The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-08-04
SUICIDE SEASON Ar NIAGARA.
FAILS seem to Fascinate Those Who
Secretly Desire 70 Die.

ing, said Buffalo man who is visit
ing this city 'I mean at Nfagara
Falls" he explained
Niagara IS probably the goal Of
more traedy as well as more romance
than any other natural object fl the
United States Fer two generations
it has furnished the most popular
wedding trip in America, and the tales
Of the brides and bridegrOOms wEo
stroll over Goat island, and hang over
the falls have provided standard ma .
terial for humorous literature, as we'll
as for fiction We get our regular
crop Of them every spring.
But the suicides come along with
them every season They're always
strangers No one VINO lives anywhere
near the falls was ever known to com
nit suicide there I think a good many
Niagara suicides have no idea OF do
ing the deed when they come They
sit and watch that tremendous down
pour, the most stupendOus natural
phenomenon most Of them have ever
seen, until II begins to exercise a fasci-
nation over them Then II they have
any seeds OF suicide lurking anywhere
in their brains the sight brings them
out
Il remember one that I actually
saw He was an old man, very res
pectable in dress and appearance. He
was sitting quietly on a settee in the
park adjoining the falls. The place
was full Of visitors After a while
he got up and strOlled over to a point
where there is a sign warning people
OF danger There was nothing in his
actions to attract attention until he
deliberately walked into the water
Then people shouted and ran toward
him, but the current had him before
they could reach him Nothing was
done to recover the body. Nothing
could be done If bodies are ever re-
covered it's generally a week or 50
later at the whirlpool and it's the
sight Of the bodies that come out Of
that whirlpool, I guess, that prevents
the natives from committing suicide
at the falls We prefer a cup Of
cold pizen-
There are a number Of fake sui
cides every year by persons whose
sense OF humOr leads them to con-
clude that it is a funny thing to leave
a farewell letter in some conspicuous
place saying that they have jumped
the falls. But the shocking thing
about it is that unacceptable bodies
are sometimes recovered afterward
which are assumed to be those of
strangers shuttle of at the falls un-
known to anybody.
'An incident Of that kind helped
out scamp once He was a Buffalo
man, and a farewell letter from him
was found fastened to a rock on Goat
island A while after a body was
taken out below the rapids which his
family identified as his. His widow
drew his insurance money and a short
time afterward moved away. A year
OF so later some one ran across them
in California They were living com
fOrtabfy on the insurance money
Eventually the man was landed in
prison
st remember an incident once that
mingled the tragic and the ludfcrous
Excitement was aroused one evening
by the screams Of a woman in the
grounds surrounding the falls, and
when attendants rushed up they
found a man trying to drive a woman
into the river. Their story came out
and caused a good deal Of unkind
amusement It seems that they were
in love with each other, but the man
had wife, who was a good woman
and whose feelings neither Of them
wished TO hurt They decided that
the most appropriate way to settle
Falls and die together. leaving it to
be thought an accident But when
they reached the edge Of the torrent
the girls nerve gave way and she
backed out The man was so enraged
that he tried to chase her into the
water.
Il ran a boarding house near the
falls once on a time, and quiet, mid
dle-aged woman engaged a room one
day She wore mourning and seemed
very melancholy Her eyes showed
traces OF crying and made up my
mind that she had come to the falls
TO make way with herself. I charged
my daughter not to let the woman
out Of her sight unless she was in her
room. and to follow her II she left
the house Late that night the wOm-
an came quietly down from her room
and was slipping out Of the house
when I encountered her I asked her
where she was going, and she answer
ed with some surprise that she was
going to take a walk I tried to dis
| suade her and she showed irritation
I stepped into the house to find my
| daughter When we got back the
woman had disappeared. sent my
/ daughter over to the falls to hunt her
/ up, and then went up TO the woman
room 10 see II she ndQ leLL q rare
well letter or any signs Of contemplate
/ ed suicide. While I was rummaging
around the woman appeared, with
| every sign Of anger. and announced
/ her intention OF leaving the house al
| once.
Your daughter follows me VI
/ when I leave the house, said she, and
when I come back find you ransack-
/ ing my room. What kind Of people
/ are you, anyway I think I'll ind an
i other boarding place
I'VE had a mutual explanation II
| seemed she was married just twenty
/ fve years before and came to Hyiagars
/ Falls for her wedding trip She and
/ her husband stayed only one nigh
/ and spent the evening at the falls. i
| was glorious moonlight, and they had
| remembered the beautiful sight al
| their lives They had always intended
| to visit the falls again some time. bu
/ they had a large family and a bus
/ life, without any money for travel
| Now, however the children were al
| grown up, money was easier witt
/ them and they had decided TO spenC
| their twenty-fifth wedding anniver
1 Sary at the falls Just a few month
before the time the husband died. Tn
wife had come on to spend the ami
versary as planned, and, as the moo
rose late that night, she had waite'