Evening star., 1898-08-11
HE ENDED HIS LIFE
James N. Suddeth Dies From Self
Inflicted Wound.
GREAT SURPRISE TO FRIENDS
They Can Assign No Cause For
the Act.
WORDS ON A NEWSPAPER
WORDS ON A NEWSPAPER

| man Suddeth, committed suicide this
morning between and 9:30 o'clock by
| shooting himself in the head, the rash
! deed being committed the towpath of
| the Chesapeake and Ohio canal just TO the
rear of what is known Glen Echo juno
| ton. Death was almost immediate, the
body being discovered shortly afterward
cold and stiff. The county officials were
notified and preparations were inimediateiy
| made to hold an inquest.
| Nothing is known of the man in the VI
cinity of Glen Echo, he being a stranger
to the locality. This morning shortly be-
| fore o'clock he boarded q Great Fails
| electric car at 36th street and Prospect
| avenue. There were only a few other pas
| sengers on the car, and Conductor Blincoe
! remembered the man quite well because OF
| the fact that he got off the car at a rather
| unusual place There are very few houses
| in the vicinity of Glen Echo Junction SO
| called because the tracks of the Great
| Fails road and the Glen Echo electric line
| join at this place. The people who live
near by and who get off the cars at the
| place are all known to the conductors on
| the railroad, and when the stranger got
| on ne attracted some attention from the
| conductor.
Soon after leaving the car the man
| plunged into the woods south of the Con-
| quit road, taking a small path This path
leads TO the bridge which crosses -ht canal
ana aTords connection with Sycamore Is
| iand q resort known to a nurnl,5- of local
| people. The man must have t-ayersed this
distance and crossed the bridge which
Ianded nm ON the towpath. Tie place was
| qulet ana deserted, and not soul was in
| sisht, no boats coming down tn. canal at
the uIne only short dista.lc>. from me
| loot OF the stairs leading to the bridge The
| man stopped and committed the fatal
| deed. "'"t
| Position OF Body.
Judging by the position of the bodx- tho
| man must have stood perfectIv nnrigb+
| with his feet close together. when he fra,
| the shot. The pistol was held IN the rigbt
| haha and pressed rather close % the sk,II
just back OF the right ear Wien Tho f.
tai bullet was fired the hand must have
| dropped to his side and the reyoIyzr reIJ
| ~ me ground, the muZzle striking the DIRT
JUS az the feet. On account of ,ha soft
| cohciCon of the towpath dua to .hn 20;
! q a Quantity of dirt stuck to th.. ,nilzzie Of
ti ie Weapon entering the barrel for a iit
ue distance The body ey,ien,i,, III
| straight backward. with fha 80 LIZ zen
| .o"esa The sky. that being the pasitior
@ @Mneh discovered, and there wa no e,,i1
| before death came struggle
| SAa!!es Jones' colored attend.,+
ci.i,,. eiyGa1iio.e Island, heard the shooting He
roan n,s,iiiS IS mat mat two shots were fired. This
may ne true, but there was only ono h,,iIa9
h hete II, 'te SAUL of the suicide IT MICH
| mave peen that both shots entered 9bo
same place. Investigating the nat.a e
e-s; ~ SsIa I,alI'ed INTO boat and rowed from
isit1iio 10 the Maryland side of +ha
river. leaving his boat at the wharf he
cnlnoed up the little hill to the townatb
4 aii" mere discovered the body He reach,
ea the place about $50 as near C ha oo,,Ia
rtTneinbef, while the cord,,ctnr Of ,he Sou.
diiS electric car stated that II was about
| = 10 clock "hen the man left his train. Al
the best calculation the shootine n,nst
nave occurred about 9:15 O'clock
jones gave the alarm Quickly and in q
Wy snort Time number of persons as
se,,ioied serr at the scene, looking at the grue-
seine spectacle. The county officials wera
notihed, and word was sent to 'Souire Ans
t TN 10 view the corpse and hold an inouest
II II necessary The revolver, which was
thlrty-eight caliber ugly-Iookiny weanon
was ieil until the deputy sheriff arrived
Identifying the Body.
The body was that of young man ahout
twenty-five years of age, with a high fore
head and wavy brown hair He wore a |
hSht mustache His clothes were of blpe
serge, with brown derby and tan shoes
completing his outfit. He had the appear- |
ance "a being clerk. In hopes of secur- |
ing some means of Identification his cloth
ing was searched. In one pocket a pocket |
book was found, which, when opened con-
famed several cards with the names of |
James Newman Suddeth engraved on them |
A broken cuff button, with the picture of |
a young lady on the back was also in the |
pocket book. Not a penny of money was |
found in it. In another pocket several re- |
ceipted bills were found, which were for |
amounts of $40. A catalogue of Frank p |
May was also found. The only jeweiry that |
was found was handsome gold watch |
which had Masonic emblem attached the |
suicide evidently being a member of that |
order.
The news was brought to the George |
Town ponce station house about II O'Clock !
1t being thought that the man was from /
Washington. With the name on the cards |
found in the pocket book an attempt was |
made to find the address of the suicide. |
According to the directory a man by that |
name lived at 92S K street northwest and |
messenger was sent to that place to |
ascertain If the man lived there and to
acquaint his people with his sudden death
Letter on a Newspapers.
Deputy Sheriff Peyton, who was found |
at Cabin John bridge, was soon upon the
scene of the tragedy, and he sent for Just
ice Claud at Chevy Chase. 1t was not un-
til the arrival of the justice that the body
was troubled. A search of the body was
made. as has been stated, and among the
articles in the pocketbook were cards bear
ing his mama, James Newman Suddeth. |
documents showing he was probably ac-
quainted in Lynchburg and other Virginia
cities were also found him.
Justice Claud took from the dead mans |
pocket a copy of this mornings Post on
which the unfortunate man had written
the probable cause for his act but as If |
1
could not be read. In one conner of the !
paper he had written:
Fifteen Minutes to Nine
August IL, 1885,
Dear Aue"
The other writing started in this way:
Dear Ones at Home:
For over week past have been labor |
ing under a great mental strain, which 1 |
can stand no longer. 1 therefore end my |
existence. God will forgive me. Tender |
love to all my acQuatntances.''
Following this were several sentences
which could not be deciphered. Then fol-
lowed this: Lonely / die thinking of |
whom / was to wed" There was also |
something in the note about funds and
what appeared to be the name Joe W.
Hoover also figured iE 1t.
He also gave the information that his life
Insurance papers were in the safe at the
store.
Conductor Blincoe. who was In charge of
the car on which Suddeth was passenger
noficed chat tha man carried the COPY of
the paper In his hand, and he also noticed
l. - II