Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1880-06-14
SUICIDE OF CONRAD wEaAND.
RE HANGS HIMsELF WITH A
WOOLEN SCARF.


-
what Mr.. wiegand Discovered
This MersinE when she Wsns
10 Call Her Husband % Break
fAss = The UafoFsuaate Nan
Makes Two Attempts.
The Comstock community Wal thrown
into a state Of condemnation this morn.
ing BY the announcement that Conrad
wisgand, the wsll.known assaysr, had
committed suicide at his assay ofioe on
@ street, Virginia.
A News reporter at Q visited tho
premises for the purpose Of asoertaining
the particulars Of the tragedy.
Last evening Mr.. wisssnd complained
Of feeling unwsll. and said hs would
sleep on the sofa. As this was his GUS
tom when his health was not y good -
usual, Mrs. wiseand thought nothing
strangely Of Il. and went to bed as usual.
Somstims In the early part Of the night
Mr.. wisgand got up and said hs guessed
he would 60 out and got some milk.
his wife told him there was some In the
house, and got II for him. After drinking
Il he left the room. going down stairs,
but o returned and resumed his
place on the sofa.
When Mrs. wiegand got up this morn
ing her husband was not In the upper
part OF the house. and she thought hs
had zone down to bis office. which 10
on the basement floor, below the O street
level. At about o'clock, having pre-.
pared breakfast. she wont down to call
him, and not anding him in his ofdoe,
turned 70 rstrace her steps. In doing 90
she had to ascend q flight Of steps. Just
O. she began to 60 up these she bsheld
the form Of her husband, suspended to
the joists Of the floor above.
Her screams aroused the nsighbor.
hood, and the men employed In the
assay Office rushed to her assistance.
The unfortunate woman was removed
to her apartments In the upper portion
OF the building. and the body was taken
down. The body was quite cold. It
was evident that death had ensued sew
sral hours before.
The surrounding circumstances indi.
cate that the first attempt at suicide had
been unsuccessful. There were several
bruises on the face Of the deceased, q
deep cash being cut in the bridge OF the
nose, a. u by the rough corner Of q
board. As near as could DO judged. he
stood ON q carpenters workbench which
il in the basement, and after tying the
moose. jumped Of. The knitted WOODEN
comforter which he generally wore
was utilized, and the knot probably
slipped, letting him fall against some
lumber that was directly under. The
fall hurt him 90 much that he went TO
another part Of the basement and
brought Q mattress, which he placed
under his i~mprovised scaffold, 30 that In
case OF his falling again be would not
suffer any further bruises. The second
attempt was successful, however, and
the mattress was OF NO use.
The face Of the deceased today was
but slightly disoolored, and aside nom
the cuts and bruises on II, looked a.
natural a. usual. On the under part OF
the chin and around the neck there was
q black streak where the fatal cord had
pressed.
The neck was not broken. Death was
caused by s%trapgulation.
No definite can 30 assigned ior
the act, % 30 far as yet known Mr..
wiegsnd left no explanatory papers.
Mr.. Augustine, who has been Mr.. VIE.
gand's associate for years, says he thinks
It 10 the eject Of overwork. His business
in Virginia IL in q fair and prosperous
condition, but outside speculations con.
nected with smelling and refining pro-
cessss have swallowed up all his profits
and thrown him hspelessly In debt. For
some time Mr.. Wiegsnd has been trying
to curtail expenses by doing most OF the
work OF his assay office. The strain has
been too much and he has sunk under
II. Mr.. Augustine does not think he
was led to the act on account OF financial
troubles, a. he had been in much worse
positions many times before.
Mr.. Augustine said that Mr.. VIE
gand's financial difficulties were In
great part due to his liberal habits, as
be had been known to often give money
to men when he could not consistently
spare Il from his business. When he
was o prosperous man there was q per.
feet army OF leeohss who were In the
habit Of living of Of his bounty.
Great regret 10 expressed BY all classes
ON account OF Mr.. Wiegand's unhappy
ending. Il 10 matter for surprise that
he hanged himself. One would have
thought that, being . skillful chemist,
hs would have chosen to have gone out
OF the world In some way suggested by
his knowledge OF drugs and poisons.
Conrad wiegand was o native OF Phil.
adelphia, his age being fifty years. he
has two sisters and three brothers living
in Philadelphia. One Of his brothers IL
employed in the U. 8. Mint at that place.
Justice Moses, Acting Coroner during
the absence OF Coroner Brodek, will
hold an inquest in the Court House at o
O'Clock this evening.
The funeral ceremonies will probably
be held tomorrow or next day. Tho
body will not DO buried here, but will 30
placed In q vault, there to DO kept until
II Ia convenient TO transfer II to Cali
fornia, where u will find its last resting
place by the side Of his daughter and
son.in.iaw, Mr.. and Mrs. Thomas W.
Dunn.
Last Saturday an old Chinsman was