The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-11-28

tue especial purpose OF admitting Inem.
This is the club to which "Charlie" Henss'
children believed be belonged.
TIE FOUNDER TALKS.
The founder Of the original Bridgeport
Suicide Club, the one which never exercised
its charter rights, told the story of it quite
unreservedly when pledge was given him
that bis present usefulness would not be de-
/ stroyed by the publication OF his name.
That usefulness is exercised as professor of a
graceful act whose witnesses would shrek
and nee at the thought that their instructor
was ever even In Jest, the propagation of the
cult of self-destruction.
The club, said this man, twas formed
among the employees Of the tool room of the
| Wheeler & Wilson sewing machine works
six years ago 1t grew out Of my joking
/ Phlhp Funkhouse, German employed
there, about the lack Of sand displayed by
his countrymen. The occasion was the at
tempted child murder and suicide Of Ger
man on the east side, whose name l have
forgotten. / badgered Philip about the lack
| OF courage in his countrymen. who fell to
| cutting themselves and their families when
in the least downhesrted, and he answered
me back that the Germans had as much
sand as the yankees. Well, them said
in joke, let us have suicides that have some
sense about them Let us form a club, each
member of which will kill himself when
| bis turn comes without any fuss or bother
He, also joking, took me up, and we agreed
to form the club. All that remember Of
its rules Is that its membership was to be
| twenty-five in number, and that no new
members were to be admitted until vacancies
we're occasioned according to the rules A
| number OF the men in the toOlrOom Joined.
/ A few days afterward | met Tom Woods, a
reporter of one Of the papers here who
asked me, according to his custom, if there
was anything new at the works. l told him
I..fe IL Sid Nl,,A
llshed 1t and shortly afterward told me that
the story had been copied into every news
paper in Connecticut and was travelling all
over the country Then we dropped the
! joke, aud never heard OF any member of
| our organization taking advantage Of our
charter rights"
Such was the bold, brief story of the orig
| inal Suicide Cuba seed Of a factory joke
spirited into q semblance Of fact through a
dearth of news in a factory town paper,
and thence sown broadcast by means of
those active brain cultivators. the exchange
EDITORS shears, till none shall know till the
last day in what fields it fell or what har-
vest was reaped OF 1t.
Seemingly the harvest in the home field
| was quick and plenteous In its return, for
| if in that low-ceiled, floor-sanded room at
| 5S4 Main street another suicide club did not
meet, those who did meet there exercised at
least the chief right of membership.
THE CHARTER BECOMES OPERATIVE.
1t is three years next February since the
| second suicide club, the Suicide Club at
Kinzie's"-for John Kiuzie then kept the
saloon-began to be talked about. On the
morning of the third day of that month in
1887 it was told in Bridgeport that Victor
Helsterhagen, who himself had been keeping
a saloon around the corner in Gold street,
but was better known as q musician, had
gone down in his cellar aud shot himself.
Then it~was remarked by another frequenter
of the place: why, that's one of those
fellows who was always talking about the
Suicide Club they had"
Then the story began TO grow that the
charter of the Bridgeport Suicide Club was
beginning to be operative. Centuries would
have been required in sleepy old world
community or in stagnant New England
village for the legend that Bridgeport put
forth off hand. It was said that the crowd
who met at Kinzies had over a game of
cards organized a Suicide Club. that
the officers had been elected, the
allotment of turns made. the
rules drawn, and that Victor Heis-
tsrhegen had been the first to be called
upon. Bridgeport in fact, turned out a
legend as quickly as it might a wing ma
chine. Some scoffed, some spoke Of circum-
stances which looked like retribution, but
there were the facts. Victor had been
were always joking about the Suicide Club.
And Victor was dead, having left a note to
his landlady who lived next door, which
ran or lmped in this fashion:
Katie, you done it. Now going to take
me life and you all the fault of it good bye
| and may you have 10 times the trouble that
| l had"
| Gossip said that it was for love of Katie
| that Victor put the 32-caliber rim firing re-
| volver to his right temple. Katie said that
| it was because she had refused to lend Vic
| tor money to carry on his failing saloon
business So he was buried, at his request,
in his military blouse, which was all he had
left Of his handsome uniform, which he
| had worn for ten years when stationed on
Governors Island, and gossip waited for the
next break in the circle at Kinzie's.
Now, George Leavenworth was not OF
| the class to which the Suicide Club was sup
posed to belong, but he was frequenter of
Kinzie's, which was near his mothers house
in Chapel street. He was newspaper man,
the brightest one, every one said then, and
| many say now, in Bridgeport. He had
laughed aud talked often at the stories about
the original Suicide Club, and there is little
| doubt that he would have joined readily in
any discussion of the subject which was
started at quiet German resort like
Kinxie's. where the philosophy of life, and
| especially death, is gone into good deal
| duu u ROOQ Ochl 0Copck tbesu bAOSO " ~
pass by on the street, or drop In 20 allay a
sudden thirst are apt to imagine. Moreover,
he was Just the one TO have sought to find
parallel in real life to Robert LOUIS
Stevenson's fantastic story which bears
the same title as Bridgeport's fantastic
legend.
One morning during the last presidential
campaign, Leavenworth, then night editor
Of morning paper, came at z O'Clock to
Cases hotel, on Bank street, and took a
room. At 10 o'clock he was called, but was
sleeping so heavily that he did not respond.
In the afternoon another and more persistent
attempt was made to arouse him. The win
dow shutters were opened and the light of
the autumn day-it was Oct. y, 1883
streamedin on a laudanum vial and letter
beside his bed. The doctors worked over
him for three hours, but he could only be
aroused sufficiently to speak some inco
herent jargon. At night he died. The let
ter said that he was tired of life. Hi!
friends knew that he had despaired OF
breaking himself OF the habit OF drinking
into which he had fallen on account of 6
disappointment in love.
The legend now went so far as to say that
George Leavenworth had told the whole
story OF the Suicide Club to friend befori
ne died. and the story got into print at gooC
space rates.
KNIFE HIMSELF THE THIRD.
Gossip waited with bated breath for an
other. Gossip was well rewarded and soor