The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1890-02-05
sTRANeE l.+INes Asosr suIclpe.


A"e ts--s"h. mat Are Sornefimes Aasignsd
for the Rash Deed.
"Curiosities of suicide9 Bless YOU.
my. dear. boy. they're innumerable, -
said the coroner.
Chicago produces an average of
about ten suicides per week, or 500. in
round numbers, per year.
IL sounds almost incredible, said
a deputy coroner. .-but the slightest
troubles often suffice 10 bring persons
10 the point Of self destructi0n. Some
doctors claim that only demented per
sons take their own lives. but this IS
denied a storekeeper on Blue
Island avenue killed himself and
left long letter To his wife. In
II he explained, in very ration
al and logical manner. why it was
best Tor him to leave this world.
SSIckly and suffering, unable to earn
enough to support my family, my
death VIII be a relief and blessing
TO all | love. That's as -far as you are
concerned As for me, the burden
carry is heavy. Life has been nothing
but torment Tor me since long ago. Ii
is easy for me to part with n One
moments suffering and / shall have
ceased to feel pain, worry and fear of
the future. NV death will leave you.
dear wife, quite a large sum, enough
10 start anew and under better auspi-
ces. Farewell, and think kindly of
me. That's about the way IL ran.
w asn I that sound argumentf Must
That man, when he wrote il, five min
utes before death, not have been pos
sessed of his full faculties OF reason
ingl
I'm the case of poor seamstress ON
milwaukee, avenue, near Noble street,
who asphyx xiated herself with char.
coal and who left half dozen notes
explaining the exact state of her feel
ings. saying. Now I'll soon be hap
pyF doesn't that case show she had her
senses and her will power about her
till the last9"
SO much for reasonable suicides. {"
sad the reporter. And now for the
unreasonable ones"
well, they're the majority. I think.
Old Lewis Koenig. up on West Chi
cago avenue, was perhaps the boss
crank i know of. He had been suf.
fering from rheumatism for quite a
wlnle, but not severely. He was out
oi employment, il is true, but he had
considerable property and quite bit
OF ready cash. His relations with his
aged wife were pleasant. One day his
wife had TO go TO the store on the next
corner. She fell to chatting with the
owner. as women will, forgetting that
she had promised her husband 10 be
back within five minutes. She thus
spent a half hour at the store, and
then, remembering her husband, has
MY went home. As she tried to open
the kitchen door. something heavy
struck against the sash inside. She
forced her way IN, though, and there
Il
from a stout nail he had driven into
the door. On the floor was n bit of
paper, chunk of coal on il as a
weight, in which he had said: Il see
you want to be rid of me. Ten min
utes past the time. Good-by.' That
was all. He had become so disgusted
at ten minutes delay as to drive him
TO death. Queer, wasn't it2''
Yes, rather. Remember any cases
OF great persistence on the part of
people who wanted to def"
Yes, many. In fact, persistence is
characteristic feature of many sui
cldeS- The most recent and prominent
case OF this kind was that Of wealthy
retired manufacturer on West Harri-
son street The man had no earthly
reason whatever for committing sui
eide The fact that he had paid too
hASh a price LOT some real estate, and
that lie had to sell il at n loss, made
HIM brood on this fact during his
hours OF leisure every day. His actual
loss had been less than 800 and his
remaining fortune was considerably
over 500, 600, all in real estate, and
papers netting good interest, while his
expenses Were greatly below his in
come, and his personal tastes were
very simple. Still. there he sat and
sat day after day, and far into the
night, worrying himself TO shadow
over the loss of that 800. Finally he
got to believe that real estate was go
ing down in this city, and that his ul-
innate would be penury and starva-
ton, and then he shot himself. Els
aim was sure enough. The bullet
crashed. into his brain. His wife
found him lying ON his bed on her re-
turn home. But the wound was such
a one that she did not guess its origin.
ana the unconscious man woke to life
agaln-with the bullet in his head
stuffed the ear where the bullet had
entered with cotton, and told his wife
a plausible story about an accident.
She, poor soul, believed il, and nursed
him faithfully and tenderIy. But
while she was out of the room-several
days after-the man rose from bed,
got, out his gun, and put a few more
leaden globules into himself, this time