The Sun. — 1860-10-18 (London, England)

SINGULAR AND DISTRESSING CASE OF SUICIDE IN NEW YORK.  (From the New York Herald.)  A peculiar and truly distressing tragedy occurred at No. 221, West Thirty-sixth-street, on Sunday evening. The particulars of the case, as furnished to our reporter yesterday, are as follow :—ln the month of February last a ' young and really beautiful girl, named Josephine Clifton Lyon, was forced to quit the residence of • her parents, in First-street, in consequence, as she r ays, of the repeated and apparently determined efforts of her father to induce her to lead the life of a common courtesan. She fled to the residence of a friend of hers named Jennings, where she remained in safety until she could procure a suitable boarding-house. Subsequently, in the month of March, she went to live with a married lady in Macdougall-street. Here she remained until June, when her father, discovering her place of concealment, had her arrested and brought before Justice Quackenbush. She refused to go to the ,1 house of her parents, however, and, notwithstanding she was locked up in a lonely cell all night, in the morning her determination was not shaken in the least. The magistrate, finding that all efforts to effect a reconciliation between the father and daughter were useless, discharged Josephine, and told her to go back to her friends. After staying a few months longer in Macdougall-street, the girl, by invitation, went to the residence of Mr. E. Griffith, a married gentleman, residing at 221, West Thirty-sixth street. With Mr. Griffith's family, whom she had known from her infancy, one would suppose that she would have lived happily and contented; but, unfortunately, such was not the case. At times she would become quite melancholy, and cry as if her heart would break. When asked what was the matter, her invariable answer was, " I am afraid my blackhearted father will come here some day and take me away, and I would rather die than live with him." The commencement of a civil suit for abduction against Mr. Grath by Josephine's father served to increase her fears, and so heavily did the affair weigh upon her mind, that she possessed herself of a revolver, and threatened to shoot her father and herself toe, if any attempt was made to deprive her of her freedom. Mrs. Griffith used every means to quiet the fears of the heartbroken creature, but in vain; despair took possession of her soul, and she determined to end all her earthly troubles in a suicide's grave. On more than one occasion she purchased laudanum for the purpose of self-destruction, but her love and respect for the family of Mr. Griffith prevented her from carrying out her desire. A day or two ago, however, she thought she discovered an agent of her father's lurking about the house, and, fearful that an effort would be make to abduct her, she determined to carry out her original intention of suicide. Accordingly, on Sunday evening, when Mr. and Mrs. Griffith were sitting in the parlour, Josephine retired to the privacy of her room, and, procuring a pistol from the bureau, placed the muzzle to her chest, and pulled the fatal trigger. The cap did not explode, however, and it was not until she had tried a second and a third time that she could succeed in firing off the weapon. The report of the pistol soon brought the entire family to the room, and on entering the apartment they found poor Josephine lying weltering in a pool of blood. Dr Burdick, of West Thirty-ninth-street, was instantly summoned to the relief of the dying girl. He found Josephine lying on the bed in a state of syncope, but by means of stimulants and hot applications to the feet and lower extremities he soon succeeded in restoring her to consciousness. Upon probing the wound the physician found that the ball had entered the epigastric region, a little to the left to the median line, wounding the diaphragm. Subsequent discoveries showed that besides cutting through the diaphragm, the ball had pierced the stomach. The patient, after rallying, vomited a large quantity of blood, but did not complain of any pain. She seemed averse to having anything done whereby her recovery might be effected, saying she was determined to die, and that if she got well she would make a second attempt at suicide. Tier manner was quite cool, and in a clear and distinct voice she related the cause which impelled her to the commission of the rash act. The story of her wrongs, as recounted to Dr. Burdick, Mr. Griffith, and others, runs this way :—Her father at one time was engaged in the livery business, and well off, but of late years by reverses of fortune he was reduced to penury. Driven to desperation he resorted to the most unnatural means to obtain a livelihood—namely, the prostitution of his daughter. But Josephine, who, according to all accounts, was a good and virtuous girl, spurned the base proposal with scorn, and threatened to leave her parent's roof if the offer was repeated. Incredulous as it may appear, Josephine says that every artifice was used to make her lead a life of shame by him who should have been her guardian and protector. At night she was forced to place her bed against the bedroom door to guard against intrusion, and on one occasion she said an effort was made to deprive her of her senses by means of chloroform. Finding that her father was determined that she should become a wanton, on the 26th Feb. last she left her parent's roof, and sought that protection among strap • gers which was denied her at home. With the rest of her history our readers aro already familiar. Josephine stated that she was about 17 years of age, and that the attempts on the part of her father to force her to become a courtesan commenced fully three years ago. It was only within the year or so, however, that his conduct became unbearable, and rendered her flight a matter of dire necessity. Dr. Carnochan was in attendance upon the wounded girl, and after holding a consultation with the other physicians, the case was pronounced hopeless. The case is a very remarkable ' one, and when it comes to be investigated by the coroner many additional facts of interest will be developed.