The Sun. — 1847-04-07 (London, England)

SUICIDE. In the course of Wednesday morning it became known, in Newcastle-under Lyne, that a young man named William Keen, booking clerk at the railway station in that town, had attempted suicide, and that he was then lying in a dangerous state. Keen is about 23 years of age. Ile had been fur some time in the office of Mr. Appleby, the extensive carrier at Longport, and was about six months ago appointed to the management of the railway busine,s at. the Newcastle station. He was particularly steady and attentive, his obliging manners and general courtesy of demeanour making a favourable impression upon the numerous parties having occasion to travel from that establishment. He is a single man, and had lodgings at the house of Mr. Thursfield, in Red Lion-square. About eight o'clock on Wednesday morning, one of the men from the station made application for the key of an outhouse to get some hay for the horses. Mrs. Thurstield called to Keen, and some time having elapsed without his making his appearance, Mrs. Thursfield went up to his room. There, to her surprise and horror, she saw a chamber vessel half filled with blood. Keen was in bed with his throat cut, and in a state of insensibility. An alarm was immediately given, and medical assistance sent for. Mr. Crewe and Mr. Hallam promptly attended. On examination it was found that the upper part of the windpipe was cut completely through ; the razor with which the injury was inflicted seemed to have been drawn twice across the throat, producing an excised wound of considerable size. Extensive hw.norrhage had taken place, and the act must have been committed two or three hours before the young man was discovered. On further examination the rout of his mouth was found to be seriously injured, and his clothes were much soiled with dirt of a reddish colour. It was, at first, thought that he bad been engaged in a death struggle with some person during the night, and the affair seemed enveloped in mystery. It was some hours before he spoke, and then he informed his attendants that the injuries had been inflicted by his own hand. He also said that he had discharged the contents of a pistol into his mouth, but the ball not taking effect, he spat it out. In the course of the morning there were found in St. George's Churchyard, close to the grave of a young lady lately deceased, a pistol ; not far distant, a leaden ball immersed in a pool of blood. This was the scene of his first attempt at self-destruction, by shooting himself. From information afterwards collected it appeared that on Tuesday evening Keen left the office shortly after nine o'clock, and proceeded, as was his usual custom, to the Globe Inn, to read the newspaper. He was exceedingly temperate in his habits, never taking more than one glass of brandy and water, nor did he exceed that quantity on Tuesday evening. He called at Mr. Browne's, next door, for a few minutes, leaving there at a quarter to ten o'clock. He must then have proceeded direct to St. George's Churchyard, and attempted the appalling act of self. destruction, for the report of a pistol was heard in that direction by police constable Bloor and other parties immediately after the ten o'clock gun was tired at Messrs. Brockleburst's silk factory. The ball, it appears, was imperfectly formed, and rather too small for the barrel, and it is conjectured that the strength of the gunpowder must have been partially wasted, and that the ball did not pass with sufficient force to effect a lodgment in the root of the mouth. The probability is that the young man, stunned by the shot, fell down amidst the graves, where he must have remained for a considerable period, and afterwards in his wounded state, found his way beck to his lodgings. He let himself in, and went up to his bed-room, and the presumption is, from the circumstance of his garters being found fastened to the bed-posts, that he then meditated death by strangulation. His last attempt, however, at suicide was by cutting his throat, which he did as before described. A note, found in the bed-room drawer, shows that the deed was premeditated. In that note he clearly states his intention to destroy himself—he says that the money in the office-desk, with the exception of a small balance due to himself, belonged to Mr. Appleby, adding that his accounts would be found to be perfectly correct. No motive for the lamentable act can be ascribed. Keen was esteemed by his employer-, and much respected by the public. The circumstance of the pistol and ball being found by the grave of the young lady before mentioned, would convey the idea of an attachment, and impart a tinge of romance to the melancholy event; but we are assured that no intimacy beyond that of a common acquaintance existed between the parties. Keen had for some time carried about with him a pocket pistol—the one with which he attempted to destroy himself—and he had been observed casting the ball afterwards found in the charchyard from a piece of lead while at the office on sday. No alteration in his usual manner had been observed previously to the dreadful occurrence. K., en's medical attendants state that there is a fair prospect of his ultimate recovery. The injuries in the mouth are not sce' • rious as was at first anticipated. He has been callrand collected, and expresses himself free from pain; but he has not at present assigned any reason for his unhappy and in every way , I extraordinary attempt.—Staffordshire Mercury.