The sun., 1896-06-21
SUICIDES IN VARIOUs LANDS.
Juno Now Said to he tho Month When
Standardization Is Most Frequent.

It is a serious thing when statisticians dis
agree. for when they do, their only ammuni-
tio1 of controversy being figures and tabular
statements. these are dealt in so extensively
as to confuse and perplex the ordinary reader.
Just now there is n war Of figures going on in
England over what might seem to some persons
to be n very simple matter the favorite month
for suicides.
Buckle wrote that November is suicides
month" He based thi. conclusion on a series
of computations which seemed to him to show
that other things being equal the number Of
suicides in chilli November was greatest. Why
this should be Mr.. Buckle did not STATE,
though some persons have pretended to find q
reason for II in the claim that in London at
least, November is the foggiest month OF the
year, and II any outward cause could drive a
man to suicide IL would probably be the con-
tinuance Of Il deep London fog. In the United
States. November Is the month OF elections.
and while in that month. and more especially
on tho Tuesday following the first Monday In
November. many candidates may bo said to
kill themselves of. the actual mortality Is not
largo and Is certainly not greater than in other
months OF the year. Some recent statistics
prepared for the London insurance companies
show that In England land In France, tool
July. not November, is suicides month, and
that Buckle didn't know what he writing
about when lie bestowed that sinister distinc-
ton upon November. Unfortunately. this Is
not all. July is n longer month than Novcm
her. and the total number OF suicides would
naturally be larger in July than November;
but Mulhall. still another statistician, whose
figures are usually accurate, declares that
neither July nor November Is suicides month.
That distinction belongs to June-the leafy
9f ntR s h'h ths %. Tesr resrs asd sh
suppose would be utilized for suicidal purposes
6y ser tlmentai person, ot either h sex In Lon
ber OF suicides in Juns is 2e per cent. higher
than the average in other months, while In
Buckles month 1t is IS per cent. below the
average. In France: according to Mulhall.
as i at The b. hsSs Of the s H W psT en
In Italy-sunny Italy--June Is tho leading
month for suicides. the average number in
the average. November is en7 per cent, below,
While those variances exist concerning the
month generally preferred by suicides for
their work. some other facts on the subject of
In the first place. rs per cent. or thereabouts OF
the suicidesin all countries are mon and 20 per
cent women That rron"rt9Gi ~, does not
in all countries are married; 55 per cent. are
unmsrroh In NeW York city the n%mHsr sG "6
per per cent. on the average, are men and 20 per
cent, women. About one-hqlf Of the total
or or German. nj han Americans, Al a proportion mate:
RALLY larger, Of course, than The proportion o.
Germans In the whole population.
Tho statistics compiled by Ritti an italian
statstlcan. who has not been included in the
Buckle controversy. show that men. AE a rule.
have strong pnrtiniity for suicide BY hanging
or by tho use of firearms. Women, on tho
other hand, are partial TO drowning and to the
use OF poison. Oddly enough, the knife as n
means OF self'destrncton Ii most general in
use among men in England, which has nm honor
able position in tho list Of nations with a low
average of mnrderous crimes. In italy. where
during mcdiRyal times the knowle ledge OF subtle
pois2ns and Of their properties is known to have
reached the highest point suicides by poison
SO per cent. Of the he number Of Of Italian Women
women Of Italy is very rarol Crowned them
selves; very few took poison. IL has been ascer-
tained by one statisticiann that the fSyorite
whereas the leass popular are those immedl-
aately succeeding midnight until 4. NJ. Ire
land stands at the bead of all countries In ro-
spect 2 the low average OF suicides. In Den
marx the average is highest. In proportion TO
the total popglation,, Paris. with very large
transient population, has the largest number OF
suicides In n year. Rome among the larger
cities has the least New York city's AVERAGE
ID about midway between the two.
Do not fail 10 read Thomas slater's offer on page L.
main sheet, Tor men.-Ada