Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-04
SOME METHODS OF SUICIDE.
eccentric Ways and Odd Reasons for
Quitting the World.
INTERESTING DEDUCTIONS FROM sTATIsTICs-AGE
FOR SELF MURDER PREDIsPosISG CAUSES
SUICIDES FROM THE COLUMN vESpoME


From the Philadelphia Telegraph.
wonder If there is any country in the world
where suicide is accomplished with the same
calm resolution that it is in France, and also in
such eccentric ways and for such odd reasons.
For instance, have heard lately of a man who
Killed himself because ne had stolen pair of
socks, and was oppressed by remorse for the
theft. One would imagine that more practi-
cal way of proving his repentance would have
been for him TO have saved up his earnings to
pay for the purloined articles. In another in
stance man hung himself because of Eis
comrades owed him 10 cents and would not
pay him. and he was in consequence tired of
life. A male patient, suffering from q very
painful disorder in one of the Paris hospitals
contrived TO secrete q sharp knife under his
bedclOthes, and literally committed hari-kari.
Not long ago a husband and wife. finding
themselves in the last stages of consumption.
and perceiving that their four children we're
all threatened with the same malady. hired
horse and carriage, the mother and children
occupying the vehicle while the husband
drove. He made straight for a deep and rapid
river near his home and drove the horse head
long into it, that the whole party were
drowned. The unhappy parents left behind
them a declaration, which both had signed
setting forth the reasons which had impeled
them to the desperate deed
a dlsslpated workman in Paris possessed
tame rabbit of which he very fond, and
which he had trained to execute a number of
amusing tricks. People often tried to buy the
little animal, but he always refused to part with
it. Finally he was offered $50 for it, and the
largeness of the sum overcame his fondness for
his pet; so he let ii go. tie soon wasted the
money in debauehery and riotous living, and
then he hung himself. declaring in writing, be-
fore he committed the deed, that life Was not
worth the living since he no longer had his
rabbit. l can better understand the action of q
ArarE hZhlu nj 9Th. CHI ra1 hnr
seanty meals and her miserable garnet with
favorite dog. The animal died, and his mis-
tress spent her last savings for pan OF char
coal. for. as she piteously said she had no one
left on earth TO love or to love her. now that she
had lost her dog. So she shut herself up and
lighted her charcoal and found dead III
her bed the next day.
The scene divides with the rope and the
asphyxiati fumes of charcoal the honors of
popularity means of getting out of the
world These are not numerous or as easv
to obtain in France as they are III England or
America. No apOthecaTy can sell a poisonous
preparation OF any kind except through the
medium of physicians formal aud signed
prescription. LaudanuIn, morphine and chic
reform not to be obtained by the casual
purchaser any more easily than are strychnine
o. arsenic. The only posons within the reach
OF the WOuld-be suicide are such can be
prepared at home, sGch as phosphorus. which
Is obtained by sleeping the heads of matches
III water. aud yerdigris. made from copper
coins by covering them with vinegar and
letting them stand for some DAYS. But both
these pOi-Ons are slow i'll action and extremely
painful III their effects, especially phosphorus
which causes death by infaming the coats of
the stomach and the intestines. The trouble
about a suicide by charcoal lies in the fact that
IL is difficult matter To make a room perfectly
air tight. so a. to reHds: the fumes effeetuai
and there Is also the da j ;.r of the odor being
noticed from without an ~ Up being rendered
70 the intended victim before the death dealing
L. .frh ~ hOJV
less fate. The self-slayer sinks into a sound
sleep, which deepens into insensibiiity. and
from thence passes into death. But of late this
once flyorIte mode of suicide has been
neglected III favor of hanging or of drowning
The official statistics of the suicides in France
during the past year are extremely curious to
examine. The cases amount to nearly 5000
for the whole republic. OF these the depart
ment IN which Paris is situated comes in for
nearly fifth. though in proportion to its pop
ulatlOn IT ought TO furnish only one-ffteenth.
But the life OF the great city. and its trials its
mIserles. its receptions. are fertile in providing
causes for despair and self-murder. It would
naturally be supposed that the gloomy months
of winter, with their cold. gray weather and
short days. would be those in which unhappy
people would the most readily quit the earth.
such Is not the case December Is the month
IN which suicides are least frequent, and July
Is that which furnishes the greatest number
Can it DC that the hustle and gayety of the
weeks immediately preceding the holiday
season pTOONCe favorable effect
the minds of those who are weighed down by
cares and woes that are rapidly assuming in
tolerable proportions Perhaps. too. the pos
siblllty OF some ameliOration arriving to the
do!eful lot OF the sufferer. through the medium
of that tine of gifts and generosity. NAV cause
4 postponement OF the fatal hour Rut why
should midsummer. with its bright sunshine
and its comparatively easy conditions of ex-
Istence, when neither extra clothing nor fuel
are necesseries OF life be the season most con-
IlclVe tn Seif-murl1rc That nrnhlaun
no reasonable means OF solution Yet nearly
twice as many persons commit suicide in July
a. IN December. 1t Is possible that the calmly
flowing river. warmed and Frightened by the
summer sum- may tempt the wretched wanderer
to seek for rest and peace i'll the cool, tranquil
depths; while. on the other hand, the icy
muddy torrent of winter Is repellant
Suicide is far less common among very old or
very young persons than with those of middle
age. Between 40 and 90 is the period when life
seems to become most burdensome. Very few
young people kill themselves. and very few old
ones. As to the causes of suicide insanity
whether incipient or declared, furnishes the
largest contlu sea-. Impotence of physical
pain. the sutiet az caused by agonizing and i'll
durable illness, comes next. Drunkenness also
supplies large number Of cases. But poverty
and disappointed love come lowest on the list
Of predisPOsing causes.
As have said before, the rope and the river
are the most popular of all means of self
slaughter. The pistol comes next, and then
persons have recourse to knives or to poison
Some few leap from an elevated point, like the
Arc dc Trlomphe or the towers of NOtre Dame
Instances are known of persons who have thrown
themselves on the railway track in front of a
passing train. Poison, for the reasons / have
already stated furnishes comparatively few
victims. People have been known to drink
themselves pUrpOsely to death, swallowing al
cohoi IN such great quantities to produce
congestion OF the brain. And last year one I'M
happy creature. a woman, deliberately starved
herself to death.
The most dramatic case OF suicide of which
have ever heard one OF which was by
chance the witness some years ago. On a fine
afternoon in winter was walking on the Rue
de la Palx at the end nearest the Place Ven
dome. was attracted by the aspect of the vast
dark Column Vendome rising against the pale
gold of the sky. and with the last RAYS of sun
set lingering upon the statue at its summit
Suddenly beheld mass of white huttering
drapery falling rapidly down the front of the
great dusky shaft. 1t struck upon the huge
laurel wreath surrounding the column where
Its base comes in contact with the pedestal and
was thrown by the violence of the shock clear
over the ratings TO the pavement These
white draperies were the skirts Of woman.
She had climbed to the summit of the column
with camp stool hidden underneath her
cloak and while the guide explaining
the principal points Of view to some
other persons she prOfted by the mo-