The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-11-24
TO LIVE OR NOT TO LIVE!
Local Writer in Cheerful Mood Analyzes Why and Wherefore of Suicides -Condones One-
 Way Rides for Radio Announcers.

and still remains to be seen. The church, a long time ago, gave up the fruits of this world and for many centuries have strongly rec commended the virtues of the next.
 Insanity
 Some argue that insanity Is essential in suicide. Others deny this fact. In good faith, they as- sert that the Ingenious methods adopted for estermination, call for brains of the highest order,
 It is manifest that there are many patent causes for suicide. poor health--tlnancial cares loss of Q loved one, or loss of face, as tho Orientals put it--are all subdivisions in which the prime causes could be classified.
 The psychologist might say that the prime cause emanates from an idea which as matured and fed through the inter.crannial tubes of concentration and front page publicity directed to another candidate for suicide row.
 I mentione publicity because I feel that there is style and faSh- ion in this sordid branch of life as well as anything else. There arc the staple methods which have and always will be employed such as poisons and gases. However, every now and then Q new and novel method hits the front pages of the daily Gazette and the first thing you know we find the motive of imitation operating. This fad will be popular until 1t is supplanted by another which iS in time with the times.
 Carbolic Acid
 For example, when was c young boy, I remember three or four suicides in my home town and tho coroner's verdicts all read "cause of death--carbolic acid", Today, this is Q rarity.
 Then again, at Q later date, I remember Q wave of victims who employed the deadly bichloride of mercury tablets.
 Today, due no doubt, to the publicity afforded by tho press. radio and movies the fashion Is tho carbon monoxide route in the closed garage.
 True enough, the revolver has taken Q great toll. An interesting fact revealed in the survey was the decided increase in the number of women who used this method of self extermination. No doubt, the result of the extensive use of firearms in the gangster age we are just emerging from.
 Jumping out of windows-hang- ing ones sclf--and slashing the blood veins are still among the staple or always popular methods.
 The records reveal that women have generally resorted to poisons where they might have one last chance to display their histrion- ic ability.
 Men, as a rule, go in for meth ods far more vicious and grue- some. Whether or not, this is self evident proof of the axiom-"The female Is the weaker sex" re- mains question with me. It does seem to prove. however, that the male of the specie, "can take It."
 Suicide Club
 That the tempo of the times has Q great influence over the number of victims who join the Suicide Club is true. When times are hard, such as in Q depression cycle or immediately following Q great disaster, we find e sudden increase in suicides. The num- Der of victims was decidedly ir,- creased from 1880 to 1883, the three worst years of the depres- sion.
 So much so, that a large num- Der of insurance companies raised the non- n-cancellable clause from one year to two years in refer ence to death via suicide.
 Strange as 1t may seem, very few attempted to take their life because of the blighted romance. l take 1t from this fact, that our gay maidens and gallant Romeos are philosophically sold on the premise" that there are many good fish still uncaught in the sea-" Or that men and women are like street cars. there will be an- other one along in @ minute. So why worry?
 It is a queer fact that more single girls between the ages of 21 and 26 attempted suicide than men. With men, the average age was 26 to 90.
 These years when life should just begin to blossom, but evident ly the buds were nipped through the cold and bitterness of disap- pointment or false illusions and death seemed the only way out,
 Martial Strife
 In married couples the percent age of suicides runs much higher. Perhaps this can be attributed to the fact that it is much easier to get into trouble with frau" or Q husband around. Perhaps. too. the fallacy that "two can lie as cheap as one" had some- thing to do with 1t.
 Just how and why people seek the next world has been fairly