The evening times., 1896-10-28
TRIVIAL CAUSES.

Countable for the deaths of all young men
I who CUnmit suicide. Anyone who reads the
papers knows that boys and girls have
/ killed themselves for the most trivial causes.
! To such overscn>itive souls a parents rep
/ rimand has more than once proved a death
! sentence. while in other cases want OF pocket
money or an unhappy home life or wilIful
/ temper has been the cause or a sudden and
! lameutable death.
! At no time has there been an utter dcarth
I of suicides, but atno timc we are told Ii ave
there been so many suicides OF young persons
| as there have been during the last few
! years. Moreover, at no time have 30 many
/ very young men killed tliem selves UnaCCUunt
| of disappointment III love.
| The exact causes OF this epidemic of
| suicides among Juveniles no one has at
tempted To explain. Some think that the
stress OF modern civilization Is to blame.
I Our children become nervous and discon-
] tented, they claim, because too many OF
I them find that the en- Oyments OF life are
| not Tor them, ana tina tn world has notning
! for them but many years of hard labor
and - loveleSs old age. { ompetitiion. they
insist, Is 50 keen that many parents can
not give their children the ordinary pleas
| urcs Of life, the result being that the emil
| dren, seeing their parents poor lot, re
| solve to remove themselves swiftly out of
| the World which has 50 little happiness in
| store for them.
| 'Hii'lltH III IpriIeE UaNs. it Is argued. tliG
| not commit suicide, iecause they were
taught To be content with their lot. and
| hence were generally stOiid and nnambi-
| tlous; whereas he children Of today ha VI
| the benefits OF education, and, naturally.
! know much more about the world than
! could possibly he known 10y the children Di
! half a century ago. Hence, ii is argued,
the Imagination "f many young persons has
been novcrStimulatcd. and the sudden knowl
| edge that the real world falls far short
| OF their Ideal has prO"cl a dealn blow 10
! many Of them.
| Somewhat similar reasons are assigned
/ for the suicides Of SO many young men,
though disappointment in love is general \
| admitted to lie tie main cause. The young
men of today, say these persons. begin TO
/ live a fast life willie they are sim in their
/ bOyhooc, and the shock Of finding them
selves deceived by hedrtless, mcrccnary
! women is too much for them. Instead If
pursuing their studies and looking forward
| toa happy married life they fling themselves
| into dissipation at an early age, and, after
! running themselves pecuniarily and physi-
.caliy. find that nothing is left for them
| but death.
aI ages young men have disSpatad
! but it remained for our age to give us
death as sequel TO dissipation. Possibly
! the vices of today are more destructive than
| those OF former days: possibly the lads and
| Young men of today are more high strung
| and nervous than those of former days;
| possibly this strange suicidal mania may
| bemerriy yanuther form of fthe mental malady,
| which Byron has described so well in
"ChiIde Harold and Goethe in the .'Sor-
rows of Werther."
| DISAPPOINTED IN LOVE.
Anyhow, the ugly fact stares us in the
! face that death, instead uf being regarded
universally as an uDwelcome guest. has
| inSidously wormcd itself into the conf.
| deuce Of many OF our young men and cbii
| dren and has all too easily convinced
| them that in this alone is to be found relief
| from all eartbl woes.
| In Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obsc cure =
| is to lie found n realistic picture Of this
| suicidal mania as manifested among chill
| dren. No one who has read that book can
forget the horrible yet realistic scene i'll
| which the dead bodies of the little children
figure so prominently. The author has been
| blamed for giving us such a morbid picture
| in a work OF fiction, but. after all. he has
/ simply portrayed actual life for u.s.
| Optimsts hope that no such ghastly ma
teral may be forthcoming for novelists of
the coming generation. Statistics are now
| being compiled which will show the average
| number of child suicides in each country. and
the causes that led til ereto. and once the evil
| is laid bare in all its malgnancy, there is
| little doubt that energetic steps will be taken
| to mitigate, and, If possible renloveit.