TO contain two letters, one addressed.
as he had stated, TO his son, whilst on the
other was inscribed, 1.-THE property of Ernest
Laiitte,n
The letter TO Mr.. Auguste Huard, Jr., was
a confidential letter, In which he spoke of his
approaching end. stating that the cause
which impeled him TO seek self-destruction
was his despair &C the failure of the bank.
which left him without resources to support
his family.
The Times and the CITY Item yesterday even
ing were very profuse In surmises as to tho
cause of the suicide. without inquring sufIi.
cientiy into the merits Of the case they have
{the Times particularly published slanderous
rumors sufficient TO blast the fair reputation
which the deceased has always enjoyed to his
death.
Both papers state that on Thursday night
Mr.. Huard appeared very much excited and
left the bank number OF times to drink at
the adjoining bar-room. Now we have the
authority Of the receiving teller Of the bank,
who was present, to state that MIR. Huard
came to the bank alone that night and did not
leave It once, to his knowledge, until his eon
came at a late hour, and they departed to-
uether. As far as the story Of the books OF
the bank being changed and altered, II is sim
My ridiculous. If we may believe the cashier,
who states that he has no knowledge Of the
fact. and that Mr. Huard, rs paying teller,
had nothing to do with the general books Of
the bank. his business requiring him TO keep
only two books, which may be rather termed
memorandum books.
The fact is that the books Of the bank, "a
the receiving teller informs us. have not been
examined yet.by tho sheriff. Tho last time
they were passed over, and this we state upon
authority of the president. cashier and one OF
the directors. the accounts of Mr. Huard were
strictly correct.
IL IL evident then that the talk Of the even
ing papers Is criminally triilng, and that
from all that can be 8soertained Mr.. Huards
act OF despair can in no way be attributed 10
the fear Of detection OF irregularities In his
accounts.
His friends state that he had been lately
suffering from severe attack Of neuralgia In
the head, and that the excessive pain caused
by his ailment, Joined to his utter despon-
dency and misery at the banks failure, were
the only causes which pushed him TO suicide.
The deceased had been working In this bank
in various capacities for about thirty years.
and had been one Of the employees at the
time the bank was first Incorporated. Like
all old bank employees, he had nourished a
sort of religious faith In the institution. OF
which he considered himself part, and 1t Is
not astonishing that upon seeing the annihi-
lation of this little world. In which it had be-
come a part OF his very life to move, his
mind. shaken by severe physical pain, should
have wandered into an insane despair, which
led TO self-destruction.