The Spring Failed

1895

Lord Southey Had a Guillotine Erected In His Drawing Room For Suicide.

Lord Southey once, in a fit of disgust with life, had a magnificent guillotine erected in the drawing room of his magnificently appointed house in the Rue de Luxembourg, at Paris. The machine was an elaborate affair, with ebony uprights inlaid with gold and silver. The framework was carved with great artistic skill, and the knife, of immense weight and falling at the touch of a spring, was of ornamented steel, polished and as sharp as a razor.

The spring which liberated the knife was placed within easy reach of any one kneeling upon the scaffold — in fact, every detail was arranged with a view to the convenience of the would be suicide. The day that the engine of death was entirely finished Lord Southey completed his testamentary dispositions, shaved, had his hair cut, and, clothed in a robe of white silk, knelt upon the platform under the knife.

The guillotine was placed before a large mirror, wherein the person committing suicide could see his own image until the last. Murmuring a short prayer, Lord Southey placed his head in the semicircle and pressed the spring.

The next morning he was found calmly sleeping in his bed. The spring had failed to work, and after several fruitless efforts Lord Southey was compelled to relinquish his attempt upon his life. Thoroughly cured of his spleen, he presented the guillotine to the Glasgow museum, whence he made an annual pilgrimage to see it until the end of his life. — Pittsburg Dispatch.

Tried to Drown Himself

New York, 1895

Leonard Gimlet Heroically Rescued by John Oakley, Jr.

There was an exciting scene at Brown's river, Sayville, Monday afternoon, occasioned by Leonard Gimlet, 18 years of ago, making several attempts to drown himself. From birth he has been a victim of epileptic fits. Monday Gimlet became suddenly crazy while standing on the bank of Brown's river, near the bay, and made a frantic outcry and rushed into the river, where he mired in the deep mud, floundering about in a desperate manner.

John Oakley, Jr., rushed in to rescue the boy. Owing to the depth of the mud Oakley was at a disadvantage to handle the fellow, and besides he no sooner laid hands on Gimlet than the latter turned on him. A hand-to-hand struggle ensued. Finally Oakley, being the stronger, got the advantage of his crazy antagonist and dragged him, feet first, to shore.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, May 10, 1895, p. 1.

Kills Wife, Shoots Self

1916

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — In a fit of jealous rage Ben Cowley shot and killed his wife, a widely known beauty, and then attempted to kill himself. He is in a hospital with a bullet wound in his head, and is not expected to live.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

Harry Potter Leaves Picnic, Attempts Suicide

Pennsylvania, 1935

Harry Potter, Well-Known Karthaus Man, Said To Have Shot Self Twice

Suffering from what was reported to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound below the heart, Harry Potter, aged about 28, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Potter of Karthaus, is a patient today in the Philipsburg State Hospital in a serious condition. Reports from that institution early this afternoon stated his condition was "very grave."

The tragic affair, which has been a distinct shock to the little community where the Potter family has held the esteem and respect of their fellow townsmen for many years, occurred at the home of George Potter, older brother of the victim, where the latter was staying, sometime early last evening.

According to reports received here, Harry Potter attended the Frenchville picnic during the afternoon and in company with some friends went to his home at Karthaus late in the afternoon. His brother and family was away when Harry arrived home and the first knowledge of the tragedy was when a neighbor boy, Abner Rolley, heard two shots. He rushed into the Potter home and found Harry unconscious with a bullet wound below the heart, apparently self-inflicted by a .38-calibre revolver which was nearby. The Rolley boy also found the Potter dog shot to death and from the mute evidence found in the house it was assumed the young man shot his dog before turning the gun on himself.

What may have prompted the young man to make an attempt on his own life is a mystery to the people of the community in which he lived and where he was known so well. He is single and has never been known to have any serious home worries. Also, reports from Karthaus today stated the young man had never shown a despondent disposition and his friends are at a loss to understand his untimely act.

—The Clearfield Progress, Clearfield, PA, Aug. 23, 1935, p. 1.

Girl Twice Bade Suitor 'Shoot' in Suicide Pact

1915

Town Gossip is Blamed for Maryland Tragedy

The town gossiped about them. The story spread and the morsel of scandal was rolled 'neath many tongues. So they made a pact. They went out into the woods, kissed each other good-by and then there were shots. So much for gossip.

