Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-19
League Against Suicide
by Frederic j. Haskin

that are followed IN tins cityis tktt ~ tnS
Reverend ri. NJ. Warron, head and whole
active working force Of the Save-a-Llfe
League.
In New York, which is commonly de-
scribed az the most heartiess place m the
world, you can get free help fofr almost
any sort Of disease or distress that may
afTilct YOU. Thus If you have decided
that life is not worth living and want 10
make an end Of your share in II the Rev
.rend Warren will talk it over with you
in a most sympathetic and comprehend
ing vein. lie will show you about 70
reasons why you should not XIII yourseh,
and he may 20 n long way toward rerne-
diving the practical diffiulties which lie
at the root Of your dependency. II you
cannot got TO him, you can write to hlrn.
His address us los Vest 77th street.
For many years IL has be u Mr.. War
ren's daily task 20 interview from two 70
seven persons who are contemplating self
destruction. His evenings are spent ~
writing to others in the same state of
mind, and in calling on persons IN hos
pitals who have tried u take their own
ives and failed. Surely no man ever as
lsurned a more depressing task IN the ~
terests Of his fellow beings. And Mr..
Warren feels the strain.
IL am certainly glad It's YOU some
one healthy and cheerful was his greet
ing TO the interviewer. II m not qrnte
myself today I've Just been writing 70 a
vd1i. r. ,nea IN Boston who says he
4 going to die next Tuesday un-
le71 "a prove To him that be should
not. And the worst OF it is that cannot
go TO him now"
CAUSES or Suicide.
Warren is a man Of middle age, and he
lives and works in an old brown stone
front house. At first one ls IN
elined to take him for a religious
sentimentalist, overcome By the gloom
in the midst of which he lives, but a
little conversation dispels this impression
Thernan shows real insight and real power.
He approaches his task from religious
angle but he II not bound either ~
orthodoxy or conventionality. lie al
vises the beaten humans who come 70
him to seek cons citation in God but he
himself attends to their practical df-
fcuIties with shrewp common sense and
/ real comprehension of human nature.
Mr.. Warren has many interesting things
10 say about the causes of suicide. lie
does not believe that most suicides are
mental detectives or insane persons. re
saws that three-fOurths ri those who come
/ to him are sane and n at least average
intelligence while many 0f themare gifted
/ nersons They have decided ~ klll them
4 selves because IL has seemed clear u them
+ that life is not worth living. In about hall
/ of the cases economic distress IS factor
+ That IS. the would be suicide IS often poor
and undprnourished and whether this
/ js the immediate cause for this despair or
not. il contributes 10 il Mr. Warren
/ always begins on such cases by feeding
them
/ Troubles connected with sex in some
wav are the cause II az least one-thlrd
/ Of suicides. Mr. Warren believes. Persons
i suffering from venereai disease, which ls-
or which they believe 70 be lncurable.
4 persons who kave married and found
i themselves inpotent. persons who nave
/ discovered that the spouse ls Infaltniul'
and Tilted loves make up large percent I
4 age Of those who come 70 his door. In
+ married mothers are another large class. In
some cases the troubles Of these people
/ are real and even terrible, and il other
/ CAGES they merely involve me breach u
conventional standards, which the lndI-
/ vldlyal regards with holy awe and has not
/ the strength 10 criticize. Thus an elderly
man came 10 Mr. Warren TO tell MN
/ that after LIVING for many years with hls
/ SIlnposed wife, he had discovered that Z
divorce which he had oDtalned many
Years ago was not valid, and that ne was
really a bigarnist He had been happy with
his unlawful mate, no prosecution ~
scandal Threatened him. He was merely
horrifed at the thought that he wss iIvl- 2
in sin, according 70 legal and religious
standards. and he saw no lay out except
! 10 Kill himself
loss or MONEY A FACTOR.
The loss Of property al at once {
another frequent cause Tor suicide. 1T
person who has long depended upon AZ
income. and has not learned how 70 ulaAI
= living. often falls into the deepest de
SPAR Il that income IS lost
Loneliness Is the plea brought tor
. ward BY many contemplating seii-de
isfructlon. Nest often these are old d
afflicted persons who feel that they are no
wanted in the families Of which they ~
members and upon which they are de
peudent for = living. These persons sim
Dlv feel that there IS no place for them oi
earth They are among the most pathetN
Of All intending suicide:
The woman VINO has been unable % ms
mate often contemplates suicide an
she Is not an uncommon figure N Amer
can life She Is not always an unaJJrac
tive woman either, according 70 Nj
Warren.
MANY of those contemplating seu
destruction fear arrest Tor some crlm
which they have committed. The case g
the Young man employed in a tinancla
house who borroWs the firms funds 2
speculate with, and then loses, Is Yer
common one. Mr. Warren recently Su,
ceeded in adjusting such ease when th
man had fully decided 20 Kill himself. h
was restored 10 his position after maxim
confession and convincing all concerne
that he had had enough Of crime
The percentage Of suicides and intend
ing suicides among women Is on the N
crease. MIR. Warren Is convinced tha
this is easily exphcable by the fact ths
woman is constantly taking a more an
more active part in the work and strife &
the world. He haStens 70 add that ne
notSone of those conservatives who dC
plore womans entry into business an
policies. He thinks it is certainly lnevl
table and probably desirable. But tn
woman who goes out 70 make her OWL
wav in the world, like a man, IS expose,
to far more hard knocks that the on
who is sheltered in the simple routine g
her householadutics, She learns soon tha
freedom also means hazard and responS
bihtv. And perhaps her more volatll
emotional nature makes her own habl
to the state Of depression IN which ht
/ seems no longer worth living
Currp SUICIDES