The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-09-18
WHO is RESPONSIBLE

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CsEts of Daring q Species of In~sanIty~Ses
eegsity Of the Education OF Public senti'
ment'
The attempt of a foolish fellow
named Odlum to Surpass the foats OF
Sam Patch by jumping from the Brook
.lyn Bridge had a fatal result, There
shave been demands that the men who
aided and allotted him in his dangerous
feat should be punished, but it IS diff
cult to see what can be done to them or
what oaense they have committed. The
only section of the Penal Co1e that
could by any ingenuity be stretched to
cover their act is section 175, which Is:
"a person who wilituliy, in any man
,ner, advises, encourages, abets or as
sists another person in taking the lat
tiers life is guilty of m~anslaughter in
the first degree" But in n preceding
2section suicide is defined as the intcn-
tional taking of ones own life" Il
would be impossible TO prove to any
jury that Odlum intended to take his
own life; on the contrary. he expected
to perform the feat with safety. Ii he
awas not guilty of suicide, under the le-
gal definition, his friends can not be
punished rs abettOrs of suicide
n There Is. in fact no provision Of law
70 the effect that men slal not b. fools,
and throw away their lives in the vain
attempt 10 accomplish some great feat
Perhaps there oug1t TO be some such
law, hut the difficulty OF enforcing one
is apparent Every man who Jumps on
or OF a moving car, who rides = frac
tOus horse, VINO performs athletic
fea-s demanding skin and courage,
NAV be sad 20 risk his lie, and oc-
3 fatal acedeur occurs Men
nEr these xsZs daily. and entirely 70
p70at them ty hw : an Impossible |
thing It : very difficult to draw the
Line aZ1 say where thsTE should be pub |
lie interference. IA athletic exhibitions |
the line hAs been drawn st the trapeze,
md performers have been required 10 |
protect themselves in pzrt from &C |
cidsuE By the use Of MEETINGS Leaping |
into me water from q moderate height
is not a dangerous thing, and for one
WHO 5 ; przcaced leaper great heights
are not verT~ dangerous ar what pre-
else number of Ieet should the line be
draw?
1t must be apparent to any q who
thoughruly considers the question from
al points Of view that more can be done
TO discourage saeh feats by public senti-
ment than bv statute; in faet, that
statutes would be. Intellectual unless
there is a change in public sentiment
So long as the morbid desire of so many
people 10 see great feats performed ex-
lists there viii be men whose love Of no.
torietY win impel them to risk their
lives in doing ali sorts of foolish things.
To be the hero of the hour, the subject
Of talk everywhere for a day or two, is
enough To impel many meu and women
to crime; and the same inducement viii
lead many more TO risk their lives in
acts Of foolhardy daring. 1t win be a
wonder if the sensation made by Odlum
does not stimulate some other foolish
person to make a similar attempt.
The responsibility for this kind of in
sanity-for it is little else-rests upon
those who applaud successful feats of
daring, and by so applauding encour-
age their performance. The education
of public sentiment is the thing upon
which chief reliance must be had for the
prevention of foolhardiness, not legal
enactment. IN Y Examiner.
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