The herald., 1897-07-09
GLASS
-@ nr
A Walters Desperate At.
tempt at Suicide
ATE TWO WHISKY GLASSES
HE USED TO DO THE TRICK
WITH A CIRCUS
Jack Leslie Got Under the influence
Of Liquor and Then Wanted
to Kill Himself

Two whisky glasses served as instru-
ments with which Jack Leslie, waiter
in the Royal bakery, made desperate
attempt at suicide yesterday afternoon.
The glasses. which were very thin ones,
were chewed up by Leslie and the sharp
pieces swallowed, but, thanks to the
effectual work of Drs. Hagan and Mathis
with the stomach pump at the receiving
hospital, the man will probably recover.
Leslie went to the Office saloon, at
421 South Main street, shortly after noon
yesterday with companion named
Charles Cahill also an employe in. the
| Royal Bakery. He had been drinking
heavily for several days, and in conse-
quence Of his debauch had had trouble
with his wife. He stated to Cahill in
the saloon that he was very Respondent
over his domestic difficulties and had
concluded to kill himself. Little or nc
attention was paid to his talk at the
time, but a few minutes later Leslie
picked up thin whisky glass from the
counter and putting it to his lips bit
a big piece out of it and began crunch
ing it up in his teeth. Cahill grabbed
hold of him and forced him to spit out
the sharp pieces Of glass from his
mouth. The two then chatted pleas
antly for few minutes, Cahill paid for
the broken glass. and the incident was
thought to have passed.
| 1t was not long, however, before Les
| lie again began talking about his trou-
| bles at home, and reached over and
seized another glass from the counter.
This time he was too quick for. those
who were watching him, and before he
could be prevented had crunched the
glass up in his teeth and swallowed it.
He grabbed for third glass, but was
| caught and held so that he could not
swallow it.
The patrol wagon was sent for AMI
Leslie was removed to the receiving
hospital with all possible speed. Drs
| Hagan and Mathis at once commenced
work upon him. An emetic was admin
| istered, and the mans stomach was
thoroughly pumped out. A great deal
of glass was removed, but considerable
as left. When brought in Leslie was
still crunching pieces Of glass in his
teeth. He asked for a glass of water to
rinse his mouth out, that he might spit
the glass out. The water was handed
him, and after gargling it and loosening
all the particles, instead of splitting the
stuff out he swallowed it. ,y,1n 81 :
Leslie seemed determined to complete
the work he had begun, and his actions
would indicate that he is deranged
After the physician who had been work.
ing over him had left, he asked Nurse
Renfro, who was watching him, for a
drink Of water. 1t was, handed to him
in glass. He took it in his hand, ami
placing it between his teeth bit down
upon it with all his strength and tried
to force the glass into his mouth. The
vessel happened to be very thick one,
and he was unable to break it. The
nurse took it away from him, after
which he pleaded to have it back again
Later he became quite troublesome and
had to be watched very closely in order
to keep him from doing himself bodily
harm, and at one time when the nurse
was not looking he got up from the
couch upon which he was lying and
grabbed him by the throat. He was
thrown off and forced to lie down again.
Shortly after Leslie was brought to
the receiving hospital his wife called to
see him. She stated that her husband
and herself live at 321h West Fourth
street. They ran the Continental hotel
at Cotton until last February, when they
moved to this city.
When Leslie was boy about IL years
old he Travelled for eighteen months with
John Dorsey's circus in Pennsylvania.
During that time he learned the glass
eating trick, which is done by sleight-
of-hand. He would crunch the glass
up in his mouth and to all appearances
swallow it, but in reality spit the stun
out. He has often practiced the trick
since. His wife stated that several times
when her husband was drunk he had
had a mania for chewing glass. His
act yesterday she thinks, was owing
to this cause. Instead of splitting the
stuff out however. it was swallowed
and had the same effect upon him as
it would upon anyone else.
Leslie was kept at the receiving hos
pital last night, his wife remaining by
his side. The doctors think he will re-
cover, although it is impossible to pre-
dict what will be the result Of his glass.
eating experience.