Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-15
HINTS TO SUICIDES.
The Most Popular Methods Employed
by People Taking Their Lives.
WITH PISTOLS AND POISON.
These Causes Take Many People to Their
Graves-Few widows or Widowers
-Destroyers.


to-day. and in the most literal sense Of
the word It can be truly said that the
sun never sets on her dominion. She
regulates everything-the cut OF our rou-
sers, the trimming OF our whiskers. the
methods OF our amusements, the system
OF our love-making, the features of our
! funerals, and. perhaps, also the manner
OF our passing away into the dark, un-
explained hereafter. Certainly, she has
her finger In that undertaker's pie known
as suicide, and nowadays few, IL any.
attempts at self-destruction are made un-
less the effort Is conducted on strictly
conventional principles. You have certain
styles Of assorted suicidal formulas to
choose from, and II you wayer or
! digress In the least. you are ruined, for
truly the old saying sayeth, you might
as we'll be dead as out of fashion"
/ have been thinking great deal or
suicide Of late-not of committing 1t my
self, but Of looking into the most APP
| proved methods and investigating the
why's and wherefores. I want TO learn all
the good, popular plans now in vogue
so that / can give certain people advice
on the subject.
The moral world has always frowned
down on suicide. and shown the smallest
possible sympathy both for the victim
himself and for his relatives. In olden
times the corpse was placed in open view
at some crossroads and a stob was driven
through the body. This rule had
salient effect. and our forefathers, out
Of respect for the law. generally abb
stained from self-destructon-a most
magnanimous evidence Of patriotism.
when we come to consider the fact that
there We're no baseball teams, mint
juleps, or other modern luxuries in those
days. The present objection 10 self-de-
struction is hereditary, and has been
handed down 10 US by our bewigged ana
knickerbOckerei ancestors. Even mere
in Virginia the church-servlces over the
poor unfortunates are altered by some
denominations. and in several States
New York, for instance-there Is a law
making suicide an offence against the
statutes. 1t should be stated. however
in justice TO the residents Of the Empire
State. that comparatively few OF them
violate the law-certainly none OF them
| who are thoroughly In earnest violate II
more than once. ! can't see. however
| how the law can produce much good. II
| only stimulates a man imbued with the
| idea Of self-destructon to do his work
| thoroughly For my part, l think there
| IS nothing which should command so
| n lCh plty-sO much profound sympathy
| as the relatives OF a suicide, ana GER
| talnly there could b. no filter subject
| for our tears that the care-bitten, trouble
| gnawed unfortunate who takes his own
| life. Great indeed. much be the anguish
AMI agony, either physical or mental
| which can compel man to overcome MS
natural instincts of self-preservation ana
end his own career.
| What l have to say on the subject OF
| suicide is mainly the result OF a con-
| yersation-I had with that ever bright anu
| witty scholar. Coroner William ii. ray
| l0r. who. after twenty-five years or OIL
| ciaI experience. Is we'll qualified 10 DIS
| cuss the subject. "It is very erroneous
| said he, when | broached the cheerful
| subject to him, Ito suppose a man Is
crazy merely because lie commits suicide
I T,s.ra is no doubt he Is frequently on MS
! he, hut l. does not necessarily f0ilo"
| that he Is suffering from dementia. The
| unfortunate is led 70 commit the ac'
| either through some intense mental or
| InA@lcft y.
| tation Of the step plainly shows that the
| victim is not necessarily non compos
| mentls. on the whole. l think suicides
| are increasing, though there IS, Of course,
| no definite way OF getting statistics on the
| subject The newspapers take more note
| of such deaths nowadays, and hence the
| records are more complete than they
were in former days Then, too at certain
| periods there are suicidal waves, cue,
| no doubt. To imitation, and TO the facl
| that peorge are reminded OF seit-he-
| struction by hearing Of the deeds or others
| who take their lives. Crime Is generally
| contagious in this way. Look at the
| recent freaks of the Anarchists. Ana
| then, too, / have known physical all
| ments to occur in just the same manner
| Take Mysteries. for instance. n school
| teacher. or some person like that, will
| have them, and her example induces many
| Others TO follow suit The present age
offers many inducements for committing
suicide and. on the whole, | rather APP
| prove Of it-that is TO say, | thoroughly
| svmpathize with the victims"
Coroner Taylor isn't particularly enthu
| s,astic on the subject OF suicides for love
| He thinks there is more of It in poetry
| than in real life. THE idea of suicide
| for love, while 1t may have occurred i
| rather absurd" he said, land the people
| I'm Richmond are not afflicted that way
| / don't recall but one case OF the sort
| that has met my attention, and IN tha'
| instance ii was d young ana lheNperl-
| enced person. But love don't generally
| affect our crowd that way. Now loFe
| of whlskey." added the Doctor, cheerily,
"uay possibly help them along, but IL
! they Will keep we'll up with ordinary love
| and not augment it with love OF whiskey
| they can usually survive. The two TO-
gether--love OF woman and love or liquor
| make very formidable combination
| Men are far more likely TO commit sui
| eide than women, and the cases OF self
| destruction among the stronger sex far
| exceed those among the weaker The
| truth of the matter Is and think 1t
| can be demonstrated-that the sex that
| has got the most feeling is the male sex.
| In other words, they have got more
| brains. That is a psychological fact.
man yields more to sentiment and emo
| ton. The male IS the superior sex, i
| tell you. Sex will tell and / stick up
| for the males every time"
| The fashionable and popular methods
! OF suicide existing are by pistols,
| polsons, and drowning, with an occa-
sional hanging. The latter, however is
| not considered TO be strictly Ia alode,
| or in good form.
The average man uses pistol, and
| in most instances he shows that he has
| selected the ytal spot with the utmost
| care. Women dislike 10 use pistols, be
| cause, as Dr. Taylor says, they are afraid
of them. The fair sex are, it must be
| admitted, far InOre refined in their
methods OF self-destruction. They never
forget their personal appearance, and
when they destroy themselves they take
particular pains that their bodies shall
not be mutiiated. Hence, they generally
resort TO drowning or to poison. The
| former method is perhaps the best or all.
| and deserves the highest recommendations.
| The face of a drowned person Is usually
| calm and peaceful aud there is good rea-
son TO believe that the last stages are
accompanied by no pain. Medical re-
search has developed the fact that any
death from suffocation, after certain
| point is easy and without suffering.
1t is even so with hanging. After the
| disagreeabhe stage has been passed the
victim. as DR.. Taylor AYERS. dreams
Il y