Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-07-01
ODDITIES OF SUICIDE.
Causes which Most frequently Lead to IL
and the Laws Against 1t.
Is suicide evidence of insanity?

would seem, therefore, that an act
which traverses the first law OF nature
must emanate from disordered brain,
Not long since judge in one OF our
New York courts held that suicide per
Sc was evidence Of insanity. On the
other hand we have the examples or
eminent men who have taken their own
lives. under circumstances which ap-
pear to leave no room for doubt as to
their sanity.
A recent dispatch from Roumania In
forms Us of a suicide club, the members
OF which are pledged to commit-suicide
as soon as sheir names should be drawn.
The surviving members Of the club have
all been placed in rigid confinement,
and will be tried on the charge OF hav-
Ing deliberately aided and aoetted un-
juStihable suicide.
Ii is remarkable how suicide by a
certain method or in certain place
will lead TO another of the same kind. A
surgeon of the Middlesex hospital in
London went into BARRIERS shop to be
shaved, The barber spoke OF man
who had been unsuccessful In an
attempted to kill himself by cutting his
throat. 'He could easily have managed
it," said the surgeon, chad he been &C
Ouainted with the situation OF the caro-
It'd artery" Where should he have
cut?" asked the barber. The surgeon
told him. He at once left the room. and
not returning as soon as was expected
the surgeon went to look for him and
discovered him In the yard with his
head nearly severed from his body.
1t is worthy OF note that the greatest
number Of suicides are committed by
the Germans. The form OF death they
usually choose is poisoning.
In every country three-quarters OF all
the suicides are Of the male sex, says
the Albany argus.
1t is almost impossible to realizes the
readiness with which the Chinese COM
nit suicide. 1t requires the merest
trife to induce a Chinaman to hang
himself. In other countries when a
man wishes to avenge himself on his en-
envy he kills him. In China he kills
himself. Suicides of widows are very
common there. Many hang themselves
publicly, having given notice OF their
intention so that those who wish may
be present.
On the morning of the appointed day
the willing victim, dressed in gaudy
apparel and holding a boquet Of fresh
flowers in her hand, is carried in sedan
chair to the temple erected in memory
of ''virtuous and flial widows" There
she performs the accustomed religious
rites, with burning Of candles and in
cense. In the afternoon she returns
home and hangs herself before the null
titude. Suicides Of this kind meet with
general approval in China. They do
honor 20 the families in which they &C.
cur.
The first instance OF suicide recorded
in the Scriptures is that of Samson b.
c. 11l7). The second is that OF Saul
(B. c. 1850. Rather than fall into the
hands Of the PhiliStineS, when hard
pressed in battle, he drew his sword and
fell upon IL and so died. Judas Iscariot,
through remorse, went and hanged him
self.
Among the philosophers Of antiquity
Seneca stands pre-eminently forward as
the defender Of suicide. He says: ''Does
life please you? Live on. Does it not?
Go from whence you came. No vast
wound is necessary; a mere puncture
will secure your liberty" Pliny says:
"God can not end his own life, though
he wish, but he has given to mortals
this best Of bOons amid the burdens and
trials of life"
Two of the most distinguished men OF
antiquity who sacrificed their own lives
were Brutus and Cassins. Mark An
thony, reduced TO a desperate extremity,
killed himself. Cleopatra was taken
prisoner by Augustus, who had intend
ed to exhibits her in triumphal process
sion In Rome To Illustrate this design
she killed herself by the poison OF an
asp. Cate, rather than live under the
despotism OF Cesar, stabbed himself,
and when the wound had been stanched
tore of the bandages and accomplished
his purpose. Demonthenes, fearful OF
being subjected to slavery and disgrace.
resorted to self-destructiOn. The
persecution to which Hannibal was
subjected by the Romans impelled him
to have recourse to the poison which he
always kept about him in ring. Iso-
crates, the renowned Athenian orator,
starved himself to death sooner than
submit TO the dominion Of Philip Of
Macedon. Thomas Chatterton, the En-
gIish poet, became INDECENT to the verge
of starvation and at the age OF II poison
ed himself.
From instances like the foregoing, one
might well query whether the act OF
taking ones life is alone sufficient to In
ditate insanity.
The law regards suicide crime, put
ting it in the same category with muir
der. OF course, where the crime is
consummated no punishment is infict-
ed, but attempts are punishable, and
principals In the second degree, present,
aiding and abetting, and accessories be-
fore the fact, can be punished. For
many centuries suicide has been regard
ed as a crime, not only by the State,
but by the church. In the Greek
church, the Roman church, and
the Protestant Episcopal church
it is severely condemned, and the burial
service provides that the prescribed Of
fee for the burial of the dead is not TO
be used for any who have laid violent
hands upon themselves. In England
the crime was punished Oy forfeiture Of
estate and the body Of the self-murder-
er was required to be buried in the open
highway and a stake thrust through 1t
as mark OF detestatiOn.
This law was repealed during the
reign Of George ", but even now the
body OF a suicide is required TO be bur-
led al night without the performance Of