New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-05-20
SUICIDE OF A PLAYWRIGHT.
FREDERICK MARsDEN KILLS HIMSELF

| In the earliest morning hours Of yesterday the
| last act Of the tragedy that within the last few
| months has blightcd the life Of the dramatic
writer, Frederick Marsden, was played After
| preparations which must have taken considerable
time, he turned on the gas in his bedroom, lay
| down In partly undrcssed condition and passed.
as he phrsed it in the letter left addressed
| to his wife, from the movable to the unlnow-
| able'
The cause Of the suicide was said to be the
| misconduct of his daughter Blanche, his only
child. About month ago accounts Of her leav
| ing her home, No. 31S West Northumberland
| twenty -sixthst., were printed. On the evening
of April 21 Mr.. Marsden's neighbors were startled
| by hearing woman's frantic cries in his house.
policeman was sent for by Mr. Marsden to arrest
his daughter, who had struck and kicked him and
torn out large handful Of his beard. William
Burgoync an old servant allowed Blanche TO slip
away before the policeman came, and she sought
temporary home with friends in the same street.
At this time her mother was in Philadelphia. at
tending TO tho affairs of Mr.. Marsdcns mother,
who had died few days previously. Miss Mars
dens outbreak had been the result Of her fathers
taxing her with having improper relations with
several men, the evidence of which he had found
in her desk during her absence On Mrs. Mars
dens return he told her the exact state of affairs
and offered, if she wished to live with her daugh-
ter to provide liberally for her Mrs Marsden
decided that her duty lay with her husband, and
she then told him terrible story Of their daugh-
ters- misconduct, which she had been keeping
secret from him for more than year. refer
ence to this will be found in his last letter
PARTING COMPANY WITH HIS DAUGHTER
After his wife had made her decision, Mr.
Marsden sent his daughter s1OO to provide for
| har irnrn 1fo..
as she was over twenty-one and had chosen to
leave his home their relations were ended for
ever To reporter who saw him at that time
Mr. Marsden said
OF late my daughters behavior has made our homo
perfect hell. though she has had everything that
o Far mS Ss has and
charged me with attempting unnatural crimes She has
na my hcT TH pnd Sad
10 the hearts core. TIC ballet seoms to possess
herself desire Which have Naturally rally comSatsd Sat%
Nov ,s It Is all over but what the end may be cannot
TO do any more work.
These last words were destined to be prophetic
Mr. Marsden found himself unable to concentrate
his thoughts on anything except his sad condition.
The letters he had found BORE he considered, in
eliminating evidence against two actors and two
married men. lie carried pistol and searched
|
them. The rest of the story was told yesterday
afternoon in the comfortable and nicely furnished
library of the late writer by one of his old friends
During the last few days Mr.. Marsden had been
thinking, reading and talking great deal about
paresis He could not write and he feared he was
going to share the fate of Bartley Campbell. On
Friday evening about o'clock he kissed his wife,
bade her good night and advised her to go TO
sleep early He then went up TO his study on the
third floor, and was last seen there sitting smok-
ing at $50 by his servant William About IL 40
Mr.. Mdrsden, who was accustomed to sleep in y
small room adjoining his study knocked at his
wife's door, on the floor below, and asked her to
| give him bromide mixture which he sometimes
took for sleeplessness This she gave him, and
he again bade her Good night
DISCOVERING THE DEAD MAN.
At II a. m. yesterday the housemaid smelled
gas on the third floor landing. few minutes
later Mrs Marsden sent William up with her hus-
| bands breakfast. William could not get any re-
| sponse to his knocking, could he hear any
sound in the room. He also noticed that the key
hole had been stopped up After alarming the
family, he broke open the door, and was met by
an almost overpowerng rush Of gas The win
| dOws were opened quickly as possible and Mr
Marsden clad only in his underclothing was found
| lying dead upon the bed His head rested easily
on the pillow his arms were stretched by his
Sides and his features were not distorted
| Death had evidently come painlessly. Medical
aid was called but death had evidently occurred
many hours earlier sheet had been torn into
strips and every crevice carefully stopped up On
the table in the study letter to Mrs Marsden was
found. and also some instructions to his business
agent The handwriting of the first part of the
following letter was bold and round; the latter
part, where it becomes incoherent, was scratchy
and feeble but in the postscript the writing again
becomes frmer:
May 1s, 1888.
fcind rest Or passcd from the movable to the I'M
movable / have always claimed that no man can
hold bound to any y%nv cUn.TaT1 mpSnent When It de-
mands a man should 80 and enaure thnnsb Wm1u Il"
ss b that life SS has no 9yss e yet iOf o % certain
no right to take tho o Of 6 any NOR be terrible Concession
you made to Dr. j. W. Ranney about sri ana na: aH:
You know how have clearcst founa ieeIS nc pIcate c
many sSeI people, osn keep It of my mind moment
feel That work Is gone TaSgi tDoH bda @ hard this
viii hit in the morning but be piSys si9 s'i
sic GoOdby my darling IN ,be country, and what
she has said here Now dying man doesnt does h dato .o ~
le and on ny immortal si soul FRED sTfar MA MARsDEN
Oh my darling Tho hour Is rapidly SlepsrHs to
anu As you are seopus .oaIp and with n
make final departure. Good6y again; ,PSnFN apS T"
deep love. fhED' '"1
EXPLAINING THE LETTER
Speaking for Mrs Marsden. who was utterly
prostrated and of course could not be seen. Dr.
Ranney, who has long been the family physician
said,
The confession referred to as having Deeh inaao ~
me was abou, girl and man refers TO Dsnoho aaiS-
den The postscript refers to her charges agains, her
fathers morality. II has been reported that Mr. Mars
den hal acquired the cocaine habit rms was mo'
true The bromide was harmless prescrip'on' ihc
only cause CT death asphyxla'ioh'
Coroner O'Meara, who has charge oil the lnquest,
confirmed the last statement OF Dr haiiiieS' IL
was not known last night by Mrs Marsuen or any
of her friends where her daughter is. Mr.. Mars