Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-08-11
A DELIBERATE SUICIDE.
John McDougall Stabs Himself to
Death With a Tiny Penknife.

The First Stab Did Not Accomplish His
Purpose and u Second Stab Was In
fiicted--He Was Melancholy After a
Long Illness.
John t. McDougall, 2S years old,
living alone with his aged mother at No.
ia Jefferson street, took his own life at
3 o'clock Thursday afternoon, by in
tiicting stnb-wound over the heart.
Death followed almost Immediately.
The suicide was standing upright on
the floor of his room when the deed was
committed. Carefully selecting spot
near the heart, McDougall pressed the
keen point of a tiny penknife to his
breast and forced the blade up to the
hilt The first wound, passing close by
the fifth rib, did not prove fatal, and
withdrawing it again the suicide passed
it in on the opposite side of the rib,
making two diminutiye wounds.
Then he lay down upon the bed to
await the result of his attempt at self
destruction. When found in this posi-
tion soon afterward by his aged mother
he was dead. Scarcely any blood oozed
from the wound. With the exception
Of q small quantity of blood on the
blade Of the knife and little about .he
garments covering the wound, there was
none to be found. The penfnlfe used
by the suicide was found lying on q
bureau near the bed, where it is thought
that the hand of the dying man must
have placed it. Then feeling that death
was fast approaching he lay down upon
the bed and awaited its approach which
was not long.
Deceased had been in i'll health for
over a year and from time to time had
consulted DR.. J. A. Draper for his atfec-
ton. lie was naturally of Il melancholy
temperament, cared little for amuse-
lnents and had few associates. He had
been employed at the works of the j..
Morton Poole Company for about nine
years as Il roll -polisher. He was q
skilled workman and earned good wages
which he carefully boarded. Wednes-
day last McDougall went on the excur-
sion steamer Excelsior to the fishing
banks near Lewes. When he returned
he complained of peculiar feeling
about the head. He sought a doctor
and upon his advice did not return to
work the remainder of the week.
Sunday the man still complained of
illness and Louis Little, Il companion,
went with him TO see DR.. Draper. lie
surprised the physician by telling him
that he had remained up all the night
before, in order to take his medicine
regularly. The doctor admonished him
that he was not required to remain
awake at night to take his medicine,
and McDougall promised to follow the
physcian's advice. Yesterday morning,
when Dr. Draper called, he found his
patient standing in the hallway of the
house. He advised him to go to bed and
McDougall did so. When DIR. Draper
was again hastily summoned Thursday
afternoon he found McDougall dead.
Coroner Sparks and Dir. Charles L.
Baird visited the house about z o'clock
and viewed the remains. The coroner,
after an examination, issued certificate
of death from suicide, caused by stab
wound over the heart. Deceased was a
man of temperate habits. He owned
the house in which he resided and had
money on deposit in bank His mother
also owns considerable property Two
aunts in this city and an uncle in Phila-
delphia are the only surviving relatives
of the deceased in this country, except
his mother, Mrs. McDougall.
The mother, who is very old, is suf-
fering from insanity in its insipient
stages. 1t is thought that brooding over
her sons death may drive her also to
take her life. The father of the deceased
has been dead IL years. Undertaken
Kilmer has charge of the body and will
prepare it for burial.