The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-25
A PITIFUL STORY.

The heartbreaking story of the attempts
made by Arthur Dodge and his mother to
kill themselves will touch many SYM
pathetic soul in California. The young
man was uncommonly bright, had no bad
habits, had an earnest and faithful regard
for the good of his race and time, was
gentle and unselfish, and in all ways was
estimable and deserving. Bad luck, or
what he deemed bad luck had pursued
and ruined him after he made the fight
with all the strength and courage and
manliness that he possessed. At last hun
ger, which his pride permitted him to see
no way of curing, came upon him and his
mother. Then his strong heart broke, and
he and his mother calmly took poison and
lay down to die. Even in that simple
undertaking he failed, as he had failed in
all other things.
The mothers account of the affair con-
tains this pitiful passage: Whenever
Arthur spoke of death l urged him against
it and tried to convince him-almost con-
trary to my own judgment-that such a
course would be cowardlv. Finally he said
to me one day last week: Mother, I will
60 off into the woods some day and kill
myself and you will know nothing about it
till they find my body I could not bear
the thought of tbat-of him lying there in
the woods dead. Perhaps they would not
find his body for many days. Rather than
have him do this 1 told him I would die
with him. had nothing to live for and
thought what great relief death would be
to both of u.s."
n 1s1.l1t
sibly shocked to learn of the effort
and of the reasons behind it, and of course
any one of them would have furnished the
food needed to keep them alive There
are probably some who will declare that
the Dodges were entirely too proud and
that they should have made their condi-
ton known. But pride is one of those
heaven-sent attributes that needs be re-
spected when it is found in these days of
its rarity. Had Dodge been less proud he
might have been more successful and would
not have needed the assistance which his
pride restrained him from asking. 1t
would be useless either to blame him or
praise him for temperament which was
as vital to him as the beating of his heart
1t is not question of blame for anything
OUT OF pity lot everything.
There are great many Dodges in the
world, and we elbow them ON the street
and meet them as friends And yet we
never realize their strange character until
they do something startling and unex-
pected, either through desperation or an
exalted sense of duty. If there is any,
thing which might be done for those of
them who are in distress it must be framed
on q plan which will not bring them humil-
iation. Mr.. Dodge and his mother might
have secured relief from the Board of SUI
pervisors, from some charitable society, or
from some one able to assist them. This
would have required something of them
which they could not agree to-a certain
publicity. 1t would be idle and unjust to
call this feeling false pride or oversensi-
tiveness, or charge that it deserves the
hardships which it suffers. 1t is in the
blood, and that is the end of the matter.
When we observe that the best rewards
which the world bestows are given to
aggressiveness and selfshness, the pitiful-
ness of such a case as that of poor Dodge
and his mother becomes all the more
pOignant