Evening star., 1926-11-21
MONUMENT SUICIDE
. PROBLEM STUDIED
Third Fatal Leap Brings
Demand for Grating-Grant
Sees Objections.

The suicide yesterday of Henry C..
Anderson. 46-year old resident of Sol
diers' Home. who leaped to his death
from the north window of the Wash
ington Monument. was the third since
the famous obelisk was opened to the
public. October 9. 1883. Anderson
was the second person to leap from
window. and in 1915 woman dived
down the interior Of the shaft.
i The death of Anderson. like the
death of A Birney Seip. in 1923. the
FIRST to dive from a window OF the
Monument. has brought up again the
advisa bility of placing either heavy
glass, bars or screens over these win
doWs. now open. in order to prevent
such tragedies in the future. 1t ls
generally agreed that fall from one
of the windows must he deliberate, but
II is likewise agreed that Of the thou
sands who visit the Monument every
wear. there must he some. as demon
strsted. who go with a suicidal IN
tent.
Discussing the question yesterday
Lieut.. Col. l.. s.. Grant. 80. director
of public buildings and pubic parks
o: the National Capital. under whose
jurisdiction the Monument comes. re-
called that while there are advantages
to guarding the windows. there are
likewise disadvantages, and he men,
toned the fact that of the 7,lN9.5"-
nersons who have visited the Monu-
lnent since 1858. only three have
deliberately killed themselves.
Has Studied Problem.
Yesterdays tragedy was the first
since Col Grant has been I'm ONCE,
hut he said he had beer giving the
matter Of properly safeguarding the
Monument nurh consideration.
But the colonel also was forced to
view the subject from another stand
point and consider the thousands VINO
come to Washington annually with
the expressed purpose of going up in
the Monument"
while the erection OF iron graf
ing bars. or wire would make IT
impossible for a person contemplat- =
ing suicide to choose the MoumetH
for their act. nevertheless 1t would
interfere to a great degree, with the
usual vision obtained from the OBJ
servation tower and the view of the
city. which one obtains from that
point he declared.
Il believe II is impossible for a
person to fall accidentally out of any
one of the windows, because of the
height of the lodges, so the only way
any one could he killed would be
through a predetermined plan to
throw himself out into space.
"A watChnan is stationed at the
top of the Monument from the hour
II Is opened until it is closed. and
1t is his duty to protect the visiting
public as far as is humanity possi-
BILE. OF course, he cannot watch each
window at the same time and even
In his presence a person could take
u tor >f l, i I@o a
out OF the window. 1t might be ad
visable to increase the number of
WatChmen there.
Seeks Better Stair Rail.
"On the other hand. we must con
slider that since the Monument was
opened to the public. October 9. 1883,
71s9,592 persons made trips to the
top, and of this number, and over
that period of time, only two persons
have plunged from the window, de
libatately. During the fiscal year
which closed June 30, 276.276 persons
about half Of that number using the
stairway, partly out of personal de-
Sire and partly because the elevator
was not in operation. owing to repairs
so before we consider the erection
of bars or grating, we must also con
slider the persons who make the
ascent for the sole purpose of get
ting an unobstructed view Of the
city"
Col. Grant observed that arguments
for protecting the windows Of the
Monument also might be applied to
the Key Bridge or Highway Bridge
ratings, as a preventive measure for
persons contemplating suicide. He
also referred to several other public
buildings in Washington. whose con-
struction, both interior and exterior,
are of suficient height to cause in
slant death, if a plunge were made
from the top.
The lack of sufficient railing protec-
tion along the stairway Of the Monu-
nent has been seriously con sidered by
Col. Grant tor a long time, he de-
clsred. and his application for funds
with which TO remedy this dangerous
condition, ha. not been granted. The
colonel empha sized that children
easily might slip through the railing
while ascending or descending the
stairway and drop down the elevator
shaft, or that persons pausirg to cb-
serve the lengthy vertical opening
within the obelisk might easily torple
over. He Indicated that he would con
tinue his efforts for the~much needed