The herald., 1897-10-09
AKIYAMA'S
HARA=KIRI
Spoiled the Mating but
Didn't Kill
He COULDN'T DO A NICE JOB
WITH A SWORD ALMOST THREE
FEET LONG
He COULDN'T DO A NICE JOE
Failure of His Mission to Hawaii
Drives the Japanese Councillor
to Attempt Suicide
Press Special Wire.

ship China arrived this morning from
Yokohoma and Honkkong. via Honolulu,
with the following Hawaiian advices un-
der date of the I'd instant: News has just
reached here Of the attempted suicide of
Councillor Akiyama of the Japanese
Foreign Office at Yokohoma, September
goth. After his failure to accomplish
what was expected Of him by the gov
arnment in the matter Of the immigra-
ton difficulty here. he was ordered home
in July last and the matter was taken
out of his hands. He was in a critical
condition when the China left Yoko-
homa
The Japan mail of September % has
the following account of the attempted
suicide of Councillor Akiyama:
Mr.. Akiyama, a councillor of the for
eign office, who was sent to Hawaii in
connections with the emigration trouble
and who left Honolulu for Japan on
July "a. has been in a melancholy frame
of mind ever since his return to Toxic.
Nothing calculated to weigh upon his
spirits had occurred, so far as the public
knows, during his stay in Hawaii. He
seems to have discharged his mission,
there in perfectly satisfactory man
ner and the agreement with reference
to arbitra tion had been concluded be
fore he left Horolulu. Still, from the
time of his return, it was evident that
he haG some cause Of chagrin. At two
o'clock on the goth he went away from
the foreign office, saying that he felt un-
WELL and on reaching home. he COM
planned of suffering and retired to lie
down. having first partaken of some tea
prepared by his mother. About half an
hour later a member of the household
entered his room and found him bathed
in blood. A sword about three feet long
was grasped in his right hand, ard sew
eral severe wounds were visible ir. his
neck and stomach. He was almost un-
conscious, but owing to the difficulty of
using weapon Of such length for sui
cidal purposes, according to the ortho-
dox Japanese fashion, he had failed to
innict mortal injuries. 1t would seem
that when he plunged the sword into his
stomach and attempted to draw it across
with the impossiblity of guiding it cor
rectly resulted in its giancing upward
against the ribs on the left side, anG
although an effort was made to change
the direction to the right, the enfeebling
effect of the first cut rendered his ef-
forts unavailing. The wound in the
stomach was eight irches long and two
inches deep and a wound in the throat
was two irches long and seven-tenths
of an inch deep. When Mr.. Aki-
yama's mother raised his head
and asked him what had in-
duced him to take such course.
he made no answer but managed to let
Il be understood that he did not wish to
have medical aid. A physician was soon
on the spot, however, and the wounds
were treated that in the stomach requlr-
ing fifty stitches. 1t is understood to be
the doctors opinion that If no complla-
tions, ensue, a fatal result need not De
The almost inNariable
custom with japanese who contemplate
suicide Is to leave written statement OF
his reasons for the act, but nothing OF
this kind has been found in Mr.. Akly-
ama's case. and it is, of course, idle to
7peculate on the motives by which he
was influenced. Possibly the simple ex-
ration is mental arrangement, put
n naturally IA there Is a disposition to infer
that some feature of the Hawaiian affalr
had distressed him beyond endurance
submarine cable has just been laid
from Hokkaido to the Kurile Islands.
During the summer just closing over
AZ 900 cases of dysentery and about $500
deaths from the same cause have been
reported throughout the country.
r1I-x TNro which
is about to change its present system
to that of an electric railway, has in
creased it's capital three million yen.
The Foreign department viii next
year establish legations in Belgium,
Turkey and Spain and five Consulates
at Marseilles, Hamburg, Odessa, CAL
cutta and Kanko.
During the typhoon which caused
much damage, September 9th, the Nor
wegian bark Alette, from Vancouver to
Yokohoma with cargo of lumber. was
caught at the entrance of Toxic harbor
and dashed on the rocks at Ia
teyama bay and wet to pieces. The
captain. second mate, carpenter. stew
ard and two sailors saved their lives by
jumping upon the rocks but the CHIEF
mate and nine of the crew We're drowned.
Ninety persons were killed outright, 800
injured and thousands of houses ard
other buildings were destroyed in the
vicinity of Toxic by the typhoon
The supreme court affirmed the deci-
sion of the lower court in the case of the
steamer China, and late yesterday G..
w Macfarlane secured register for his
vessel Macfarlane will now apply for
similar concession in the case of the
steamer Barracuda. now plying be-
tween Central American ports.
DR.. Gerard X. Smith brother of the
attorney-general was murdered by
native named Kapea, at Koloa, on the
Island of Kauai, September 24th be-
cause he had ordered a woman with
whom Kapea was infatuated to report at
Honolulu as leper suspect.
Senator John T. Morgan addressed a
large crowd of natives on the subject of
annexation on the evening of September
30th.