The San Francisco call., 1898-06-16
WALTER D. HUMIST0N, Whose Arranged Suicide
 Did Not Come Off According to Programme.

have always been good deal of a wanderer. The past two months have spent in Stockton. Now for one reason and another, l am tired of 1t all and want a rest-only that.
 am not actuated by disappointment, love or financial embarrassment, nor have l past which l am trying to escape that would make interesting reading.
 My life has been quite the ordinary one, ex- cept. perhaps. that have had too much hap piness. which I have not appreciated. Just a case. my dear sir, Of one very tired and
 Insane, you will say Perhaps; why not let it rest that way. since people must have an explanation of some kind?
 By tomorrow friends will be aware of what I have done and may want to look at me again therefore I would ask that you hold me for day two before cremating me.
 l deprecate your trouble and thank you in
 WALTER D. HUMIsToN.
 Deputy Coroner Mccormick at once set out for the Palace Hotel and made in- quiry for Humiston at the clerk's s desk He was informed that a man of that name and was still there. The deputy and his clerk went upstairs and entered the room, where they found Humison on the bed waiting for cremation. He was dressed. but was in his stocking feet, in accord ance with the California prejudice against the act of dying with boots on. The corpse looked perfectly fresh and natural, and when MT. Mccormick approached the bed the dead man slowly raised wan and fearful face, expressive of great fa- tigue and disgust, and gave vent to 8
 "You're a nice fellow" remarked Me- Cormick, in a tone that expressed much disgust, as the expression or the race or or the fake suicide. What are you up to?' A groan was the reply.
 The fake corpse saw that an apology was necessary, and he therefore sat up in bed and explained that at Il o'clock on the evening before he had swallowed the contents of bottle of laudanum. but that his stomach had rejected the poison He had done all he could to carry out the in his spirit was willing, his stomach was weak. and greatly to his disgust and dis appointment he had remained alive.
 Humiston is a young man of about P or of life and was evidently desirous of notoriety After putting on his shoes he called a coupe and drove to the Coroner's office to recover a check which he had en- closed in the letter to the Coroner The check was on blank form of the First National Bank.
 To the reporters Humiston said that he was tired of life, and that he was dis pleased that the drug had not had the de- sired effect. It was not believed at the Coroner's office that Humiston took the poison at all, but that he had thrown the contents of the bottle away. It was sus- pected that his queer actions were de- signed for the purpose of melting the heart of some obdurate woman who had declined to love him. He said that while he did not desire to live he had changed his mind for the present and would leave for Stockton on the afternoon boat
 During the afternoon Humiston walked into the Coroners office and introducing himself asked for the return of his check The Coroner declined to recognize him as Humiston. He reminded the visitor that Humiston was legally dead and that therefore he could not be the rightful owner of the check. Then the. alleged suicide was put through rigorous cross examination. He told the Coroner that he went to the Tivoli last Tuesday evenin. and that after he went to room 766 in the hotel, wrote the letter he sent to the Coroner and then took the poison
 The upshot of the, examination was tha. the check remained at the Morgue office for want of proper identification of the owner of it.
 STOCKTON, June 15.-Humister Is a consumptive, who came to this coast a year and @ half ago from his home in Minneapolis. He was in Stockton for d few days on a visit to a friend, and left for San Francisco yesterday. Little is known of him here.