The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-06-14
Partisan Suicides.

had Just passed the Column Ven
dome on my way to the Hotel Conti-
mental when / heard = cry of horror
from every corner of the place, and a
woman fell insensible ut my very feet
1 saw the upturned face, and before i
could hlrn half way around heard an
awful, sickening sound, the meaning of
which was easily guessed. Then l
learned that some poor fellow had
thrown himself from the topmost point
of the grand and stately column to the
paved roadway, more than q hundred
feet below. Stange to say, he was not
dashed to pieces. He had struck upon
the jointed iron railings, and there he
hung, pierced through the neck by the
sharp and gilded picket There was
very little signs of blood, but the feat
ures which once upon q time . mothers
lips had pressed were terribly disfigured.
That is the third one within fort
night" said the manager of the hotel,
when he was told Of the suicide.
s'Why do you let visitors go to the top
of the column alone p'' asked. '.It is
shameful for the authorities to be so in
different to such a state of affairs.
Liberty is all very well, but one has no
right to throw ones self from the Ven
dome column simply because one has not
drawn prize in the lottery or for some
other equally foolish reason" The
manager said, with q shrug of his should
ers, that it always had been and always
would be, so there was no use of worry
ing over the matter. Ny business ut the
hotel finished, / started for my apart
ments. When I had reached the corner
of the Hotel Bristol saw before me
crowd of perhaps thousand persons,
and in a few moments / was in their
midst. 1t was crowd of bareheaded
men, women and boys, who had rushed
from all the neighboring shops and
houses, of idlers, glad to find some ex-
citement to refresh their laziness; of
strangers, with red books under their
arms, the British ones of the number
soberly jotting down in their memoran-
dunn book the sad fact that "a suicide oc-
ours every day, in the Place Vendome,
at about four o'clock in the afternoon;"
of soldiers in red trousers, dirty, ill-fitting
blouses, shoes turned over at the heels,
hardly tall enough to pass muster in the
''pony squad" OF company of western
militia; Of stately, digniied, aristocratic
gentlemen from the CsrcIe de l. Union
Artistigue (vulgarly called the Moili-
tons9 over the way, where fine recep-
ton was being given to the ladies, and
where some Of the best paintings in Paris
are now on exhibition; of officers from
the headquarters of the post command
ant, Major General, "Three Stars" who
occupies the building at the side of the
one occupied by the Minister of Justice,
and of policeman.
In my time / have seen many misera-
BILE, sad and disagreeable sights, but
never before was so shocked as on yes
terday afternoon, when found myself
in that crowd at the base of the mighty
pillar, from the top of which colossal
statue of the great Napoleon overlooks
all Paris. 1t was a crowd utterly lost,
so it seemed to me, to the horror of the
situation. ''It Is droll." said young
woman to q man who works in q jew
elry shop at the corner of the Hue de Ia
Paix, and both of them strained their
eyes to examine in every detail the hid
eous blot of blood on the gilded iron
palings.
a. Yes, my little one, II is quite dis
tance TO fall" said an ugly, BRITISH
looking coachman, addressing himself
to the cocotte in his voiture. at would
have been better for monsieur If he had
fallen upward" and q roar of laughter
greeted this humorous remark. The peo-
pie pushed each other rudely in their
efforts to catch glimpse of the poor,
dead man, whom policeman had COW
cred with his cloak. There was no hurry
about taking away the corpse, and for
two or three hours the crowd kept on
joking and telling each other of similar
tragedies which they had either seen or
heard about.
The percentage of suicides in France
is greater than that of any other coun-
try. One of the most eminent French
authorities, who examined 1885 cases of
suicides, said: There were among
them 697 persons of ample and indepen-
dent fortune, 1000 persons who earned
handsome livelihood in trades or pro-
fessions, 256 persons in pecuniary diff
culties, 159 who were comparatively
ruined, considering their circumstances
with regard to their previous position,
and 760 poor persons. OF the total
number, 1876 were women. French
physicians have discovered that suicide
belongs to the class of epidemics, while
others tell US that suicide is hereditary.
As to manner of these innumerable cases
of self-murder, am not in q position to
speak authoritatively. 1 am assured,
however, by the police authorities that
the number who precipitate themselves
from this same Column Vendome is ten
per cent. of the whole. was also in
formed that of the 457 of such deaths in
the Place Vendome, 145 had their heads
fractured and no visible wound Of limb
or body; while in thirty eight cases there
was no apparent injury at all, and death
took place merely from the shock of
falling. When one remembers that the
column is 132 feet high, it seems impos-
sible that such statement should be q
true one; and when asked for an ex-
PLANTATION was assured that the victims
had been caught on the iron pickets by
their rclothing.-Pdris Cor. Chicago Netos.