New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-10-04
FOUND HANGING FROM A DOOR
LEFT ALONE IN A FLAT, A THIRTEEN
YEAR-OLD BOY COMMITS SUICIDE.
HIS MOTHER HAD REFUSED TO GRAFT RE-
FOUND HIM sTRANGLED-HAD OFTEN

QUEST. AND WHEN SHE RETURNED HOME
FOUND HIM sTRANGLED-HAD OFTEN
THREATENED TO TAKE HIS LIFE = +,
Mcrbidness. due to unhappir ess in the home
circle and inability to engage In the sforts anu
PURSUITS dear to boys heart coupled with
pioue at what he considered unjust treatment,
Grove thirteen-year-old Randolph Percval, OF
No 3O4 East Eighty-ffth-5t., to commit suicide
yesterday morning Feeling Eeenly the refusal
Of his mother to grant trivial request, in the
latter's absence from the house. young Kahdoiph
ted a short piece Of a rubber tube about his 4
reck then attached it to the knobs OF the fold
ing doors leading from his bedroom to the par
lor and, lying down, 50 that the weight OF MS
body bore upon his neck. slowly strangled TO
death.
Whether the boys intention to kill him
self or only to frighten his mother who he ex-
pected would return home at any time. Is not
known. but his threat to kill himself made
year ago and the way in which he went about 1t
point toward a deliberate intention to end his
life
HAD BEEN IN ILL-HEALTH.
Young Randolph was consumptive and had
been under treatment by Dr. Martha Huson. or
No 237 East Eighty -sxth-st.. the family phy-
sician for several years. He became despondent
because his ll-health prevented his playing as
ether boys did and prevented his attending
regularly his classes i'm the East Eighty-hfth-
St grammar school His father EDWARD
Percival was, until eight years ago. a prosper
Gus photographer with several studios IN the'
city At that time he failed in business ara
Icing In greatly reduced circumstances accepted
the place Of ticket-chopper in one OF the down.
town stations OF the Sixth-ave. elevated line
Nine years before his failure in business. the
elder Percival lost his wife and three years later
married his present wife, young woman VINO
was then in his employ as a saleswoman' WIN
ris failure came despondency that mas never
left him and often in the family circle he has
said that 1t was useless for him to live ana that
suicide was his best course as he felt unable TO
bear the burden OF living any longer
A little more than a year ago Mrs ferc'di
found a prescription calling for eight ounces of
laudanum In her husbands pocket. and fearing
that he contemplated self-destruction removed
II telling him that she knew Of 1t. The fathers
talk IT is thought made an impression on the
boys mind and only year ago he told Dr'
Huson that he would kill himself some day
LEFT ALONE IN THE HOUSE.
At $40 O'Clock Yesterday morning Mrs Per-
cival went out to do her marketing. accom-
l
trude.
Mamma. give mt ) cents please?" asked
Randolph
NO" his mother answered Il want you to
mop UP the kitchen floor while am gone"
'Mayn't | go with you. mammaY' he asked
NO" she replied. sharply. Gertrude is going
Randolph said nothing. but when his mother
! and sister had gone he carefully locked the hall
! door and then went about his task. He mopped
! the kitchen hoor, and after emptylng the pail
and wringing out the mop placed them beside
! the range in the kitchen. Exactly what followed
! Is not known. but when Mrs. Percival returned
at go she could not get into the flat. Fright
! ened. she went to she apartments OF family
! named Stein. the floor below, and climbing
| cut on the fire escape ascended TO her own fiat
! on the top floor. She found the pail and mop in
| the kitchen. The dining room was empty, as was
! the sittingroom
THE MOTHER FINDS THE BODY.
She ran into the bedroom. and there found
Randolph, hanging face down by the doorknob.
His body was already cold, and his distorted
! features showed strangulation to have been the
| cause Of death. The rubber tube was tightly
! looped around about his neck and tied
/ curely to the knob of the door. Frantic with
! grief and frightened the mother seized a pair Of
scissors and cut the tube IN two. Then she ran
screaming into the hall and dispatched her
| daughter for Dr. Huson When the latter ar
| rived she said that Randolph had been dead for
! rearly an hour. Thinking that he might have
! left n note OF some kind To tell why he had taken
/ his life. Mrs Percival searched every room. only
/ to fail
The police summoned and at in
| formed the Coroner The dead boy fa-
! vorite with every who know him, and when
/ the news Of his death spread among his ac-
/ quaintances there many expressions of
! prise and grief. The dead boys father is a Free
| Mason. a member of the Royal Arcanum and
several other benevolent organizations and
| spends large part of his earnings in paying the
! dues OF the various insurances to place his fam
| lily beyond want in case of his death.
TYNAN RELEASED ~ FRANCE.