The Red Cloud chief., 1888-08-03
HISTORY or SUICIDE.
L Occ-~- r-cSc y SuI.rEo-, and
L2.a; tho Cultured.
T.rss Times as Eanr Ken AZ Women
Take TIER DIVA I.ivcs-i,:y IL. Ia
vcred Time, and Middle Age tho
Popular Period.

Popular Period.
ANY weather. said Or. Hamilton 70
New York Sua reporter, which lowers tho
vitality of 4 person strengthen; the dis
position 20 commit sUici,.1. There IS nOti.-
ing VERY strange about that. Old as it
seems. 20 say that the weather influences
suicide. We al know how common it is to
feel blue ami lov.-spiri;cd on dark. muggy
days. The depression of spirits 1t such
tines in the case CT an emotional person.
and emotional people arc The ones V:ho Corl-
MT suicide may give the decisive and con
ciuCing impulse to take his cv.n life. OF
course The dark. mcGcy d. a,onc Is not SUI
1icicnt ara Goes rot alone Eivc tic s;:icidal
impulse; it mercy forms the last strain on
the car,ci's back. We must suppose that
the disposition toward Suicide from some Of
the great causes is present al force.
There have been some YER; queer no
tons he'd on this roi.f. It. was al old slau-
der against Eng:iSa:-Cn. Wi,ic: &on;csquicu
quoted. l think. thai Eagi.sh.ncn were norc
prone to suicide than other people Cu &C.
count OF the dark, foggy Gay; of t.:eir coua-
try's climate. 1t WIS u p!cusibic statement.
and was generally regarded as true until
an Industrious Ca:hcTcrof statistics proved
that in Holland, where there Is much
more fog and darkness than in England,
there is much less suicide. So No
veMber. On account Of its gloomy weather
has always borne i bad RAM as Il month OF
suicides: but statistics gathered from all
parts Of the world show that there are
more suicides in May than lii November,
and that, generally. there are moro sui
cidcs in summer than in tho winter days. 1t
was proven by data collected for nine years
in this country. from lSl' - 1S3i, that there
were averaged 31i suicides in May 10 Isl
in November. while the greatest number OF
suicides was found in the months Of Juno
and July. i believe that data gathered
since hen still bears ;tcSc iigu.cs OFT. So,
you sec thu: the war. weather has more to
do with it than cloUdy weather. Tic No
vembcr days. c!OIdv as they ere. are cold
and stimulating. and the vitality Of ones
system is not lowered ! great deal in them.
"TO make 4 general statement, it IS upon
a day when the dark sky and the high tenn
peraturc arc joined when the friends OF the
would-bc suicide want to look out for him.
The warm. humid, cloudy atEcOsphcrc-this
is what influences suicide in a very appre-
ciab:e degree. Vlllaneuvc observed this
fact at Paris, and he declared that Is long
- L OuA AuSiN StCt ltS 80 80
this state OF things continued. Ir june,
1S0G. at ROuen, Franco, over sixty voluntary
deaths took place. the air ut the time be-
ing remarkably huIaid and warm and the
days dark: and in July AID August of the
same :car. during the prevalence Of the
same weather. there were more than three
hundred suicides in Copenhagen. Denmark.
These facts are well known an medical his
tory In Italy the effect Epon the rate
of suicide of sustained high temperature,
accompanied by = moisture, has long been
noticed"
Some years ago" continued DR.. Ealnil-
ton. Il gave considerable attention TO the
subject Ct suicide here il New York. both
as regards tho Point spcr ;...ica We wcro
talking al ";.cr particulars. / fol:d taat
the pocpic wh, committed suicide. 50 far as
nationality VAS .cCnccrned. were mostly
Germans. TE!s il but natural. considering
the intensely emotional character OF the
German people. Chased by occupations,
CLERKS are trc most suicide! Sc: Of pSop;c,
and the reason for this fact is rot very far
OIL. either. The young .asn are stTic.,:in%
for situation :.u support, and they arc ex-
posed. as are hardly any other class OF peo-
pie. to the pitfalls OF the great city. The
temptations Of vice come 10 them with great
force, IND when they ave oEcc yielded aad
become ~en.an:!cd suicide is ol,sn the ncad
thing thought of.
"Of modes Of suicide, poisoning is by far
the favoritc. l locked up The subject be.
tween 1866 and 49,, and l found that of over
600 suicides here in these years DC were
suicides by poisoning The preference in
p0isOns was for arsenic, and this in its
con;nones: form, Paris green. Women al
most always poison themselves. uneducated
women using Paris green. and educated
women chloral or morphine. The frequency
with :shich Paris green is used is due sim
ply to the easiness with which it can be OBJ
tanned. The laws governing the sale of tho
different kinds OF poison Are not stringent
enough.
lin London hanging is tho popular form
OF suicide. though voluntary starvation
used q be. In France people drown them
selves or die from sufroca,ion by inhaling
charcoal fumes. 1t is 4 singular fact that
of the people who shoe: themselves seventy.
five per cent shoot themselves in the mouth.
At least this was the case at the time I
gathered i:;cts about the matter. Suiciding
BIZ il:nrr- rom great height is q horri-
BILE r.ly . /; !.,i,iug ones self, but it is often
done. /, LII inclined to think that many
case, ii ..c,.t-Gctcr which arc set down
as SIZE, 80. no: Intentional suicides, but in
l.. ....al the morbid tendency which
near. -. one feels when at y great
heiy,.! ..;:: .,.y ones self down. has over
nov,.. -. ..,ti and the brain. ! myself
C IL. Terrible experience OF this char
actcr W.. d! a-ccniil:: the ,-riiitaia Corco-
waldo. =, ..lrjor vi EiuJa-,ir' Ii was
with =: ...,.y Ina: I Ovc.t..--c il fearful
resi, -. :. and impuisc - i.:.o;: myself
Aov,, -, 20 blue sea, two thousand fcet
hclo,y &c. y fellow physician ouce told
me that he .,sd o patient who never dared
"a slccp Oh the third and. fourth floor OF .
house Lcci:sc Of his ica. Of yielolnG 70 IN
irrcsist:b.c iinpalsc to throw himself out o.
<A~ v~;n t.,r