CRISFIELD, Md., Dec. 16. — Dying as the result of two bullet wounds in her lung, Miss Hilda Sterling told painfully but graphically of the part she played in a suicide pact. Her partner in the tragedy, C. Clifford Reese, a druggist of this city, was buried the other day. His widow is in a critical condition as the result of shock.

The coroner's jury rendered a verdict of death as the result of a gunshot wound, self-inflicted, and made an ineffectual effort to suppress three letters, two of which Reese had written before his death. One was written to Reese by Miss Sterling, who had been in his employ. In it she said that because of gossip she no longer would come to the store, tho she could speak to him on the street and still be friendly.

The Suicide Pact

The other notes were written by Reese and professed true love for Miss Sterling. They announced the purpose of the pair to commit suicide on account of the town gossip.

Miss Sterling told of their decision to commit suicide. She said they secured a blanket and went to a woods in an isolated part of the county. After wrapping up in the blanket together each took six grains of morphine, which Reese had brought, and lay down to die together. They went to sleep, expecting never to awaken, but both recovered, chilled and dazed.

Reese then drew a pistol and asked the girl if he should shoot. Upon her replying in the affirmative, he pulled the trigger; but the pistol refused to work. He then declared he would go to Crisfield and get a pistol that would shoot.

Kiss Each Other Good-by

After he had gone she decided to leave the woods, but found she was too weak and dazed to move. Upon Reese's return they talked for a little while and then agreed to complete the pact.

After kissing each other good-by, Miss Sterling sat upon the ground. "Shoot, Clifford, shoot!" she begged. He fired three shots into her body, of which two pierced her lungs. He then shot himself in the chest and this not proving fatal, put the pistol into his mouth and fired.

The two lay there for several hours. Finally the girl recovered sufficient strength to crawl to his lifeless body. She wrapped the blanket about the corpse, brushed leaves up over the lower part of his body and placed her own coat upon it.

She fell across his body unconscious, but regaining a little strength, crawled to the side of the road where she was afterward found numbed with cold and dying.

Wisecracks About the News

1911

That New York person who shot himself five times and failed to kill himself will probably die some day of the pip. You never can tell.

A Washington man has started suit for $300,000 for the loss of his wife. All of which leads us to remark that she must have been some wife.

"In the future," says Doctor Wiley, "the air will furnish heat, fuel and power." It might do so right now if some way to extract the coal from it could be found.

That Kansas City man, as we understand the case, did not want a divorce merely because his wife smoked, but on account of what she smoked.

Europe's wine shortage this year is said to be the greatest for a century. Still there will no doubt be enough for us who buy it only for medicinal purposes.

A writer in the New York Medical Journal says whisky is not a cure for snake bite, but kindly refrains from expressing an opinion as to its suitability for fish bait.

Peg Leg Foils Texan's Attempt at Suicide

1920

Wooden Prop Sticks in River Bank and Stops His Plunge

Is Sued for Fish Slain in His Mad Scramble to Swim Out

SHIRO, Texas, Feb. 26. — John Relmer's peg leg not only prevented him from ending his life here, but landed him in jail on a charge of wanton destruction of private property. Relmer is 40 years old, and has been wearing a wooden leg of the peg variety for twenty-one years. Lately his physical disability has prevented him from earning a comfortable living on the farms or in this little town. He had had a hard winter of it and to add to his misfortunes he took the "flu."

Finally he decided he would end it all.

Relmer decided it would be easier to go via the water route. He knew of such a pleasant place where the blue waters were deep and the banks mossy and shady. It was in the field of J. G. Anderson, a prosperous farmer and fish breeder.

But here's the strange part of the story. When Relmer made up his mind, he at once hobbled over to the place he had selected to end it all. He wrote a little note and laid it on the bank, telling the people why he drowned himself. Then he leaped toward the still, blue water, peg leg and all. That blasted peg leg stuck in the bank of the stream and Relmer's troubles began to double!

Before he could wrench the peg out of the soft bank he had changed his mind about dying. He decided he would begin life anew, provided he could get out. He finally pulled the peg out of the mud, but found the bank so steep he could not climb it. There was nothing to do but swim across to the other side.

