The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-11-17
SINGULAR SELF-MURDERS
Remarkable Instances OF Pre-
meditation and Nerve.
A han Who Turned an Old Scythe-B Blade
into a Guillotine.

Some of the methods employed by
h unfortunates who are weary Of life
heve been sensational. Many of them
have shown q wonderful nerve and a
remarkable determination, while 9TH
ers have been so carefully planned as
to very materially shake the theory
that all suicides are the result of a
disordered brain. A few of the most
notable instances are here presented.
L. Fenner was young actor who
lived at 1884 Ward street, in this city.
While laboring under al attack of
dementia, the result of intense physi-
cal suffering, he arose early on the
morning of June 8, 1883, and saturat-
ing his garments with a can of coal
oil, went into the yard and applied a
match. He had eluded his father and
some friends, who had been watching
him, and they were startled by his
%unearthly yells. They found him en-
veloped in flames, wildly declaming
passages from the last scene of Mac
beth. Shortly after the fire had been
auenched he began declaiming another
passage and fell over dead.
Old soldiers tell of a man named
Francis, who served during the war in
n Of the Pennsylvania regiments
In n of the engagements he was
Shot in the head, and was insane after
his recovery. One day he managed TO
get a handful of powder and a fuse
about a foot in length. He swallowed
the powder and then forced the fuse
down his throat. He lit the fuse, in
tending to kill himself by exploding
the powder in his stomach. The fuse
did not burn, however, but sticking in
his throat strangled him.
One of the most remarkable cases
which have come within the jurisdic-
ton of the Coroner's office in this city
is the following: A few years ago a
German tailor lived in a court off Pop
lar street, near Second. His wife was
q perfect vixen, whose dreadful tenn
per harrassed the poor tailor to such
an extent that me day he charged a
gun with powder, and, filing the bar
rel with water, placed the muzzle in
his mouth and fired. with the result
that he blew the top of his head off.
The widow retained the weapon. In
about a year she threw aside her
weeds and again donned orange-blos
SONS, taking to her bosom and her late
husbands board another ninth part of
a man. Soon the termagant, by her
vixenish practices, drove her second
spouse to the same desperation. he u.s.
ing the same gun, and, using water
instead of pellet, he, too, blew his
brains against the ceiling.
Suicides do not always take the
readiest or easiest means of shutting
off. Thus, a barber in frankfort cut
his throat during a freak of insanity,
but instead of using a sharp razor
for the purpose, took a hacked and
rusty blade resembling more a saw
thar a razor, and lived through two
hours of terrible agony after gashing
himself. Others have used pieces of
tin and glass which are sometimes sue
cessful in producing a wound that
makes the suicide bleed to death. An
other case is that of a servant girl.
who, ayear or two ago, turned on the
gas, removed the burner. applied a
light and let the flame burn in her
mouth until she fell insensible. She
died next day.
Three years ago a German tailor,
living on Olive street, below Thir-
tenth, took a pair of the scissors used
In his trade, and, locating his heart by
feeling the beat with his hand, placed
the point Of the blade against his
breast, and, with the opposite end
against the wall, pressed until the
weapon penetrated to the heart and
pierced the lower lobe, when he fell
dead.
A Connecticut man, intending tode-
sapitate himself, invented a guillotine
With an old scythe- blade sharpened to
. fine edge for the knife. The knife
was, fixed at one end Of a bar Of wood,
which was balanced on an upright
post. On the knife end was about 200
pounds of old iron, balanced by a
bucket Of water. A small hole was
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