Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1921-10-06
WITHOUT FUNDS
KILLS SELF ON
WEDDING DAY
T. B. Allen Stops Shaving To Slash
Own Throat.

Hazlehurst, Miss, Oct. 3.-Through-
out the world war Thomas B. Allen,
ia years old, of Jacksonville. O., faceI
death calmy as lieutenant OF avia-
ltion in the American army. On hs
wedding morn he felt he could nc
longer face life. So he calmy chos.
death, abruptly and with fateful Ger
tainty. While shaving he drew the
blade Of his safety razor across the
ljugular arteries in his neck until they
were severed. With his wedding a
few hours away he found he had no
funds to marry on, not even enough
to get his wedding suit from tn etal-
lor.
While he bled to death his BRIDE
|to-be, Miss Matte Griffin of Union
Church. short distance west of Ha-
zlehurst.1 waited for him in her we'd
ding finery. Waited and wept while
the hours slipped past, until Mrs.
Dykes Cranberry last night entered
Aliens room in her home all a-flutter
over preparations for the wedding
(which was to have taken place last
might at the Methodist Church here.
Allen had engaged the Rev. C. C. Ev-
ans to perform the ceremony.
i Mrs. Cranberry found Aliens body
Lying on the floor before long mir
Iror. Beside it lay the blood-stained
razor and bloody towel. Apparently
Allen had died as calmy and as coolly
las he played with death in the clouds
l"over there"
j It was evident that he had choseI.
suicide sthe easiest way out on sud-
den impulse. For the right side of
his face was cleanly shaved and the
dry lather still clung to the other.
/ When they lifted the body from
where it had lain all day in pool OF
blood and placed it on the bed four
pennies rolled from one Of the dead
war veteran strousers pockets. That
was all the money his friends were
able to find after a thorough search
Of his effects. And inquiry proved he
had none in the bank here.
Thoams Allen Won his lieutenant's s
flying commission on army aviation
fields at San Antonio and Hattiesburg,
Miss. With the war over he turned to
the oil business. He was widely in
4 lterested in oil enterprises in the south
and was one Of the promotres OF the
test well bored at Mehan Junction,
Inear Meridian. Miss.
j Allen came to Hazlehurst to work
with B. W. White of the White Oil
Company ON the test we'll in Copiah
County. He rapidly became popular
and wooed and won Miss Griffin. The
wedding date was set for last night
and at her home Miss Griffin awaited
Allen. All arrangements for the we'd
|ding were completeand Allen was due
at hte home of his fiancee at an early
hour. He was. to ride with her to the
Hazlehurst Baptist Church. She rode
the short distance that lies between
Union Church and Hazlehurst in hel
wedding gown, greatly worried over
her lovers absence, but quite willing
to believe that arrangements had been
misunderstood.
i Tonight she stood and watched her
finances body carried down the steps
Of the church from which she was to
have walked arm and arm with him
ias his bride. And instead of the we'd
i AAAh At4i~A DIG W0S W 4k0vC ItC04Q vi
the gray,haired organist played the
death march from Saul. The last rites
were brief, because Aliens body was
being prepared for forwarding to his
parents in Ohio, who had made all
arrangements by wire.
Some of the financial facts that lay
behind the death of the war veteran
were revealed when his friends inyes-
tigated
| When Allen ordered the suit of
clothes in which he was to have been
married from local store. he told the
clothier that he would call and pay
for them as soon as money he had
wired friends for in Meridian, Miss,
arrived. The money, he said, was to
pay the expenses Of the wedding and
honeymoon. The money never came
The wedding suit still hangs In the
clothier's store.
| An honorable discharge from the
aviation corps and letters from his
superior officers commencing his
courage, bravery and ability as an
aviator were found in his room.
But Tom Allen, "a years old, and a
veteran of the war that saved civil
lixation, found that he couldn't raise
money on Slych Yanoro q fhoen