Here's more trouble, real trouble, was added to Relmer's burdens. With that peg leg as he swam across the stream he clubbed several of Mr. Anderson's fine fish to death. They were his breeding fish and he had paid a fancy price for them. When he found the dead fish with their head and bodies beaten up and the note Relmer left on the bank he discovered what killed his fish. Anderson had Relmer arrested.

"He should have more sense than to try to drown himself in my fish pond," said Anderson. "Even if he had succeeded it would have injured my fish. He should have tried a rope and a limb."

"I didn't intend to kill the fish," said Relmer, "but I'm glad I'm alive."

Crazed With Grief for Husband's Death, Woman Jumps from Train

1878

A Lady Jumping from a Train

A lady who was accompanying the remains of her husband from Florida to her home in Akron, Ohio, jumped from a rapidly moving express train on Friday night, just before she reached the end of her journey.

She was crazed with grief and a morbid apprehension that she would be blamed by his friends for having taken him away to die. When the train left Cincinnati she seemed to be calm, and the family physician, who accompanied her, thought she would sleep after so much exhaustion. Worn out with watching and anxiety he went to sleep himself in a berth opposite to her. When the train neared Akron, early in the morning, the physician arose, and, to his horror, found her berth empty and the window open.

Search was made all through the train, but she was nowhere to be found. When the train stopped the poor physician was almost speechless. How could he give to the sorrowing friends the dead body of Mr. Phillips, and tell them that his wife had committed suicide? The telegraph was used at once to get tidings of the missing woman, but it was several hours before any response came, and then it was announced that the woman was lying at a house in a little village some distance off the railroad, not far from Mansfield.

A train was chartered and friends hastened to bring her home. They found her in bed, conscious, but almost exhausted. The people said that she knocked at their door a little while before daylight, and when they opened the door they found her all covered with mud, and unable to tell her name or anything about herself. She explained that after she went to her berth she could not sleep. She finally opened the window and looked out. It was raining, and the feeling that she was rapidly approaching her home brought an indefinable dread and a powerful impulse to escape it. With this feeling she threw herself out of the window while the train was in full motion. She fortunately struck upon a sandbank, and was thus saved from immediate death, as well as from severe injury.

Two Despondent Men Attempt Suicide: Laudanum, Morphine, Noose

Atlanta, 1896

BOTH WANTED DEATH

Two Despondent Men Attempt Suicide in Two Ways.

LAUDANUM, MORPHINE, NOOSE

One in a Wagon Yard, the Other in a Shed.

WILL SIMPSON TOOK DRUG POISON

He Was Found with a large Quantity of Drugs In His Stomach, but Was Saved.

The suicide mania was abroad in the city yesterday. Two citizens were seized with the desire to end their existence. Both tried the usual methods of suicides.

One of the desperate men attempted to hang himself in a deserted shed. He was found and cut down just in time to save his life. His neck bears the imprint of the improvised noose, and it also has a decided crick in it.

The other unfortunate decided on the laudanum and morphine route to the other world and he swallowed enough poison to kill several men. He was found in a wagon yard and hauled to the hospital just as the poisonous drugs were taking effect. Before the doctors could pump out the man he was nearer to death than is usual in cases when would-be suicides are saved. His was given up as a hopeless case, but at the last moment the man was saved. He is very sick now.

The poison patient was picked up by some farmers in Morris's wagon yard, on Decatur street, adjoining the police station. He had taken an ounce of laudanum and three grains of morphine in his desperate effort to kill himself. The discoverers of the man called in the police and it was found that the sick man, Will Simpson, a bartender, who works for J. G. Sprayberry, on Decatur street, was in a very bad way. He was getting worse rapidly, and but for the prompt action in sending for the ambulance and hauling the man to the hospital he would have died in the yard.

Simpson lay between life and death at the hospital nearly all day. The physicians and surgeons in charge devoted several hours applying the restoratives in such cases, and after hard work they were rewarded by seeing the sick man begin to revive. He improved slowly, and late in the afternoon was on the road to recovery. Last night the physicians said that he would recover. Officers Shepard, Walton and Abbott took charge of the man when he was found, and they sent him to the hospital. He declined to tell why he had swallowed the drugs. When told that he might die he said that he had nothing to say beforehand.

Hanging In a Shed.

