The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1891-10-27
why DO MEN KILL THEMSELVES
Methods q Self Murder Have Been Er.
hausted.

made study of suicide said the othe
day:
Why should man kill himself? Tn
popular answer is Because he is era
sy!' Scientific men easily disprov
that but are still somewhat at sea i,
devising a better answer. Was tn,
philosopher Seneca crazy when he en-
tered the warm bath and opened hi.
veins? says the Chicago Tribune
Were all the hundreds of Romans who
made happy dispatch Of themselves in
eaneP Surely not
The Greeks rarely committed sui.
eide, but at one time it was quite the
fashion in Rome 1t is the rarest OF
rarities for slave to commit suicide,
though slave owner often does. Ex-
tensive inquiry fails to develop a single
case OF an American colored man COM
hitting suicide though there have been
few cases among mulattoes and octo-
rooms Shall it be said, then. that the
superior race is the suicidal? Surely
not for the Greeks were at least the
equals of the Romans. The solution
must be sought elsewhere.
Perhaps religious belief has some
thing to do with it. but it would be
hard to prove IL. One fact, however.
gives US clew. Among the lowest
races Of mankind and In the lowest in
tellectual grades of any society suicide
Is practically unknown. and among the
highest in race or culture it is extreme.
ly rare while in the middle or lower
middle classes it is most common. It
Is those who are midway on the course,
whether as races or individuals those
who are in the struggle. who lose heart
and rush unbidden into eternity. This
ID only another way of saying that
where the battle is fiercest there are
the most wounds and sudden deaths:
those who have won the victory and
those lying idle in camp and designing
no struggle are fairly well satisfied
with the situation. The cultured and
well-to-do Philadelphia Is, on the
whole, as willing to live as the naked
Senegambian.
The causes assigned for suicide
are to the last degree curious. In
many cases well-to-do suicides simply
allege that they are tired of life-the
monotony of it is too much for them.
An English gentleman left a note to
the effect thai he was tired of .,com.
Ing 10 and going out laying down and
getting up, buttoning and unbutton-
Ing" A London cabman wrote that
he had exhausted all the pleasures OF
driving in this world. and wanted to
PEE how they drove in the other.
Strange to say, love and poverty furn.
Ish the smallest number Of cases. and
mere bodily suffering the greatest
But the saddest cases are those IA
which whole faulty dies together
Ind of these the Stafford case, which
occurred some years ago, was the most |
Of all.
Stafford was q druggists assistant
threatened with the loss of position |
md poverty. He succeeded in gain.
nE his wife's consent as his letter
aid, and that the "whole family
'hould 60 together" but she did not \
want to know when the fatal dose Wa
yiven. So he gave her and the young.
st child prussic acid in o cooling
rink as they lay Down for the niehk
md in q few minutes they expired
Without pain. One by one he disposed
4 the other five children 10 the same
vay-''all In peace and without pain,
hank God he wrote. He thea drew
p his WILL went out and obtained tie
ignatures Of witnessed, returned and
Frote four letters and then swallowed
he poison, and was soon a corp4a
UGH 2 case is beyond analysis by q
mind Yet ne cxnnot say it
'as insanity.
1t is scarcely possible to conceive of
ny method Of suicide pot already en-
loyed by some one; but whenever one
trikes a novel method he IL sure to
ave host of imifAtora Hanging.
rowning, poisoning. stabbing, or
ther forms Of cutting. shooting and
,mplng from high places. are most
ommon. Many women have swallow
hot Goals powdered glass and other
estructive articles. Cleopatra ap-
lied an asp to her bosom, and it is
orth noting that she has had no imi.
ltors Women have a horror of ser.
ents. and they are not easily obtain.
at the time desired. France leads
u other nations In suicides, as in the
st year for which we have the record
l6 persons killed themselves In each
600. 600 Of the population, and the
lcrease Is rapid. OF 1879 suicides
one year one fifth were in Paris
nd smothering by charcoal fumes is
le favorite method. In London near
: all suicides are with the knife and
lzor, and 1t is plain truth that in this
'spect the British are the worst ..cut-
lroats" in Europe. ,
Cnh0nofed Graves.
In the National ceynAtArv AZ p;x<s |