The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1896-06-11
HE BURIED HIMSELF.
THE UNIQUE SUICIDE OF A MEXICAN
INDIAN IN CALIFORNIA.
Disheartened by an Accident Which Un-
fitted Him For Active Life, Jose Mendex
R.so,ved to End His Existence without
Causing His Friends Trouble.

Disheartened Dy An AcciuehS w AA
fitted Him For Active Life, Jose Mendex
Resolved to End His Existence without
Causing His Friends Trouble.
lose Mendez was a Mexican Indian
who killed himself in 1862 IN San Jose,
Cal. At the time of his death Jose was
SO years of age. He bad all his lie peen
all exceedingly active man.
Among the daring characters then
residing in San Jose none could excel
/ him as a rider of wild horses. he was
! also very ingenious and could not only
make the finest kinds of larlats, but
could also use them in many original
ways.
One day the daring rider came to
grief By some means he was thrown
/ from wild mustang, and, being stun
ned and made helpless by the fall, he
was dragged for some distance in the
stirrups. When finally rescued, he was
in a condition that would have been
sure and almost instant death TO any
! but a man of wonderful nerve and te-
nacity of life.
| Injured and helpless, he recovered suf-
| ficiently to realize that he could never
engage in active pursuits again, and he
became very moody and respondent.
| life in which he was precluded from
daring riding on unframed mustangs
had no charms for him, and in the
midst of his sufferings from internal in
juries he made frequent threats OF sui
eide. Once, in speaking of the matter tc
an intimate friend, who tried to dis
suade him from the idea, he said that
when he killed himself it would be
done in such manner that 10 one
would ever have any more trouble about
him. 1t was thought at the time that he
| intended to drown himself in the sea,
where his body would never be recover
ed.
Every morning for several weeks
thereafter Jose crawled away from the
adobe hut in which he and number OF
others lived and came back quite late
every evening. On these trips he took a
pick and shovel and occasionally a
piece of lumber, no one knew for what
purpose. Some supposed that he was
mining somewhere. By this time he
had grown so respondent as to be en-
tirely uncommunicative, and no expla-
nation of his conduct could be obtained
from him. One evening, as was expect
ed, the invalid did not return to the
adobe, and the next day search was
made in the direction in which he went.
Something like mile from the adobe
house the searching party found small
clearing in the grass and weeds To the
surprise of every one of the party rude
board box about 3 feet wide and 6 feet
long and about IS inches in depth was
found lying upside down in the middle
of the open place. The box was imme-
diately overturned, but nothing but a
heap of loose earth was found under it.
A closer examination revealed the fact
that attached to the box were number
of pieces of lariat. The explanation of
all this was a mystery, and at first it
was not connected with the disappear
ance of the Mexican.
An intimate friend of the missing
man then made an explanation which
was pronounced entirely plausible and
cleared the mystery. The man said that
the Mexican, after sustaining his in
jury, had been entirely dependent upon
strangers for his support and sustenance,
and he was determined, if possible, aft
er he was dead not to give them any
more trouble He therefore devised a
scheme by which he could not only kill
but also, at the same time, bury him
self. How the thing was managed was
easily enough determined by an inspec-
ticn of the ground. The deceased had
dug a grave, rather shallow one, in
which his skeIeton was found some
years later.
After the grave was dug, which re-
quired some time, owing to the feeble
condition of the deceased, he placed the
loose earth in box that had been made
for that purpose. This earth was pack
ed in as solid as possible by being wet
and then allowed to dry again. sc that
when the box was carefully stood Oh its
side with the earth toward the ground
none of it fell ont. Several lariats were
then stretched across from the upper
side of the box as it lay across the grave
to stakes OH the other side
The box was then carefully balanced,
SO that any object that might fall on
the lariats would cause it to fall over
the grave and emr.y the earth it con-
tanned on top of the body. In this man.
ner the unfortunate man not only killed
but also buried himself almost in the
same instant of time.
So we'll satisfied were those who made
the surprising discovery that their theo-
~ was correct that they did not take
the trouble to dig in order to ascertain
that the body was underneath The
theory, however, was further strength
ened by the finding of the pistol with
which the shooting bad been done in
some loose earth near the edge of the
grave. 1t had evidently dropped there
from the suicides hand after he fired
the fatal shot. This fact convinced the
searchers, and they returned without
making further Investigations, SO that
the desire of the unfortunate that no
one should be troubled with burying
him was realized.
Some years later the skeleton of Jose
Mendez was accidentally discovered and
the theory of his friends fully corrobo-
rated. Photographic Times.
An n Ray on a Great Name and Fame.
Professor-To what did Xenophon
owe his reputation?
Student-Principally to the fact that
his name commenced with an < and
came in SO handy for headlines in al
phabetical copy books. Pearson S Week
ly.