Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-05-16
JOHN KNEE.

Here, indeed, was an idea to drive away
ennui and gloom. All acQuieSced, and the
proposer of the scheme, George Leavenworth,
city editor OF The Bridgeport Farmer, drew
paper and pencil from his pocket and drafted
constitution and oath of initiation. By the
provisions OF the former document any one
weary Of life was declared eligible. The club
was TO meet monthly, cor oftener," in Kin
Zie's saloon, and on each anniversary of its
birth the members were TO shake poker
dice" The one making the smallest cast was
bound By the VOW TO which he subscribed TO
XIII himself within the ensuing twelvemonth.
Those who affixed their names 10 the grue-
some documents were Max Heisterhsgen,
William Nickel, John Kinzie, Wendell Baum,
Carl Roberts, Max Pfalzenheim and George
Leavenworth.
"Now, gentlemen cried the last named,
merrily, "schooners around in which TO drink
short life and happy exit to the members of
the Bridgeport Suicide club, and while John
draws the beer I'll give you a verse or two
suitable TO the event. Silence all"
And he began that famous song written by
an English officer in India when the cholera
moved down men more swiftly than the
battles bullets:
We meet meath the sounding rafter
And the walls around are bare;
As they echo our peals OF laughter
1t seems that the dead are there.
Then stand by your glasses steady,
This world IS a world OF lies:
Here's a health to the dead already,
HurTah for the next that dies
The group seemed imbued with certain
hysterical mirth; strange recklessness took
possession OF all present.
"Bring the dice, shouted some one wen
shake now; we won't wait year. Hurrah
for the next that Dies
The ivory cubes were produced. Each man
had three throws in which to secure as high
a hand as possible. Remarkable TO state-I
have the story from an eyewitness-all So
cured four of kind; but Heisterhagen and
Kinzie, the lowest two, tied on trays and had
to shake second time. The latter threw
three fours and pair of deuces. The former
got two skies, two fves and four His cast
was lower than any of the others; he had
drawn death in the lottery of the dice, and
by the terms of the compact he was bound to
kill himself within the year.
But it was all joke, CHASTITY sort Of
amusement concocted to while away the
hours, and in consonance with the thunder,
the lightning and the storm. As the COM
panions prepared to seek their homes they
chuckIed over the jolly evening they had
spent together, and congratulated Leaven-
worth on his novel scheme for dispelling the
"blue devils" that had enveloped them prior
70 his appearance.
Don't forget to kill yourself, -" they cried
after Heisterhagen as he said good night, and
plowed his way down a side thoroughfare
through the darkness.
That was the last ever seen of Max Heis-
terhagen alive. He went to his saloon on
Gold street, unlocked the door, lit the gas,
wrote note, took pisto. from a drawer
back OF the bar and blew out his brains The
note was addressed To my respected friends
and fellow members of the suicide club and
the message was simply this: Il have kept
my oath. l warn you TO keep yours"
They did.
Heisterhagen was buried with all the hon
ors. The brass band of which he had been .
member played at his funeral, and the men
who sat with him that tempestuous evening
N KiDzie's saloon contributed magnificent
floral Offering which was to be the first OF
many of its kind. The twelvemonth passed,
and the suicide was almost forgotten. The
members of the ''club" lad not sought with
much enthusiasm to cultivate each others ac-
quaintance, but on the anniversary they all
CHANGED TO meet at Kinzies saloon There
had been no Encouragement. What did it
meant