The Washington herald., 1908-06-07
in SUICIDES
Queer Ways Employed to
Commit SeIf-muPder.
FAMOUS JAMES MOON CASE
Indiana Man Built GuillCtine
and Became His own Executi0ner
While Under the Influence of
ChlOrOfOrm-Burnin Candle Used
10 start the Fatal Ak.


10 Start the Fatal Ak.
Whether a person who has taken his
own life must necessarily be considered
as having been deranged is a question
over which alienists differ. but there are
many cases OF suicide recorded IN which
there is no doubt that insanity led TO
wanton self-destruction. Yet even when
the mind is 20 an extent unbalanced, II
may act with such deliberateness as 10
later puzzle those who seek motive for
the act committed. says the Indianapolis
Star
Students of the human mind will find
a perplexing case in the recent suicide
Of Mrs. Samuel Dukes. at Frankfort. SO
unusual were several features OF the sui
eide that at first the police OF Frankfort
had no thought but that a murder had
been committed. Now that Coroner G..
w. Brown has returned q verdict Of sui
eide. Mrs. Dukes taking OF her own life
must go on record as an unusual example
of the ''freakishness" Of a deranged mind.
Mrs. Dukes body was found lying on
the porch Of a house which she owned,
but which she had been renting for some
time, with n bullet wound at the edge OF
the heart Her feet were bound with a
strip Of blue calico and another strip of
the same material around her head held
handkerchief in place over each Of her
eyes. Her clothing was in no way dis
arranged and her hands were folded
across her breast The body had the ap-
pearance Of having been carefully arrang-
ed by some one.
To end her life. Mrs. Dukes had left
the home OF her sister. mile distant.
at 3 o'clock in the morning. after dress
Ing In her best clothing. The coroner
finally discovered that Mrs. Dukes had
brooded much over troubles. had threat
ened 20 end her life at the place wnere
she did. and. in the absence OF any pos
sible motive for murder. he decided that
the woman had shot herself
Why she bound her feet together and
blndfolded herself does not appear eX-
cept as the fancy Of a disordered mind.
IL may be supposed, however. that the
woman had desire 10 take away from
the grewsomeness OF the deed by making
preparations which would give her body
an appearance OF repoSe I'm death. She
had even hidden the wound by firing the
revolver after pushing II under the lapel
OF her jacket. The coroners supposition
Is that the folding Of her hands on her
breast was merely accidental, or death
came slowly enough to permit her 10 COM
plete this final preparation Of her body.
Another Remarkable Case.
On January 26. 1906 the discovery OF
the charred bones Of John A. Thompson,
an aged recluse. near Hammond. Ind,
brought TO light a remarkable case OF
suicide. Thompson. who was said TO
have been soldier Of fortune in many
lands. had lived on small farm in Lake
County for some time. but had fallen In
arrears with the owner OF the place Miss
Helen Fritsche. a spinster. Miss Fritsche
finally sought TO obtain possession OF her
property and officers were sent 20
Thompsons house 10 forcibly eject him,
II necessary Knowing the old mans
eccentricity. they thought II best to pro-
coed carefully. Consequently, when he
failed 10 answer knock az the door they
gained entrance by a window This saved
their lives, for running from the door 20 a
pile of dynamite on the floor was a wire
plosive. and there was enough OF II TO
have CLOWN the house 10 spllnters. The
barn and other buildings had been sim
ilarly converted into death traps. Thomp-
son was missing and Il was supposed
that he had committed suicide. The
country about was searched for his body,
but no trace Of the man was found
Two months later a fire destroyed the
barn OF the Fritsche place. A week aft
erward a ma discovered a foot in the
debris Of the barn The other bones were
found. with ThompsOns gun. A load OF
shot had plOwed through the skull. Fur
Their investigation revealed that Thomp-
son had built funeral pyre OF logs. set
fire 10 il. and then shot himself. thus
seeking TO remove all trace Of his body
after ending his life.
Most Remarkable Case of All.
But even the suicides Of Mrs. Dukes and
Thompson fail to approach in any Of
their unusual features the most ingenious
manner in which James Moon took leave
Of this world by his own hand in the old
Lahr Hotel, at Lafayette. some thirty
years ago.
In all the annals Of suicides the world
over il is not recorded that any man pre-
pared for death and stared the grim
reaper in the face with more fiendish
composure than did James Moon in plan
ming and working. month after month, on
the most remarkable method Of ending
his life which he adopted.
After Swapping his body securely TO the
floor he then chloroformed himself so
that he would remain perfectly notion
less until a candle burning through a
chord would release the blade OF a gull
lotine Of his own invention TO sever his
head from his body.
L will make for myself a name that
Will live for years and years after my
DEATH" boosted Moon, when first he be-
gan to work on his plan. months before
he actually carried it out. 1t was not an
idle boast. His name is still remembered
beyond the confines Of Tippecanoe Coun-
ty for the diabolical cunning employed in
his gruesome deed insures the perpetual
ton OF the story for years 70 come.
The crude but effective guillOtine by
which Moon chopped on his head is now
one of the most interesting relics in the
museum OF Purdue University.
The sanity of Moon had been ques-
toned before his startling act OF self
destruction, for he was continuously talk
ing Of revolutionizing the world by vari-
Gus remarkable inventions upon which he
was working One of his hobbies was a
sewing machine that he promised would
far excel anything yet invented in that
line, and he would spend days working
on It in q little shed in the rear of his
home. Moon was known throughout the
county. and there were some who be-
lieved that he was really a genius, and
some day would succeed in the one great
invention on which his heart and mind
were set. Though none Of his machines
was ever successful. there was no deny
ing that his guillotine was masterpiece
of amateur mechanical art After his
death It was learned that he had spent
months IN perfecting the instrument