The herald., 1898-02-11
HARDEN
HICKEY
Prefers to Be a Deceased
Gentleman
THAT END ARRIVED AT
By Making Liberal use OF
Morphine
THE BAR0N'S LAST MESSAGE
ONLY HINTS AT TIE REASONS
FOR sU1c-tD tDE
The King Of Trinideh and Author Of
"Ethics of Suicide" Abandons
Pursuit of Pow er and Study
of Philt ,sophv
THE BARoN'S LAST MESSAGE
ONLY HINTS AT TIE REASONS
FOR SUICIDE
The King Of Trinidetd and Author Of
"Ethics of Suicide" Abandons
Pursuit Of Pow er and Study
Of Philosophy


Ell PASO, Tex, F ieb. 1O-Baron Hard
en- Hickey, the French nobleman, VIII
achieved fame by attempting to becom
king of Trinidad, an island off the coast
of Brazil, and sori-in-law Of H. M. Flag
ler. the Standard Oil magnate, commit
ted suicide in the city today by swallow
ing enough morphine to have killed half
dozen men.
Hickey had lpeen in this city exactly
one week. Hej came from Mexico and
was a guest cit the Pierson hotel and
was last seen alive by the clerk at 1880
o'clock last evening, when he retired to
his room. His, absence from breakfast
this morning was noted, and at 1880
o'clock an effo rt was made to rouse him,
but as no answer was received from
within the bedroom an entrance was
effected through the transom. The baron
was found upon the bed lying as IL
asleep. in q perfectly natural condition,
but 1t was quickly discovered that he
was dead. X large bottle on the mantel
containing morphine, with one-third OF
the contents gone, gave evidence Of the
means employed to produce death. Be-
side the bed, on chair was farewell
letter written to the wife Of the de-
ceased and addressed to her at Corona,
Riverside county, Cal. 1t reads as fol-
lows:
THE B.ARON'S LAST LETTER
my Dearest: No news from you, al
though you have had pletny Of time to
answer my last. expect to leave this
hotel tomorrow, or the day after. Har-
vey has written me that he has no one
in view in buying my land at present.
Well, shall have drained the cup Of
not complain. prefer to be a dead gen.
tleman, to a living blackguard like your
father.
Good bye. forgive your conduct to-
wards me, and trust you will be able to
forgive yourself. Ever affectionately--"
Then came name, evidently pet
name, which no one in the room was
able to make out.
THE ONLY CLEW
The letter furnishes the only clew to
the motive for the suicide, as among the
dead mans effects were found $36 in
cash, drafts for $400 on Wells, Fargo &
Co., San Francisco, and dozens Of med
ais and insignia of rank. There was also
a book Of which the baron was the au-
thor, on 1.-THE Ethics of Suicide"
There were numerous papers bearing
on his famous scheme for establishing
military colony on the island of Trin-
idad, of which he was to be the head
and with which the public is familiar,
and others bearing on more important
projects which are now made public for
the first time. The most startling oe
these was plan to place himself at tho
head of royalist uprising in Hawaii.
HICKEY THE FIRST
Ell PASO, Tex, Feb. 10.-(By Associ-
ated Press.) Baron Harden Hickey was
the first Of the royal dynasty of Trinidad.
He was born in San Francisco on De-
cember 8, 1854, of Catholic and old roy
alist family. His ancestors, the Hick-
eys, originally came from Ireland, hav-
ing accompanied the banished royal
Stuarts Of England in the flight to
France. The baron was educated at the
College of Jesuits at Namur, and after
ward at Leipsic. Here he established'a
reputation as a first-class and fearless
duelist. When 10 years of age he entered
the French military college at st. Cyr.
but he abandoned a martial life on the
death of his father in 1873 and devoted
his life to sculpture and literary pur-
suits. His talents first found recogni-
tion in the shape Of translations for
English magazines, but he also wrote
quite a number of works in his native
language. In 1878 the irrepresslble writ
er started a weekly satirical paper in
Paris called La Tribotteta, which
landed him in constant tribulation. II
was devoted to the interests Of the Roy
alists, and it's editor, the baron, made
ia appearances in the police courts, paid
fines amounting to 100000 francs, and
fought no less than a dozen dueis.
Among his antagonists were Aurelian
Scholt, A. Lavertujon, Taine and De Cy-
on. He was eventually compelled to
leave France, going to England.
The baron was thoroughly conversant