The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-07-10
ARP ON SUICIDES
Says Chopping Wood is Sure Cure
Discusses Other Matters.

Discusses Other Matters.
The increasing prevalence o. sui
cides indicates an unhealthy condition
Of mird and body ard I have thought
that if the man you'd quit thinking
about his ,roubies and 60 TO chopping
wood OF digging in the garden, or even
go hunting and get up a good circula-
ton 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 thick and sluggish and
the secretion become stagnant, the
mind gets diseased and morbid, the
emotiors are out Of tune and the man
actually believes be would fad rest and
peace in death. It is strange that sDy
man Of education or refnemont would
entertain such al unreasonable nope.
What did the 5choolteacher OF Doshan
accomplish by killing DR.. Mcneil and
himself? Where is the soncol:escher
now? When two enemies fight duel
and both are killed, how do their spir-
its meet 10 the other world? DO thsy
snake hands CT renew the fight, for. OF
COURSE, they are not in heaven? What
does the young man accomplish by
killing his sweetheart and then him
sell? Are they not then forever separ-
ated? What does anybody gain By sui.
eide? As Hamlet says: is it not better
to bear the ills we have than fly to
0 hers that We know not oi?' Why not
run sway from yourself? Run to the
woods-keep on running g-jump the
branches, swim she rivers, get wet, get
tired-work in the garden, dig, hoe,
chop wood, mount horse sud ride fu-
r;ousIy-anything to divert the dis
eased mind from its train of thought.
Ny good old father was afflicted with
rheumatism and when be felt the acute,
agonizing pains coming on he would
rouse up and limp away md make
for the farm, and would walk faster
and faster as the pains increased, and
would actually mske them asha ned
and they woulo leave him for day CT
two. 10 keep the mind in good, nor
nal condition the body must be ezer-
cised. Ssdentsry occupation are not
healthy for men, and even woman
should fly around the house with q
broom or wash the windows occasion,
ally, OF dig among tae A>Wers. It will
no. do for them to sit and sew all the
time. l am sorry for these unmarried
girls who have to rrn the machine al
the day long and get no healthy eXer
else except for the ankle bones. When
they get married and the babies come
along they are pretty safe, for little
children give mother division
enough. A mother with babe in her
arms never thinks of suicide. Even if
her husband is cruel to her or is 8
drunkard, she will live on and On for
the sake of the child. We note that
most Of the suicides occur am ing the
young men and are caused from intem-
pe1ance or disappointed love or failure
10 make money fast, or being caught in
en- oezzlement elias stealing) O.hellc
killed himself because he. found out
that he had wrongfully 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 hesreaftsr. 1t was the best thing
and the most heroic thing that he
could do. Il was the very intensity Of
grief ana repentance and has no paral-
lei in modern suicides, for most oil Of
them are selfish or 1evsngeful. It was
like tie Harikiri Of Saul, or Of the an
cient generals when defeated in battle.
The most alarming feature abous
these su,cides of our young men is the
indication thai they are not believers
in the Christian religion. No sane man
will take his own life if he believes il
heaven and he'll and future state Of
rewards and puaishments. Ee will be
afraid to. The influence Of modern fo-
tioo on the youthful mind has much to
d. with il, for a great deal of it is
tainted with atheism and in63elit7.
Even some Of the STANDARD writer's,
such as Hume and Dlsraeli had left
their bad impression. The latter threw
dark shadow over life aDd says that
youth is blunder, manhood s;rug-
gle and old age regret.
Is it not far better to take more
hopeful view Of life and say like the
poet, Horace Smith:
The World is very lovely! .oh, my God
thank thee that live
Or, to say like LcrgfelloT-
Life is real-life is earnest,
Aad the grave is not It's goal"
Il is easy to diagnose q poets tenn
persm:n. Of philosophers by his
writings-some are. gloomy and some
are bright and cheerful. I was rumi-
mating about these young man who
have just graduated a my alama mater
and the other home colleges, and Won
deripg how many Of them would prove
success in life and twenty years
hence exclsim with the poet, "Oa, my
God, l thank Thee that liTe." Fifty
our years ago l Was at Athens, in the
class Of A and Of the forty-two then
living thers are nov bus half a dozen
left. Many Of them lived and died and
made no signs. Some CT them saw
trouble and some made good citiz:ns
good husbands and fathers; and Just
SO history repasts itself al along The
generations. 1t grievad me thas l could
not attend the centennial and commune
with the alumni AID rsjoice with the
young a0d feel lonely with the Old.
Then there is old college and new col
ego, and the chspel and the campus
aad the two halls that are still un-
changed. l wonder how many Buys
have occupied the old room that Bris
c,ss and l lived in for two long years
| saw Is in the picture aad felt like it