Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-10-15
RANSOMS TRY
To DIE IN A
SUICIDE PACT
Wife Expires, but Husband Is
in Hospital Still
Alive.

Poor business and Ill health caused
| Charles Ransom, a real estate dealer
and proprietor of the Consolidated
Business Exchange 800 Broad street,
and his wife to attempt suicide by
gas poisoning in their home. at 41O
| Badger avenue, last night, but, while
| Mrs. Ransom is dead, the sound of
Ransom's body falling to the floor
! brought aid before Ransom was dead
| He is in the City Hospital In an un-
conscious condition, and death is ex-
pected at any time.
| The couple made careful arrange
ments for their attempt, as shown
by the following extracts of letter
left for the county physician and
signed by Ransom:
my wife and myself have agreed
to throw our burden of life away and
what we have done has been our both
| decisions. She has suffered for FIVE
| weeks seriously with her paralyzed
| foot and l could not stand 1t any
| longer. Kindly see to it that all the
letters reach the addressed. With
| thanks"
Three other letters were lying be-
side the letter to the county physi-
Ing. One was for Rabbi Solomon
Foster. another for Herman Dorm
BUSCH 81 Central Market, owner of
the house in which the Ransoms
lived, and the third for S. Venino,
Lawyers Building.
In addition to the letters the couple
| left $340 in money and two filled
books of trading stamps lying on the
dining room table, together with writ
ten instructions that 1920 of the
money and the books of stamps be
given to Samuel Himmelfarb, deli
cattessen storekeeper at SO Watson
avenue, and the remainder of the
money to "Geltzeiler, the millkman"
The Ransoms owed Himmelfarb
1920, and 1t was their belief today
that the books of trading stamps
were left for them, because the entire
amount of their Indebtedness was
more than they could pay Other
small storekeepers in the neighbor-
hood said they were owed small sums,
but united in praising the Ransoms.
Mrs. Ransom has been confined to
bed for the past seven weeks with
paralysis, and her husband has ap-
peared to grow more morose daily.
Yesterday he spent only a few min
utes at his Broad street office, and
seemed even more despondent than
usual when told no one had called or
written concerning business deals.
The neighbors did not notice any
thing out of the ordinary about the
house. but shortly before midnight,
when Harold Jones, who lives on the
floor over the Ransoms, heard a
sound like that of body falling he
decided to make an investigation.
AS Jones went downstairs the odor
of gas became noticeable, but 1t
seemed to lead to the cellar When
he found nothing In the cellar Jones
reused Henry Yost, the janitor, who
lives next door, and the two traced
the gas to the Ransom apartment.
Then they summoned Policemen
Frank c. Gazette and Charles Byrne,
Of the Sixth precinct. When the po-
| lice found the crevices of the door to
the Ransom apartment stuffed with
paper they forced an entrance to find
gas pouring from every jet in the
four rooms OF the apartment. The
tips had been removed from all.
In the bedroom they stumbled over
the body of Ransom, dressed in shirt
and trousers and wearing house slip
pers Mrs. Ransom was in bed, lying
on her back with her hands folded
across her breast. A physician. sum-
IlOIlbu thO SitJ IlOSp1ldtg PIO-
nounced Mrs. Ransom dead, but life
was not entirely gone from Ransom,
who was rushed to the hospital after
first aid measures partially revived
him.
While they have lived at the Bad
ger avenue address for two and one
half years and were friendly people,
the neighbors know almost nothing of
their history, except that they had a
| son somewhere in this country and
Ransom had sister living in Phila-
| delphia.
Mrs. Ransom's body was taken to
Holes morguc. It is believed the
letter to Rabbi Foster relates to pos
sible funeral arrangements, but the
rabbi left home early this forenoon
and had not received the letter.
That Ransom, who was proprietor
of the Consolidated Business Hx-
change, has been in business difficult
ties for several months and that he
was discouraged, was the statement
today of his partner in the firm. The
firm deals in real estate, and has been
in existence for about three years.
Ransom has spoken several times
lately to his partner of disseminating
the firm. because of the poor state of
| business, and has expressed discour-
agement over the condition of his
financial affairs.
1