The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-02-05
I DliaInD HIMSELF.
,..,ous SUICIDE OF 4 MEXICAN
y V" 'SoIsS ~ CALIFORNIA

~ ~, AZ to End HI. rsi''.n'' "''"'''
s s.'.. Is y Friends Trouble. ,,,,,,n
ID, was Mexican indian
joe hepus ',,self in 1862 in San Jose,
sb0 bllea q. n' time of his death Jose was
Nd At lDs ' %" BE had all his life been
srssdll.ssss daring characters then
Among 'DS Can lose none could excel
'sdlns |. r u Of wild horses. he was was
bns moe INGENIOUS and could not only
=. '' 'Ss finest kinds Of iarl o.is, uaI
ID as, as use them in many 0''S''"'
Es A., the daring rider came TO
oss q pv some means he was thrown
pd ~. = mustang, and, being stun
pn '.s s', made helpless by the fall ne
'd i ,.aossd for some distance IN the
~ al'sS When finally rescued, he was
fn'p EDITION that would have been
. 'SS almost instant death to any
~ nan Of wonderful nerve anu 'e-
'rip Of life ..,o,, ho recovered suf-
.,'.lIV to realize that he could never sr
l' a' in active pursuits again, ana ne
s'y cow moody and respondent. A
y s'S |" which Viii he was precludea from
~ ',.a riding on unframed mustangs
a'l'Ds harms for him, and in the
" ". y n his sufferings from internal in
s Ss made frequent threats OF sui
~ Once in speaking of the matter to
!. intimate friend, who tried TO dis-
!. him from the idea, he said that
ssss ' be killed himself it would be
=. IN such a manner that no one
y. 'n aver have any more trouble about
~ Twas thought at the time that he
~ TO drown himself in the sea,
ssas bis body would never be recover
d oo,,s
Every morning for several weeks
hereafter Jose crawled away from the
.,obs but in which he and a number OF
,hsrs lived and came back quite late
.,,r evening. On these trips he took a
m and shovel and occasionally q
'ixs Of lumber, no one knew for what
uuse Some supposed that he was
mining somewhere. By this time he
Iud grown SO respondent as to be en-
trly communicative, and no expla-
nation Of bis conduct could be obtained
tuu him. One evening, as was expect
n the invalid did not return to the
sdcbe and the next day search was
padeip the direction in which he went.
Something like a mile from the adobe
house the searching party found a small
Clearing in the grass and weeds. To the
aprse Of every one of the party a rude
board box about feet wide and @ feet
lng and about Is inches in depth was
found lying upside down in the middle
b The open place. The box was imme'
daisly overturned, but nothing but
hssp Of loose earth was found under it.
closer examination revealed the fact
ihat attached to the box were q number
pieces Of lariat. The explanation OF
al this was mystery, and at first il
was not connected with the disappear
nce Of the Mexican.
An intimate friend of the missing
nn then made an explanation which
vas pronounced entirely plausible ant
cleared the mystery. The man said thai
lh Mexican, after sustaining his in
1T' had been entirely dependent upoI
nneerSf for his support and sustenance
no be was determined, if possible, aft
hewas dead not to give them an.
more trouble. He therefore devised ,
Eaeme by which he could not only xii
NJ also, at the same time, bury him
ell. How the thing was managed wa
3lly enough determined by an inspec
400 Oh the ground. The deceased ha,
grave, a rather shallow one, il
'Aeh bis skeleton was found som
pears later.
Al'er the grave was dug, which re
aned some time, owing to the feebl
'ualrOn OF the deceased, he placed tn
ese earth in box that had been mad
W mat purpose. This earth was pack
y u as solid as possible by being we
~ 'nsn allowed to dry again, so ths
,eu .ne box was carefully stood ON il
ns with the earth toward the groun
u0 Oh It fell out. Several lariats WEI
.'a stretched across from the uppt
~ VI 'ne box as it lay across the gray
st. stakes on the other side.
,ae oo1 was then carefully balanced
'la' any object that might fall G
Aliats would cause it to fall ov,
grave and empty the earth it col
'.u On top Of the body. In this mai
!. us unfortunate man not only killt
also buried himself almost in Il
ne Instant of time.
'Owell satisfied were those who ma,
r surprising discovery that their the
H. 's ss correct that they did not tai
y. trouble to dig in order to ascerta
bso,. NO oody was underneath. II
MAJ n however, was further strenpt
Ebish " Z, Inc finding of the pistol wi
oms I ~. 'ne shooting had been done
mvs "V y earth near the edge of &
tum @ q, II had evidently dropped the
M AZ t,, .1e !, suicides hand after he fir
s,,os 'al snot' This fact convinced {
pst t,sis, and they returned witho
h Sss,. 'urther Investigations, so til
Os s ss Of the unfortunate that
him ~ ,"uald be troubled with buryi
oVlne Years lo4. A.,