The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-11-10
IN HOTEL CORRIDORS.

THE increase of suicides Is furn .shing
theories as to the cause of self-destruc-
ton said a gentleman at the Copeland
advances the theory that marriage Is an
antidote for the suicide habit He says
that the he ghtened aspiration OF 1nahtAino
and the multiplied desires have caused
spirit of discomfort. and he proves from
against suicide, while divorce is especial
~ productive of 1t. I have also heard 1t
advanced that the predominant causes
we're education, wounded vanity a long
ing for Injuries and the modern tendency
to eschew religion. The theory that the
habitual use of alcoholic drinks causes
a majority of the suicides is also main
tanned. Personally I don't take stock In
any 81 the theories or advanced thought
Investigations The married man theory
is an nonsense even If the woman is sup
posed to act as a counter-irritant. The
statistics show more single men suicides
simply because the cranky man. the man
whose brain Is inclined TO be added. can
not find a woman who viii marry him. or
his added brain will not allow him to
think of marriage. The sensible men get
married and the men who have the sui
cidal germ in their systems don't. The
theory which attributes the increase in
suicides to advanced civilization is knock
ed out by the fact that there are more
suicides. pr0portfonately among the Chin-
csc than any other nation The meanest
trek a Chnaman can do Is TO commit SUI
when the 'Chink' gets real mad that's the
way he pays his grudge HIS spirit IS
enemy and the enemy is just fanatical
enough to believe that 1t does. IN these
alton; it is fanaticism and superstition
The weak mind is back of all suicides and
back of the weak mind is the disordered
liver. dose of pills administered at the
proper time would decrease the suicide
postmortem examination on those who
take their own lives would reveal in most
cases it would be found that the suicidal
tendency was hereditary. In the hered-
itary cases the suicide is committed on
gloomy days and in other cases it may
occur at any time
They were talking of election bets when
one of the politicians said: I remember
a bet that was made the first time that
Cleveland was elected which caused a lot
of amusement for some of us. The mayor
of southern Kansas town had bet with
a conductor who was on the road running
through the little city that Cleveland
would be elected. The mayor was
Democrat and had enough confidence in
with the conductor. who was a rampant
Republican. but was also a good judge of
wiissf to be Of the is very best ST. was
friend of the sta ton agent. and learned
With ln him. He Considered himself an in
terested party, as he expected to hold
SO. I was in the station when an express
package containing q two gallon jug of
dressed to the conductor and the charges
were Sl2, SO you can tell the quality Of the
train came through the conductor paid for
the goods and instructed the agent to
the station for while after the conduc-
tor had gone and our mouths watered for
a taste of that liquor Finally the agent
suggested that we open the package. re
move the sealing wax, take out a gallon |
of the whisky and fill it with water. The
more we thought ABOUT II the more we
wanted to do it. both as a joke on the
MAYOR. who expected something extra
ordinary. and because we wanted taste |
of the liquor at once. We finally did as
the agent suggested, and put away a
gallon of the liquor in bottles. The pack |
age had no appearance of having been
tempered with. When the mayor got |
his jug he invited us to come up to his |
house that evening and play high five and |
Incidentally to take little of the best |
liquor that had ever come to town We |
went and met there several other gen
tlemen who We're connoisseurs of whisky. |
The mayor brought out a decanter filled |
with the stuff and. after dilating on the |
quality of the LIQUOR and telling the COM |
pany how he had won it. proceeded to |
asked, as the men put down their glasses. |
Ihey al looked at each other IN queer |
one man Who was from ISenfrcLxx ssids
sIob,, tIirtr 20, boIte Fe SaaS
iron pump I believe Ton-thaf was the
The mayor took drink thoughtfully ana |
after waiting for the taste TO soak in
said: That's right, that tastes like drug
store whisky and then he got mad. He
swore vengeance on the conductor and /
jug in hand. He made the conductor take
a drink and express his opinion of the
u the WOuIu take no dpolo-
gies, but insisted on another two gallon
jug and also a fight. He got both and
after a few months they were on spea king |
terms again. I told him of our trick 3 |
few years ago and the conduetnr said that |
he had been wondering for years who it |
was that had put in the rainwater. and
that he was glad the mystery was cleared
up. He had suspicioned that the mayor
had done it himself.
Now that the election IS over and
everything is settled for another four
years. / hope that the government will
conclude to raise the battleship Maine"
said a gentleman who had been DISCUSSING
the bottom of the Havana harbor and it
is said TO be a dangerous obstruction to
commerce It will be removed in some
manner and 1 hope that the sunken hull
Will be raised and not be blown up with
dynamite. There has always been a auFs-
lion as to how the ship was sunk ard the
facts in the case History should know
l. If the battleship was made the victim
Of Spanish treachery the world should
know 1t, Spain, who protests her limo
,ence, should be most active in having
he ship raised, for if she is innocent the
rhine should not be charged to her. Our
government should ask Spain to assist in
he raising of the Maine, for if it is found
nat a torpedo caused the wreck there
would always be room for doubt as it
$ to the interest of this government and |
against the interest of Spain that such |
conclusion be reached. If Spain declines
o help our government should proceed
alone, for the destruction of the Maine |
has caused more history than anv one
vent in the entire history of the country
Ind it is natural that the people shoufd |
want to know positively how it was