The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-02-01
TO ESCAPE POVERTY
A Penniless Tailor's Fruitless
Attempts at Suicide.
NOW He THINKS He CAN'T DIE.
Amer vasniy Trytsg - Convince HIS
Wife That He's Dead, He rrs~s
Asrphiss, Rassrs, Ess-

Herman Harrison North Seattle tailor,
Who created . mild sensation last October
By cabling his wife that he was dead, made
several BANGING efforts 20 commit suicide
early yesterday morning and during the
night previous. He used morphine. thres
rsxors and . bottle Of ehioroform. and
nov that be sim lives. declares that be
must Be death proof. Poverty caused the
attsmpta In the early part Of October
Chief Jackson recsived . eahlegram from
Southampton, EngIand. which read: lis
Herman A. Taylor, Front street, near
Bellows hotel. dead7" Nothing was
known Of the man. and after the directory
Was searched In vain for such O man. Reg
istsring Clerk Fleming walked along Front
street in hopes Of solving the case. He
CHANGED 70 see . small siga at 22s5 Front
which read Herman. the Tailor" 1t
proved TO be Herman Harrison. the tailor,
who admitted sending a message TO his
wife saying that he was dead. and said he
did it to keep her in the old country, where
she would DO better of than here. He
said that IL was hand to mouth struggle
for bread with him, and if his family came
II would be worse Mrs. Harrison arrived,
however, with her little baby and 5year-
old child in the latter part of October.
Harrison managed to earn . scant living
until two months ago. when he began TO
grow sick and despondent He would
walk the floor at night, and his wife. fear
ing he would do violence to himself. took
every precaution to ward of the impend-
ing danger. Notwithstanding her care
Harrison tried opium. but took too much,
and then fell back on morphine. The fret
time he took spoonful of what he be-
lieves was the deadly drug. II did not
work, and he tried Two spoonfuls with no
better success. He says that instead OF
sleeping he was wide awake. He was still
bound to end his existence. because work
had failed him, there Was little or no bread
in the pantry and the future was dark.
Tuesday night he took the morphine, but
he says that does not count. Then about
midnight he took out Q razor and tried 10
cut his throat. Not being well versed
in physiology, he cut or rather
scratched the heshy part under his
chin. Just little blood ran, aud then
he went TO bed and took chloroform. He
says the chloroform lost its effect in less
than five minutes, and that during that
time he was never entirely unconscious.
About o'clock he got mp, giving As an ex-
cuse that the child disturbed him, and
went into an adjoining room. Out came
second razor, and rs in the first case he
cut with too shaky hand and too high.
The wound was nothing moro than q
scratch. but when he slsshed third time
the execution was better and gush of
blood followed. He lay down on the ia
bic and let the blood run. As the liquid
fell from the table it bit 8 chair and then
fell 20 the floor with the monotonous
noise OF dripping water.
Mrs. Harrison, having awakened and
hearing the dripping sound. came into tho
room where her husband lay in what he
supposed were his dying moments. She
lost no time in calling policeman, who
had the wounded man taken to the police
station. DIR. Palmer dressed his wounds,
| and before leaving told him that the
attempt at suicide was very poor
Harrison thought. however. that he
was hard to kill, and promised to give
the business up unless he found a
surer method. Harrison was held at the
police station lldsy. and only showed
signs of animation when he became hun
| cry. In talking with n PosT-ISrELLI-
eESoER reporter he said the only cause for
| attempting his life was his inability to
earn q living far himself and family.
| When asked il he did not realize that Ii
was q cowardly thing to leave his wife and
children to struggle alone with the world
he replied that they could get along better
without him.
Harrison is Russian. 40 years old, five
feet eight inches high and weighs l70
pounds. He has black hair and syes
Mrs. Harrison is an intelligent woman,
| and takes the affair much TO heart