St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-12-05

PUT TO THE TEST.


PUT TO THE TEST.
fsa st the aspsaas u 0ss WITH csnvss-
tioas About Suicide.
A number of gentle men were smok.
Ing clay pipes and slipping foaming
beer few nights ago over In Brooklyn.
1t was about twelve o'clock. The host
had made the discovery . day or so be.
fore that the roof was not bad place
on which to pass away q few hours on
hot night, even II it had no pretense
OF . roof-garden. His friends were
there for the purpose Of giving their
verdict on his discovery. The verdict
WIS favorable. As cork after cork
frxm the beer bottles. carefully GOV.
cred with ice in . cracker box.
popped of into the darkness. and the
smoke still curled up lazily, IL grew
more favorable.
The neighborhood was one Of those
not uncommon ones in all big cities
where the baclxyards Of the poor and
Of the rich and the well.to-do arc or
friendly terms Back Of the house On
the roof of which the evening was be.
ing made to pass so pleasantly was .
row of tenement houses of the poorer
sort Their roofs were tcnanted. too,
but the tenants were without pipes,
and If there was any beer it was not on
ice. Therefore they could truly be
termed unfortunates.
The merry party fingered on until
the roofs opposite gradually became de-
serted. In some way the conversation
drifted to the subject Of suicide. One
member OF the party declared with
considerable pomposity that he be-
lieved that every human being had the
right to end his own life If he wished
to do so
"Why shouldn't one Of those poor
creatures we have been watching to-
night over there opposite put the finish
to his or her existence? What pleasure
can there be for many OF them in liv-
ing?' he wound up his harangue.
''You would be the FIRST to try to pre-
vent it il you saw anyone on the point
Of killing himself" said another.
''Would l?'' said the other, scornfully.
''Not at all It would not be my place
to interfere. Iwould have no right to
prevent it?'
just ut this moment young girl ap-
peared on the tenement house roof op-
posite. She walked wcarily about for
. few seconds and then she went to Q
clothesline. from which fiuttered few
articles of clothing. These shc took
from the line and dropped them down
through the skylight After that she
began 70 walk round the roof again.
So peculiar were her actions that Tie
men began to get nightly interested.
She walked TO tho edge of the roof,
and. clasping her hands over her heart
looked with gaze that could be imag-
ined, although il could not be seen, to
be full of sorrow and longing for . hap
pier existence.
Guess you are going 70 see your sui.
eide. said one 70 the men who had
talked about suicide. That person
looked rather pale and agitated. Slow.
" the girl on the roof took down her
hair. The breeze floated it out behind
her and she looked weirl. The
watchers became more agitated.
With one last, lingering look the girl
sat down on the edge Of the roof The
man who wouldn't prevent suicide il he
could now set up . shout that could
have been heard . block away. The
host muttered: '.Poor girl! There
wouldn't be much left Of her. There's
IN iron railing and q stone area below
there"
The girl heard the shout for she was
seen to start, but Il did not shake her
determination to carry out her pur-
pose. She dropped from the roof-and
walked into her poor home through the
window from the fire escape. for there
was . platform dve feet below where
she had dropped of, and it was easier
to 60 down that way than to climb
through the narrow skylight and down
the steep and shaky ladder.
Aud then the merry party on the
roof broke up. and the most thoughtful
member of it as they went down was
he who would allow every human being
the right to end his own existence.-N.
Y. Times.