The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-10-08
BELLEVUE, LA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER s, 1885.
..Tom. I ain,t mad at Hou. bnt l want


you to know, once for all, that am
going to cut my throat, and I'll do it.
no matter how much you watch me. "
And, indeed, he kept his word.
The next day Tom was aroused by a
terrible crash of falling glass at the ex7
treme end of the ward, where is To-
Gated the wash and bathrooms. He
ran to the place, and there stood Fran
els with his throat cut almost from ear
to ear. He laughed derisively at Tom
as he entered the room. He had broken
the window with his fist, and with a
piece of the glass cut his throat. He
had severed the windpipe, and when
he attempted to laugh gutteral sound
| was all that could be heard.
Tom grasped the gaping wound III
one hand and held it together as much
as possible to stop the flow of blood as
much as was in his power Two'of the
asylum physicians were on hand almost
instantly. They took the patient in
hand, and by sheer force sewed up the
horrible wound, but as soon as the ma
MAC was put to bed he tore out the
stitches. The wound was sewed up
second time, and the suicides hands
incased in pair of leather muffs when
he managed to tear the stitches by jerk
ing his head backward and forward,
and from side to side. He was then put
in crib. and box made to place his
head and shoulders in, so that it was
utterly impossible for him to move the
least bit. He was kept in this contri-
vance for nearly seven weeks. much of
which time it was very doubtful wheth-
er he would recover or not. After being
taken from the crib he was transferred
to ward 49, His hands for long
time afterward were kept in the leather
muffs, but he finally induced the at
tendant, on promise to not again at
tempt suicide. to take them off. Tom,
his old attendant, upon learning of this
fact, called on the new keeper and told
him he would regret taking off the muffs
before the week was over, and sure
enough he did. The third day after the
muffs were taken off the attendant was
in his room cutting small piece of to.
bacco off of a large plug with small
pen-knife, when Francis sprang into
the room. grasped the knife out of his
hand, and before the keeper could in
terfere. drew it across his own throat.
1t then became necessary to put him
in the crib again, where he was kept
another spell of several weeks, but the
doctors again pulled him through. He
never after that attempted suicide. One
remarkable feature about this mans
case was that he never attempted or
seemed to contemplate ending his life
any other way than by cutting his
} throat. After recovering from his
second terrible experience he seemed
to improve. He continued growing
better, until finally his folks, upon thei1
own responsibility, took him home.
J where he continued doing well until
, some time in May last, when he again
showed symptoms of returning insanity,
but before he grew bad enough to be
J returned to the asylum, he was kicked
on the head by horse, sustaining a
fractured skull, which in the course o.
a few days resulted in his death.
: Many other equally as Tthrilling and
, horrible truths can be picked up Al
, almost any insane asylum of any note
) Many more incidents that would make
i very interesting reading came to my
, notice during my visits, some of then
very numerous, others pathetic, while
the above are among the most terrible
5 There is one old man at present in the
: Dayton Asylum who donated $400 t,
7 the institution when it was built, ant
1 this fact is one of the very few thing
: he never loses sight of. 1t seems {,
e burn into the poor fellows very soul
There are number of the inmates VIII,
| in some way have got it into their poo
: brains that they are there waiting TO
: payday. and the attendants tell me i
/ is very touching when several of then
J become impatient and demand thei
5 money on threats to leave. They oftel
claim their wives and children ar
| starving. and they must have thei
: money or they will die. 1t is utterl
impossible for one to imagine the har
8 rowing thoughts that short study o
g an insane asylum and its patients vii
, awaken. 1t must be experienced to b
g appreciated.-IdG May. in Csncinnat
: Enquirer.
Keep an Eve on the Chickens,