Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-08-15
A RAILROAD EPlsor
The Tale of a suicide.

A Michigan Central Railroad train
was hustling along toward Chicago At
the rate OF forty miles an hour, when a
brassy- faced, middle-aged man suddenlv
jumped to his feet in the reclining chair
car and glanced hastily and defiantly
around rs though daring any one to re-
strain him. Flinging Off his overcoat.
and COMPRISING his lips with the air of
man whose mind is made up. he
rushed to the door, ierked it open. and
screeched as he turned around and
faced the other passengers:
Farewell, vain worid!'
Some OF the passengers glanced over
the top OF their newspapers toward him.
others looked at him with lanpnid IN.
terest, while the man nearest the door
threw up his arms and yawned FRIGHT.
fully.
The man stepped out to the car-plat-
form, thrust his head back into the car.
and again yelled out:
Farewell, vain world, I go hence?"
Nobody seemed to care whether he
went hence or to some other place, and
look OF bitter disappointment came
into the brassy face of the would be
suicide. He again thrust his head into
the car and wildly shrieked out:
"Good-by, forever"
so long, my friend; let us know
when you get there" replied the man
who had yawned, as he quietly closed
the car-door and sat down.
The desperate man on the platform
fiattened his nose against the car win
dow, and gazed in modify at the tran.
quill passengers.
Waving them final adieu, he flung
off his coat, threw up his arms, and sat
down on the platform. Then he
crawled up to the key-hole of the door
to gaze through it on the horror and
remorse-stricken faces of the men and
women who had deliberately permitted
a human being to go to destruction,
But there wasn't single horror
stricken passenger to look upon. Sew
eral OF them were giggling immoder-
ately, and the cold-blooded, yawning
passenger was indicating by signs to
the others that the "farewell-vain-
world" man had gone not hence, but
was still in New York State.
Finally he came sneaking back into
the car with combined look of sad
ness and madness on his care-worn
face, which grew gloomier when no.
body rushed forward to ask the cause
of his desperation. Nobody passed the
hat for his relief; nobody begged him
! to confide in them; no purse was made
up; nothing turned up as he thought it
would.
Singing himself into the seat he had
vacated, the man Kissed out to the wretch
in front OF him, who was swaying to
and fro with rude and ill-concealed
laughter:
Laugh now, d-yei Oh, laugh.
why don't ye? If ye had single drop
Of the milk Of human kindness in your
breast We wouldn't see anything funny
in the suicide Of a fellow-being. You'd
bid him pause and"
Tickets! Tickets!" cried the conduct
or, appearing suddenly, and minute
later he was saying to the man who had
saved himself from the death of {
suicide:
"Lookee here, my friend, this is til,
third time within month that I hav
caught you trying to dead-head it owe
this road. The last time you was try
ing to work the at-ticket and pocket
book and dying wife racket on the pas
sengers, and I know from your disap
pointed look that you've been up tc
something now that amt PANIED out
we'll, so off ye go!"
A jerk of the bell, sudden stopping
of the train, quick appearance of 9
L hrso1 f,po I.op eli ohf HI
the door, and the gloomy passenger had
indeed gone flying from the platform
and the train had gone on, leaving him
alone in this cold and vain cruel world.
]-N Y. Tribune.