The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1885-10-10
THE ALAMO CITY,
SUICIDE OF SETH BUTLER.
unable TO tooSer Bear the Misfortunea
and Tronbies of This L,fo. n, s.srs
Hepose la the Great Beyens.
Tho Jary Of Inquest.
Other News Notes,

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 9.-[Special. lon
Thursday, about noon, s. L. Butler.
aged 20 years, living on the Medina
river, l6 miles west Of this city, snicid-
cd by drowning. He was called TO dinner
before noon, but said ne was going 10
the river. On The way he met "A neigh
Dor and told him that he had seen him
HIS last time. His hat, clothes and
papers wero found piled up on tho
nhnR' Grief st the recent loss ot his
,holher ~ the supposed Gauss. He
isAves Il father and sister.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
Information reached the city yester-
Gay morning that Mr.. S Il. Butler,
wei KNOWN here as Seth Butter, had
comiaisted suicide by drowning IN the
Medina river at his fathers placs, about
10 miles from here. 1t VISA almost Inn
possible for the friends of the yaunp
man to believs tho report at first, hut
IL became too painfully true when fha
gciei.strlcken father appeared st tho
nndertaker's ior co1lia. IL was only
hve weeks before that he came In on
the some sad mission, his wife.
the estimable Mrs. Butler, hay
inE uieo after . somewhat pro-
iohged Illness, The young Nsn
who sought suicide to escape The real
.oslloaginery torments of this world,
was ln his 30th year, WAS of mild,
soolAi disposition, snd ono of the last
whom any one would suppose TO con-
t9inplaso such rash and sudden ter
mlnation OF life.
justice Charagnoaux summoned a
Jary OF inquest, and by the time the
reporter arrived Lhe body had baen
found and tho taking OF testimony
commsncsd. The body was found face
uoWnward little distance from where
y ls supposed ne jumped IN, as shown
ny the tracks in tho clay. IL
was III evidence before the jnrv by
noth MIR. Butler aud HIS daughter
Kate, that the deceased was last ssen
oy them just before nooa on October
.. Tho young lady testified that
Hhe saw hins go toward the river. l.
WfS late ia the evening when some
neighoors camo to Mr.. Butlas's house
and said they saw Ssth's clothes "
ing on the river bank. Mr.. Butler went
To the spot and there found Seth's
rat, shirt, pants, shoes and specatclos
lSiug il o pile. The horrible thought
OF auio,de Then dawnea upon them, a.
his other SUIT of cloths WIS Known
TO DO az ,he house. A search
WIS at once mado for tho BODY and
kept up into the night by tho mid of
lanteras. Where he took the fatal
plunge is deep hole. nerhaps S To 10
feet deep, and II was difficult 10 reach
tho hotIom with the poor means at
hand, and an effort was made 10 get a
boat and 20 systematically 80 work
yesterday morning.
Following Ia letter found in the
pants pocket OF The deceased:
DC ober Q, 1885,
1t is customary in case of
this kind 10 leave u fow lines stating
| why the thing was done. 1
therefore, foil into tho old nut. NV
lite, covering space of nearly 50
years, h0s been one round OF bitter
curses IL has been curse TO myself
ana misery To my wouid-ho friends,
will blame no one, although, as the
| time, thought Othera wero to blame.
The world Will call this cowardicc, or
lunacy; that Is their privilege. The
world would bo better If soms more of
the fools were dead. In these, nv
last moments, will thsnk those who
may shed genuine tears
over my renains, but the
hypoorites may save their crocodile
torrents for some more noble objects.
MY tfueet friend Ia dead; why should
l live? Farewell to this cruel world.
s. Il. BUTLER.
From the date Of the above 1t would
appear that the young man contem
plated tho act on the 9Th, but for some
reason deferred 1t until tho Sth. How
ever It may be, il is quite clear that the
deed waa promeditated and the con-
ciusion arrived at some time ago. His
Dfothar, sister aud several neighbors
estliiod that no had been low
spirited and apparently out of
health, more or less, for a
long lime. The day on which ho
took mis- life, however, he was quito
cheerful, played the violin with and
FOR, some male acqusintances who
called, and appeared In good spirits,
shortly after they Left he sat down to
write, and WHOM his sister asked who
he was writing 10, ho said "Nobodv.
You VIII never sea mo any more.n
This WAS not thought much of, es he
hed often before mado snch remarks,
When tho wife OF one OF the neighbors
joked him about his shoes, lie re-
marked that they would last him as
long az ho needed any shoes, which
gees 20 show reconciliation.
a atronS effort was made to got ut
no cause which compelled the act.
hht no conclusion could bo reached
other than that IL was from i'll health
aud grief over tho death OF his mother.
and the note he left hshind cert sinlv
indicates mental disturbance and
grief. The evidence adduced showed
that he had been we'll treated, and his
homo llio was at lenst comfortable and
agreeable. a large number OF Wit
ressos were examined, and a great
deal cf mat rial evidence taken, which
Is too lonpthy TO detail. Summed up, It
Ia briefly that of many other
suicides--a diseased mind. There are
probably iow young men In tho county
VINO hsd better future prospects than
tho deceased. His father Ia we'll
known here, and owns one OF the best
Improved farms and ranches in M ths
county, ana besides baing free from
incumbrspce. This son and ono
daughter would he tho s,lo heirs,
George Gilley, workman, was ar.
rested this evening for forgery. HoI
had hoon paid check for SIS bv Con.
tractor Carroll, for whom ho had hpon
working, On presentation for pay
mont Y had boon ralsod to S17,
The Evening Times nayB: uThe
oliy assessor has now nboit praparpd
tho tax rolls for 1856, whic, Will sbow
The taxRblo values Of San Antou,o 10
ho IN tho nelghborhood of $40. .sO0. .0,o.
or nearly 100000 moro than ,bav
worc last year. This IN certaiulv al
encouraging exhibit, and CLEARLY
shows the siea ~ psce of our oitv,a
prnutss. How do Galveston, Dall,s'
Houslopi Fort Worth snd Austin joel
over this showing, and how do ihnir
8tfidea OF advancement during the
past II months compare with these of
tho Alamo Clty7n
A well.known contractor and carl.
talist has made proposition TO carry
ous tne enllio nnw sewerage syttem
not to exceed s35O,oO0. and 10 ,ake In
syment therefor bonds NJ mar b,nrior
0 per cent. interest.