The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-04-17
SUICIDE OF A CARoLINIAN
In a Baltimore HoteE-His Wife's
Death n Drink the Cause-Pa-
thetic Letters Found.

aleCA LII" dleSL1pS W tut liza
throat with a p~ocketknife and an eff
fort TO sever the artery in his wrist
with the same instrument, Conway T.
Coffey, about 80 years old, of North
Wilkesboro, Wilkes county, \. c., end
ed his life at the Hotel Caswell yester-
day afternoon by swallowing an ounce
of laudanum. 1t was the first suicide
to occur in the Caswell, which is a new
hotel.
Just before taking his life Cofey
wrote the following letter:
To The Press:
| kill myself because of my wife. 1
loved her dearer than life and for three
years l have tried to forget But l
cannot. Drink has made me do things
/ never would have done.
May no nan ever love and lose as /
have. G. T COFFEY.
Other letters left by Coffey showed
that his wife had been dead about
three years.
Coffey went TO the Caswell in the
morning and went at onc to his room.
About noon he sen a bell boy out for
a bottle Of iaudanum, but at klingels
drug store, diagonally across Baltimore
street, the clerk refused TO sell the boy
the drug without the name Of the per-
son sending for it. The boy returned
to COfey's Don and told him Of the
clerks refusal, whereupon Coffey
wrote down his name and the boy went
back to the store and got the poison.
He then sent word to the hotel clerk
to call him at 3 p. N. At that hour a
boy went to rouse him, and could get
NJ response to his knocks. Knowing
that the man had bought laudanum
suicide was at ~ suspected, and the
door of his Don was forced open.
COffey vas lying unconscious and
apparently dead, with the laudanum
bottle and several brandy TASKS on the
floor and his left wrist tightly bound
with a handkerchief.
DR.. NJ. Bowman Hood, COS North
Gilmore street, was summoned by tele-
phone and arrived in a few minutes
Them an was to all intents dead, but
DR.. Hood began to set up an artificial
respiration. His efforts were success
full and Coffey showed signs Of life.
DR.. Hood redoubled his efforts at re.
suscitation and at 6 p. M. his patient
was visibly breathing.
Then the ambulance was sent for
and Coffey was taken to the Universe
ty of Maryland hospital, but he died
| about 20 minutes after arrival. DR..
Hood said that at no time was his re-
covery possible, and that the evidences
| of life were but the result of taking
all the vitality in his body. AS soon
| as this became exhausted death fol-
lowed.
The wounds showed that Coffey did
not resort to laudanum until previous
efforts with the knife had failed. Three
stratches on the left side Of the neck
scratches plainly enough that he had
drawn the point of the instrument
across his jugular vein lightly three
times, his courage failing him each
time. The wound in the left wrist was
evidently the result OF a quick, savage
thrust made after the scratches on the
neck. The point of the knife failed TO
reach the artery, and Coffey again ev-
identity lost his nerve and bound up the
bleeding wound.
The knife was of ordinary size, with
two blades. The blade used was the
larger, which was found coated with
blood. Three TASKS showed that Coffey
had been drinking heavily. He
bought a bottle Of whiskey at the hotel
during the morning.
Cofey was a man of medium height
and rather heavy set. He was fairly
we'll dressed in a suit Of mixed gray
and bore the air of a countryman. Be
sides the Letter addressed to the press,
other letters were found sealed and
stamped and addressed as follows:
Mr.. and Mrs. W. S. Cofey, North
Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Mrs. r. L. Redding, HemondO, Miss.
Mrs. Anna Drofin, Kershaw, s. c.
John r. Coffey, North Wilkesboro.
n. c.
Mrs. Mamie Harold, Norfolk, Va.
Several letters were found in the
mans pockets from a woman, evident
~ a trained nurse, signed IN. CT
These were postmarked Memphis,
Tenn. The one following shows that
she was much interested in Coffey's
welfare:
MY Dear Conway:
Il received your dear letter a few
| days ago and was so glad to learn
that O had made up our mind to
make me happy. 1t was so unexpect-
ed of you. l had always prayed for
you to reform, if not for my sake, for
the sake of your dear old mother. 1t
is raining today and / have nothing to
do in my ward. Every way l turn
down here l see something that re-
minds me Of you. Oh, if I could just
see the future and know that you are
going to be true blue, I would be so
happy. You must not be SO weak
minded-control yourself, control those
evil thoughts and be good.
What did your sister say when you
were down there, and what did you
say? But I don't care what they or
anyone else says about US; do you?
I want to see you real bad, but will
what patiently for the happy day to
come. You are going to permit me to
stay here and complete my training
course, are You not?'-Baltimore Sun.