The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-06-30


indicates an unhealthy condition of MIND
and body and have thought thatsis tnt
man would quit thinking about his trou-
bles and go to chopping wood or digging
in the garden, or even go hunting and
get UP a good circulation he would feel
better and conclude to live on a while
longer. The body affects the mind and
when the blood in the veins gets thica
and sluggish and the secretions becomc
stagnant, the mind gets diseased and
morbid, the emotions are out of tune and
the man actually believes he would find
rest and peace in death. 1t is Strange
that any man Of education or refinement
would entertain such an unreasonable
hope. What did the schoolteacher OF
Dothan accomplish by killing Dr. Mcneil
and himself? Where is the school teacher
now? When two enemies fight duel and
both are killed, how do their spirits meet
in the other world? Do they shake hands
or renew the fight, for, OF course, they
are not in heaven? What does the young
man accomplish by killing his sweetheart
and then himself? Are they not then
forever separated? What does anybody
gain by suicide? AS Hamlet says: is 1t
not better to bear the ills we have than
Hy to others that we know not off,? why
not run away from yourself? Run to the
woods-keep on running-jump the
branches. swim the rivers, get wet, get
tired-.work in the garden, dig, hoe, chop
wood mount horse and ride furiously--
ANYTHING to divert the diseased mind from
it's train of thought. My good old father
was afflicted with rheumatism, and when
he felt the acute, agonizing pains coming
on he would rouse up and limp away ana
make for the farm and would walk fas-
ter and faster as the pains increased,
and would actually make them ashamed
and they would leave him for day or
two To keep the mind in a good, normal
condition the body must be exercised.
Sedentary occupations are not healtny
for men. and even women should ny
around the house with broom or wash
the windows occasionally, or dig among
the flowers. It will not do for them TO SIT
and sew ell the time am sorry Tor
these unmarried girls who have to run
the machine all day long ana i,e. no
healthy exercise eX;.pt for the ankle
bones. When they get married and the
babies come along they are pretty safe,
for little children give mother diversion
enough. mother with a babe in her
arms never thinks of suicide Even II
her husband is cruel to her or is drunk
ard. she will live on and on for the sake
of the child. We note that most OF the
suicides occur among young men ana
are caused from intemperancc or disap-
pointed love or failure 20 make money
fast or being caught in embczzfcment
(alias stealing). Othello killed himself
because he found out that he had wrong
fully killed his wife, and Shakespeare
says: He was great of heart. l reckon
he was. considering that he was Moor
and did not believe in a hereafter. 1t
was the best thing and the most heroic
thing that he could do 1t was the very
intensity Of grief and repentance and has
no parallel in modern suicides, for most
all of them are selfish or revengeful. 1t
was like the Harikiri of Saul, or of the
ancient generals when defeated in battle.
The most alarming feature about these
suicides OF our young men is the indi-
cation that they are not believers In the
Christian religion. No sane man will take
his own life if he believes in heaven ana
hell and a future state of rewards and
punishments. He will be afraid to. The
influence OF modern fiction on the youth
full mind has much to do with 1T, for a
great deal of it is tainted with atheism
and infidelity. Even some of the stand
ard writer's. such as Hume and Disraeli
had left their bad impression. The latter
threw dark shadow over life and says
that youth is a blunder. manhood
struggle and old age regret"
Is it not far better to take more hope
Hul view OF life and say like the poet,
Horace Smith:
1.-The world is very lovely! Oh my God,
1 thank thee that live"
ORR to say like Longfellow:
Life is real--life is earnest,
And the grave is not it's goal.
1t is, easy to diagnose poets temper
ament Tor philosophers by his writings
some are gloomy and some are bright
and cheerful. l was Eliminating about
these young men who have just grad
uated at my alma mater and the other
home colleges and wondering how many
of them would prove a success in life
and twenty years hence exclaim with the
poet "Oh, my God, I thank Thee that |
live" Fifty-four years ago l was at
\ ,hens. in the class of AZ, and of the
brty-two then living there are now but
half dozen left. Many OF them lived
land died and made no signs. Some OF
them saw trouble and some made good
citizens good husbands and fathers; and
just so history repeats itself all along the
generations. 1t grieves me that could
not attend the centennial and commune
with the alumni and rejoice with the
young and feel lonely with the Old Then
there is old college and new college. and
the chapel and the campus and the two
halls that are still unchanged. l wonder
how many boys have occupied the old
room that Briscoe and l lived in for two
long years? l saw it in the picture and
felt like it was still my room. The allan
thus trees by a misnomer called the tree
of heaven) grew close to our windows
and extended their nauseating odors to
the dormitory where we slept, and the
boys all along the line complained, but
the faculty said it would soon pass away,
and the trees were imported from China,
the Celestial Empire. and they were
called the trees of heaven So one dark