The would be suicide who attempted to hang himself is not known. His name was not taken at the Grady hospital. It is not the custom of the officials there to take the names of patients who attempt to kill themselves. The man is a negro. He was found in an old shed on a lot on Liberty street, near the old barracks in the western part of the city. He tied a cloth about his neck for a rope and jumped off into space with the other end of the noose fastened to a rafter above. When cut down the darky was breathing hard and was in a dangerous fix, but he was brought round all right.

—The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, March 16, 1896, page 9.

Tries to End Life When She Loses $6

1920

Factory Girl Takes Poison Because She Couldn't Pay Debt

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Six dollars may not seem like a lot of money to some folks, but to Beulah Ryan, a factory girl, it was a big sum. It represented exactly the amount she had borrowed from her step-father and which she had promised to pay back this week. And she had worked half a week for it.

Beulah was happy when she left the manufacturing company, and on the street car on the way to her home she hummed a little song. Now and then she peeped into her purse to see that the six paper dollars were secure.

Arriving home, she again looked into her purse. The $6 were gone.

Half an hour later the red-eyed girl retraced her steps to the spot where she had left the street car. But the money was not to be found.

Beulah stopped in a drugstore on her way back home. In her room she took the poison she had purchased there. But the doctors arrived in time and Beulah will recover.

Unsuccessful Suicide Attempt, Drinking Listerine

Missouri, 1922

MAN TRIES TO COMMIT SUICIDE

Police Say Dwight Tannehill Drank Listerine in Unsuccessful Attempt to End Life

An unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide is thought to have been made last night by Dwight Tannehill, when he drank a small quantity of Listerine.

According to the police, Tannehill came in late last night from Quincy, where he has been working, and told the police that there was an automobile here which belonged to him. Later, according to the police, he called Emerson Roberts and told him that he was Doctor Clapp and that Dwight Tannehill had shot himself and taken poison and for him to come at once.

When Roberts and his wife entered the Tannehill home, the police say that Tannehill attacked Roberts. Doctors were called and Tannehill was quieted. Later the police found a bottle labeled "Listerine" outside the window. The man is supposed to have attempted to end his life by drinking the contents of the bottle. He will recover.

—Moberly Monitor-Index, Moberly, Missouri, November 27, 1922, page 1.


Fire Destroys Barn and Peanut Roaster

Oklahoma, 1915

Fire destroyed a barn and corn and peanut roaster belonging to Mr. Hopgood early Sunday morning. He has for some months operated this roaster on West Main street and as it was a valuable piece of property, he kept it in his barn on East 8th street at night. The fire, which was discovered about 4:30 was of unknown origin. Mr. Hopgood stated that the roaster cost him $1,000.

—The Ada Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma, December 13, 1915, page 4.

Aged Pair in Suicide Pact, Free Canary First

San Francisco, 1919
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AGED PAIR IN SUICIDE PACT Find No Cure for Rheumatism, Free Canary, Lock Doors, Turn on Gas.

San Francisco.—Deciding to end their own lives, but refusing to deprive the canary bird, which for eighteen years had brought happiness to them by its song, of its life, William Foster, 64, and his wife, Mary, 65, of 1532 Market street, Oakland, gave the bird its freedom and then turned on three gas jets in their home.

The body of Foster was found on the bed, while the woman, gasping for breath, sat in a chair when their daughter, Mrs. William Nash, 1433 Myrtle street, Oakland, broke down the door.

Resting on a table, the doors thrown open, was the bird cage, while from without could be seen the canary singing in the warmth of the morning sunshine from a cherry tree bough.

The daughter called to take the couple for a walk. She found the doors and windows barred and the odor of gas emerging from the place.

Breaking in the front door with an ax, she was forced to wait several minutes before entering the place. Then she rushed from room to room until finding her parents together in the sleeping quarters.

The couple came from Denver, Colo., where they had spent all of their married life. Both suffered from rheumatism and climatic conditions were better on the coast, they were told.

That the two decided to die, like they had lived, together, was evident from conditions about the house Everything had been put in its place and every speck of dust removed.

--The Van Wert Daily Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, September 4, 1919, page 4.

Comment: It's interesting that they're only 64 and 65 but are called an "aged pair."

