The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-04-19
How ASUICIDE WAS AYERTED
Causes of Suicides and their Pre-
venti0ns Touched Upon by
the Church.
The Pollard-Breckenridge Case Is
Roasted UnmercifuHy and
Dancing Condemned.
Rev. John Sinclair Tells a Larqe
tCroWd What the Ideal Youth
Should Be.

The churches were more interesting
than usual last Sunday evening, the
ministers sending forth sermons that
should have been listened to by every
body. The churches were we'll filed.
At the Methodist church Rev. L. L..
Hanscom, at his best, told how a sui
eide was averted, his text being taken
from Acts Is chap, 28th ", "do thy
self no harm," the story of which is
that while the jailor was asleep the
Almighty caused an earthquake to ap-
pear and destroy the jail and release
the inmates from their chains. The
Jallor awakening, saw what had been
done, decided to face death rather
than those to whom he was response
ble, and was about to take his own
life by the use of the sword when Paul
and Silas, who were prisoners, said
put up that sword, do thyself no
harm; your prisoners are here.'
"We are more inclined to injure
ourselves than other persons, was the
minister's starting phrase. Rather
than face death many people will seek
death by their own hands. Financial
embarrassments and falling from high
positions in the social world, loosing a
character, drive persons into death.
Some who have been disappointed in
love affairs, l am almost ashamed to
say that Of my race, have committed
suicide. Some have done it in fit of
insanity; while others out of pure cow
ardice. It can be done by the hang
mans rope. and here I am reminded
of a stor..saf a.. man going to commit
suicide because he was in financial
trouble. On his way to the chosen
spot he found a purse containing
enough money to relieve him of his
embarrassment. He threw the rope
away and returned to his home. The
man that lost the pocket book came
along, failed to find it, but finding the
rope, picked it up and hung himself.
A man may shoot himself, poison,
either by the quick or slow process.
But there is more than one kind of
suicide-tbe death suicide and the
moral suicide, and in the latter a per-
son may stain all their earthly pros
poets in one hour by single rash act
or in slow way. A man of expert
ence often sees the young as Paul did
the jailor, ready to commit suicide. I
have warned many in this city but the
warning has not been needed. The
sword of indulging habit was one way
of suiciding Smoking is one of these
habits. 1t grows on person until he
can't throw it off, spirituous liquor is
another, RIGHTEOUSNESS and the wick
edness practiced by the world are
others. A boy may tremble at his
first oath but later on he can swear by
note. He trembles when he first looks
at the fiery glass, when he lifts it from
the counter to his lips, but now he
trembles because he is taking too
many"
Here Mr.. Hanscom contended that
criminals were made before they left
their teens, and while men may be
good for period they often yearned
for their first associations. Hannibal
and Napoleon were made soldiers at
9 and II years. Voltaire committed
to memory an infdel poem at five
years and his character was formed.
A UniversaGst minister was detected
visiting places of i'll repute and was
called before the bar. He stated that
he did not visit them for criminal pur-
poses, but because he had a liking
formed in his early days.
The sword of evil association was
another means of death. Two cannot
walk together unless they are agreed,
One will either be bettered or the 9th
or degraded, and usually the evil will