Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-05-03
ABOUT SELF DESTRUCTION.
Suicide Seldom Attempted Again b,
Those Saved by Police.

shOoS ScNSo W v
In the opinion of Sergeant Hastings,
of the Chicago detective bureau, the
will to commit suicide is a great deal
like the disposition to commit murder,
says the Chicago Tribune. One man
may think he wants to die, may go just
to the sticking point, and then back
out; another in the same mood may
shoot himself or jump into the water,
and, escaping, decide that he has
enough of it; or the person of another
type, once making up his mind to die,
dies If three or four attempts are
made necessary.
Sergeant Hastings, who has been
registering for the police department
the suicides and the attempts at sui
eide which take plac in Chicago, is
skeptical of certain attempts at self
destruction.
zone type of person who tries to kill
himself" said the sergeant has his
inspiration in the fact that he Is full of
drink, mas lost his money, perhaps, is
discouraged, and is afraid to go home.
Such a fellow most frequently hunts
up the river or lake and jumps in. II
he is pulled out and drained, he is most
likely to let it go at that. Dying isn't
so easy as he thought and the cold wa
ter has sobered him.
Women frequently may be suspect
ed of making a show of suicide for the
effect it may have on a husband who
isn't doing just to suit her. By attempt
ing to kill herself she may scare him
into behaving himself; or IL she has
lost hope of that, she knows that she
can create sympathy for herself and
make it uncomfortable for him.
Every little while, however, some
man or woman commits suicide, and
afterwards it develops that the person
had tried to three or four times before.
In such cases the person is off in gen.
eral. A person of this kind usually has
moods and when one of these moods
strike him his relatives and friends
have learned to look out for him.
There are so many causes for sui
eide, however, and so many persons
of different t-emperaments attempt 1t
that figures and speculation can prove
nothing. One can say only that Wien
a person of a certain decision of char
acter goes after MS own life he's just
as likely to get himself as he would
be il he started out to kill somebody
else"
AS a general observation it may be
said that young men and young women
at a sentimental age are about as like
ly to succeed at self destruction as are
persons much older and more worldly
wise. Gas has Deen noted as unusually
common in attempts made by elderly
lei and women, while the young and
sentimental seem to prefer the revol-
yer or carbolic acid.
Without knowing, said a physician,
| should guess that no person who ever
tried to kill Himself with carbolic acid
and failed would ever resort a second
time to that agent. 1t is a horrible
death-a death in which the victim re-
tains consciousness almost to the last
and yet suffers indescribable agonies.
1T is quite possible that the physi-
cal pains of an attempt at suicide dis
courage many respondent ones from
another trial at crossing the Styx. At
the same time | should say that the re-
moval of the melting cause of lie first
attempt would be a much more logical
reason"