Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-10
FACTS ABOUT SUICIDE.
The Results of DR.. Pilgrims Study OF
the Grim Subject.
Why zen and Women Seek Death-The Marked
Increase of Suicide in the
United States.
rfica Press.

Utica Press.
DR.. Pilgrim OF tins city read a paper
on suicides as follows:
As the love Of life is generally aeknowi-
edged to be the strongest instinct of the
human mind, it is but natural that the
subject of voluntary death should have at
all times attracted great amount OF at
tention from moralists and investigators
Of social subjects Some Of the uoblest
men and women OF ancient times advo-
Gated aud practised Redistribution and
the frequency Of the act in our own day
demonstrates that the fear of death is by
no means general. Professor Mayer or
Paris in a lecture, declared that every one
Of his hearers had at some time thought
favorably of committing the deed.
He challenged contradiction, but no one
responded This longing for 'restful
death, - which comes to nearly all Of us
sooner or later, can usually be resisted,
but often the desire is so great that the
will IS not strong enough to overcome it,
and another name is added TO the long
lists of suicides which statistics show us IS
increasing with terrible rapidly. Sta
tIstics were given showing that suicides
are on the increase in Austria, Prussia
ana tIdlfE. - ItlSi1llS IalFit fNiltitE
suicide Italy, Spain and Ireland show
the lowest number, which is probably
due to the influence of the Catholic priest
hood
A marked increase in suicides is an
nually taking place in the United States,
and there is m any reasons for it. Our
country is young. Social changes are
rapid and the struggle for wealth is
severe We are living in 4 fast age.
The modern youth 9 consumes in an hour
by useless briliancy the oil of the lamp
which should burn throughout the
night - and now finds that the infiTmi-
ties of age have supplanted the vigOr of
youth; the business man who to-day is
at the very height Of prosperity by some
rash speculation becomes bankrupt to-
morrow; the professional man who is
ambitious Of distinction does
not rest when the sun goes
down. but prolongs his work far into the
quiet hours of the night. IN fact, al
most every one is madly pursuing either
pleasure, wealth or fame, and under
such circumstances is il q wonder that
often an OverpoWering sense of ennui and
disgust of lite occurs, or that the deli
cate structure Of the brain breaks down,
impeling the unfortunate victim to seek
rest I'm the suicides dishonOred grave?
Beside dissipation reverses of fortune
and overwork, love, jealousy and re-
morse play an important part i'll the
etiOlogy of self-destTuction In the ma
jority Of cases where bodies are recov-
cred from the Seine they show the
absence Of domestic ties, coupled
either with misguided love and jealousy
OF dissipation and Temorse. Indeed, so
far as men are concerned, we must con-
sIder marriage with its accompanying IN
fiueuces Of home and children, a most
important prophylactic. Ina regard TO
women however, this does not hold
good for with them suicide is more fire.
queut among the married than the single,
the proportion being ten 10 nine or 8 Il
This may be explained TO some extent by
the mental disturbances produced by
pregnancy and childbirth, but the
strongest reason undoubtedly is that a
girl 5 youthful dreams of happiness are
often shattered by the realities of mar
ried life.
Bertillion publishes these statistics of
suicides among a million OF inhabitants
taken from all classes: Married men
with children, POS; married men without
children, 40; widoweps with children,
52G, widoWers without children, 1904:
married women with children, -; with
out children, lbs; widows with children,
l04; without children 23S.
Suicidal tendencies ina the insane are
quite as frequent among women as among
men, ana | am sure that the
former frequently show the more
determination and persistence. In the
outside world men lead more exciting
lives and are subject to greater mental
strain than women, and il is therefore
natural that they should more frequently
- IL,
reason for the comparative infrequency
Of suicide among women is that they are
better supplied with religious fervor and
possess a larger share Of hope.
The mouths IN which the fewest sui
cideS occur are October and November,
while the greatest number occur in April,
May and June. July ana September also
have goodly share, the lat
ter possessing a peculiar faScina-
ton for women The progressive in
crease and decrease IN the number Of
suicides comedies with the frightening
and the shortening of the days, and not
only the seasons of the year, but the
DAYS of the month and Of the week, and
even the hours of the day, exert an in
huence. The greatest number of sui
cides among men occurred during the
first ten days of the month
and from Monday to Thurs
day of the week The majority of work
mgmen receive their wages either on the
first day of the month or the last of the
week, aud pay day is often followed by
dissipation; debauchery ana remorse.
The more rugged natures of men
impel them 10 seek eoarSer means Of
self-destruction. snch as the revolver, the
razor and the rope-the latter being most
frequently used by them in whom the
vigor of manhood is lost. Women sell
dom resort To measures which they think
viii dishgure them and most frequently
seek death by poisoning, asphyoXin and
drowning. Epidemies of suicides fire.
quentiy occur, and he who introduces
any unusual methods is sure of having
numerous followers. What might be al
most called an epidemic prevailed in the
New York State nuatic asylum IN July,
1850. There were twenty -eight persons
In the institution bent on destroying
themselves. OF farty-four patients ad-
II ear min Sni-