The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-16
WHY DO THEY SUICIDE
Topeka Doctors Discuss the Recent
Suicidal Outbreak.
IT IS A FORM OF INSANITY

Is What Host OF the doctors say
This Accounts for 1t Appearing to
be Contagious.
No one seems to know what is the
cause of such great number of suicides
in and around Topeka The doctors are
united on one point; they say that the
suicides are all insane. Not one was
found who did not attribute every case
to some form of insanity.
DR.. M. B. Ward has his own ideas on
the subject. however. In conversation
with JOURNAL reporter he said: 81 am
satisfied that all kinds of crime are on the
increase, and it will go on and on
until something is done to regulate our
marriage laws. Men and women marry
without any regard to suitability, and
the probate judge has no right to refuse
any one who is over the required age,
license. People take pains in breeding
horses and cattle, but very little with
children, and men may fall in love with
women just because they are sic or
crippled, and there You have the chief
cause of crime of all kinds.
"a person who is moody or despond-
ent may commit suicide because some
one else does and that may account for
the great number we have had recently.
do not think that hard times has had
anything to do with it, because most of
the people who have committed suicide
have not been in particularly strait
ened circumstances.
'There are many more attempts at sui
eide than we hear about. | have had
several cases which have never got into
the newspapers Of course l succeeded
in saving their lives or they would have
been reported to the coroner. Only re-
Gently a Topeka young lady tried to
commit suicide by injecting a large
quantity of morphine into her thigh.
worked all afternoon with her and l am
satisfied she will not make a second at
tempt.
Dr. S. E. Sheldon said: sit is some
thing like an epidemic l guess it is not
| microbe or any thing of the kind, but
it seems to be contagious. noticed
that during the hard times ust after the
| war there were great many suicides
and 1 think that hard times have u great
deal to do with the present epidemic. 1t
is all right though; the people who COM
nit suicide would not amount to much if
they lived and when a person gets such
an insane idea in his head / guess it IS
just as we'll if he is dead.'
| DR.. L. H. Mum said: There is no way
of explaining the present epidemic, ex-
! cept that those who are low in spirits are
have noticed that when a man commits
suicide in a new way, no mat
ter how horrible, that there will
! be others all over the country
will follow the same method. There is
no explaining suicides, because they are
attributable to various causes. If per-
son wants to commit suicide he should
do it in an easy way. Taking morphine
or chloroform is the easiest way by long
odds, and if ] was to recommend meth
cd l would advise either of the two"
Ex-Coroner DR.. J. 3. Hibben said: "In
my experience as coroner | always no.
ticed that when one person committed
suicide that there were three or four.
There are always lot of people on the
verge of suicide, and when one
goes the rest are ready to follow.
Of course they are insane or they
would never do it. One of the most
frightful causes of suicides is domestic
troubles Nothing makes man misera
bic like trouble with his wife or family
and many of the suicides are due to tina
cause. Another cause is drinking
man becomes abandoned and besottec
and then kills himself"