Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-11-25

A Butcher Hangs Himself 10 . Meal
Hook by His waist Strap.

A Butcher Hangs Himself 20 . Meat
Hook by His waist strap.
Yesterday morning when Tom Haley
went to open the butcher shop Of zadow 4
Co. on Main street, two doors south Of the
Eureka Opera House. he found the body
OF Gus Stoker hanging by the neck from .
meat hook. Thinking it might not be
dead he vent to examine and found it
stiff and as cold % marble. The manner
in which Stoker hanged himself 10 the
most desperate that can be imagined. He
just took of . slight. we'll oiled leather
strap that he used TO wear around his
waist instead Of ~suspenders; tied the
buckle end Of 1t % . moose around his
neck, and attached the other to the meat
hook by one simple knot. The meat hook
from which the body was suspended lacks
an inch or two Of being six feet from the
door. and the head Of ths suicide when
found was hanging some eighteen inches
lower than the hook. When it it 10 con-
sidered that the deceased wis = man about
8 feet b inches tall. It will readily appear
what . difficulty he had in hanging him
self. To make the effort still more awk-
ward, however, he turned his face to the
wall and pressed his elbows against
the projecting scroll work Of the
wainscoting, which stands four
feet from the ground. Thus
upon the back Of the neck instead OF upon
the throat. Every muscle must have been
put to it's utmost tension to keep the body
free from the wall and the floor. Stoker
was in perfect health and Q man Of unu-
susl strength, and death did not come
without . fearful struggle to choke him.
self under the conditions given. His suf-
ferings must have been agonizing. That
the torture he underwent did not induce
him to desist from his suicidal purpose
which he could have lone at any moment
by simply standing up on the sswdust 1t
his fe~et-shows that he had unalterably
made up his mind to kill himself. When
Mr.. Haley, assisted by Judge Cromer, cut
the body down to place il in . back room,
the muscles Of the legs had relaxed and
the feet were touching the floor. The face
was still turned inwards and one arm was
still crooked with the elbow pressed against
the top OF the wainscot.
The deceased was . native Of Germany
and "a years OF age. He was . faithful,
diligent man about his work in the shop,
and enjoyed the reputation Of being entire
ly honest. All those who have employed
him, Mr.. Haley among the rest, vouch for
this. The cause Of his suicide is doubtless
the mania he had for playing faro. He
played of ct this game almost every cent
he could make. His expenditures for
clothes and such other things as most
young mon put their money into, were
very slight. Nor had be any Of the small
vices. such a. smoking md drinking. BE
seemed to be completely fascinated by
faro playing, at which he lost almost every
dollar he earned above his board. Not
only this, but several years ago he got
50, 800 from the division Of an estate at
home, and that vent quickly in the same
way. He was disposed to be . "high
roller" and sometimes won considerable
sums, but his mania kept him ''broke"
and half crazed. He made many resolves
to quit faro, and at last, after having
found himself unable to break the
spell. be actually shuf1ed of the coil in
| the toughest and ~awkwardest manner
| that can be imagined. Had he deliber.
| ated at all he could have saved himself
from the protrActed torture that he must
have undergone, for there were two OF
three beams In the shop from which be
might have hung himself with campara'
lively little pain. The night of his sui
eide. however, he had lost his last quarter
again for the thousandth time, and he
rushed precipitstely from the table,
slammed the saloon door and hanged him
| self ON the first hook he could reach. He
had made up his mind that he preferred
not to live. In SO far he reasoned,
whether we'll or i'll. In selecting the
means OF death he was not reasonable. In
dying he displayed nerve enough to'hav'
warranted him in living.