The Washington herald., 1912-04-07
SUICIDAL WAVE
SWEEPS CAPITAL
Advent of Spring Said to Be
the Cause of Self
destruction.
PHYSICIANS GIVE VIEWS
Monday Most Popular Day for
Suicides and Shooting Most
Popular Method.
PHYSICIANS GIVE VIEWS

Washington is in the midst of a great
Suicidal wave. -
Since March 20, the beginning Of spring
there have been twelve suicides in the
National Capital. This is an unusually
large number for period of but little
more than two weeks, and District ON
cials are unable TO account for the alb
normal rate. Physicians are at a loss tc
attribute the excessive number of sui
cides to any one cause or condition.
One theory, however. has been advanc-
ed. II is that with the advent Of spring
there Is always an unusually large num-
Der Of suicides. This idea has been- ad-
vanced for many years, bpt statistics
fuctuate from year to year, so that 1t
is impossible to base the theory on fig
ures. 1t is noticeable, however, that dur
ing many years the greatest number of
Suicides occur in the springtime.
This seems absurd on the face of 1t,
and, because of the seeming ridiculous
ness, many physicians reject the theory.
They argue that in the springtime all
nature is beautiful and attractive, and
that the regeneration of life and beauty
on every side is antsgonistic to mental
depression and detection. They argue
that the springtime is a season of cheer
fulness, rather than one OF melancholia,
such as the autumn. This on the face,
is very true.ebut there is a defense for
the spring suicide theory. 1t was ex-
planned nearly a century ago by one of
England's great Iiterati, Thomas De
QIincey.
What De Quincy Says.
De Quincy in THE AfiIction of Child
hood" which is part ] on ''Suspiria de
pTofundis,'' a sequel to Confessions of
ar English opium-ester,'' tells pathetical-
ly of the death of his young sister in the
early summer time. He describes the
beauty of nature on every side, and yet
tells of the depths of gloom into which
he was thrown, despite the cheering In
nuences. He offers the following expia-
nation of his feelings: -
Let me pause for one instant in ap-
preaching a remembrance so affecting
and revolutionary for my own mind, and
Une which Of any earthly remembrance
will survive for me in the hour of death
10 remind some readers, and to inform
others, that in the original Opium Con-
fessions' ! endeavored to explain the
reason why death, caeteris paribus, is
more profoundly affecting in summer
than in other parts of the year; 80 far at
least, as It is liable TO any modification
at all from accidents Of scenery or sea-
SON. The reason as I there suggested
lies in the antagonism between the trop-
ical redundancy OF life in the summer
and the dark sterilities of the grave. The
summer we see, the grave We haunt with
our thoughts; the glory is around US, the
darkness is within us. And the two
coming into. collision, each exalts the
other into stronger relief
] This theory may well be taken as an
explanation of the large number of sui
cides in the spring and early summer.
Life and beauty on one side and hopeless
ness and dependency on the other make
sharp contrasts, and the gloom appears
deeper than IL really is. De Quincey.
when he wrote the above passage. feared
that many persons would deny the prev
alenCe OF intense sorrow in the spring
time because OF the apparent absurdity,
Just as many physicians of the present
day laugh at the idea Foreseeing this.
he placed an asterisk beside the word
reason" in the above passage, and at
the bottom Of the page made the fol-
lowing note:
Some readers will question the fact
and seek no reason. But did they ever
suffer at any season of the year,"
Each time the solemn bell tolls the
hour from the ivy-mantied church tow
CT some Respondent one, weary of the
worlds buffetings. and overcome with
grief, seeks the great unknown by TAX
ing his or her life. Approximately twen-
ty-four day-S,500 a year-fall victims
10 their own designings in the United
States alone. During the calendar year
1910, the last year for which statistics
have been compiled, there were $3.50 sui |
cides in the United States. Deaths |
from this cause are steadily increasing
from year TO year. for in 1908 there were |
only S,SSs suicides.
Many Reasons Given.
A thousand causes bring the victims
to the depths of utter despair and |
gloom, from which there is no escape.
except through the hall OF death. Most |
of the suicides are attributed by the Do
lice to despondency. Inability to fni !
employment. sickness in the large fam
lily. the injustice and ingratltude of the |
world, worry over surrounding condi- |
tons, financial failure, and a thousand |
other causes prey upon delicate and sus-
ceptible natures, producing despondency,
which leads TO suicide. Next to de- /
spondency, the greatest number Of sui
cides is caused directly by financial loss.
Men who have invested all of their
money In some project which promises
to reap fortune are suddenly robbed /
OF their wealth by the failure of the
The harassing thoughts of I
the family in want; the wife in rags, /
working early and late in the home, and !
the children shabbily clad and hungry, I
drive the business man who has failed
10 death as balm fer sorrow.
Then comes the great class of insane
persons, who, irresponsible for their ac-
dons, take their own lives. Nexr come L
those who are worried over I'll health. L
They were once healthy and strong and Il
but suddenly they nave been |,
overpowered by some dread malady and |,
have been left weak and helpless They Il
cannot work; they cannot leave their |,
rooms. They are compelled to lie for
weeks and months unemployed in their
beds, thinking only of the ultimate end |,
Heath. Death is not what appalls them,
but the long wait for the grim reaper.
Loneliness breeds dependency, and TN
lble to wait patiently for their life to
Il,