Love Letters Flood Peggy Beal, as She Awaits Trial for Slaying False Lover

Kansas City, Missouri, 1922
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Love Letters Flood Peggy Beal, as She Awaits Trial for Slaying False Lover

Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 18.—Three hundred men have written Peggy Beal, slayer of Frank Warren Anderson, "the perfect lover," asking her to marry them. Among the suitors for the hand of the fair slayer are ministers. Also many men who claim to have great riches.

Peggy Beal, who shot and killed Anderson, scion of an old Philadelphia family, in a hotel room in Kansas City, June 3, has just left the hospital where she recovered from wounds inflicted upon herself after shooting Anderson.

She is charged with murder and will face a jury in Kansas City in the near future. She herself is the moving spirit back of plans for early trial.

"I want to stand before the work vindicated," she said. "I want other women to know what I suffered. I want them to know that I killed Frank Anderson to save other women from his clutches."

Minister Proposes.

Meantime the proposals of marriage come flooding in. In one of them, a man calling himself a Detroit minister, says in part:

"I am sure you are not all bad. No woman could have written the wonderful love thoughts that you have written and be bad at heart. I would like to make you my wife and lift you up from the depths of despair.

"As a minister, it is my duty to offer you a haven in my heart and home."

Peggy Deal, before revealing the letter, clipped the writer's name from it. She said she would not give out the names of any of those who have written love letters to her. A man describing himself as a Galveston, Tex., sea captain wrote that he was sure he could make her forget the drear days that have followed the killing of Anderson.

"If you will marry me, I will see that you forget the past," he wrote. "I am not so terribly handsome or so terribly good, but I would be willing to give every hour in the day to trying to make you happy.

"If you will say the word, I will get a year's leave from my work and will come to Kansas City at once."

From a Widower.

From San Diego another man writes:

"First I must confess I am a widower, but in that confession I ought to make myself more desirable to you, for I have learned how to put up with the whims of women.

"I have read that you trusted Frank Anderson and then learned he had 50 other sweethearts.

"I want to say that I never have paid court to more than one woman at a time. You could count on me being loyal and true to you."

Peggy has not answered the letters -- at least not many of them.

One of the letters, she says, is from a former convict.

"I have had my troubles and you have had yours," he writes from near San Quentin, Cal.

"I have $90 I made doing fancy work while in prison. I'd like to send you that to come out here and we would see if we couldn't be happier together.

"Please answer at once whether you would marry a former convict if he is trying to do right now."

Love letters do not thrill Peggy Beal as they once did, she says. It was when Frank Anderson, just out of the army, wrote such strong protestations of love that she received her greatest thrill.

"The Perfect Lover," the young woman styled Anderson, when she spoke of him to other women.

She exhibited letters, from which the following is an excerpt:

"Dearest Peg: I have just finished reading one of the most wonderful books. 'Thuvia -- Maid of Mars.' Honestly, sweetheart, I never knew I was such a big cry baby. I read it with a handkerchief in the left hand and I had to use it constantly to clear my visage. If you have not read it, by all means get a copy."

Apparently Peggy got a copy for after Anderson had come to Kansas City to join her, he was found dead and she near death from bullet wounds inflicted by her in a hotel room. By her side lay a copy of the book. "Thuvia -- Maid of Mars." It was open at an illustration of Thuvia, character of the novel of her victim, a dagger in her hand.

List of Women.

A list of names of women, a list printed carefully with a pencil by Anderson, was found in the room. It was the list that brought death to Anderson, according to the story police say Peggy told them. She chided him about failing to keep a promise to marry her, she is alleged to have said, and he showed her the fist.

"Peg, I'm a devil -- I love no woman," he said.

A bullet from Peg's pistol was her answer.

After the shooting, when Peggy Beal was recovering at a hospital, she said:

"I killed him to save other women from the fate of the 50."

For weeks the young woman lay between life and death. Physicians had given up hope when from Terre Haute, Ind., her former home, came this telegram.

"Tell mamma I love her and I want her to get well."

It was from Louis Beal, 13 years old, who lives with his brother, Stepehen, 16, and their father in Terre Haute. The children have lived with their father since their parents were divorced several years ago.

It was the child's telegram that caused Mrs. Beal to have a determination to recover and to seek vindication by an early trial.

--The Helena Independent, Helena, Montana, September 19, 1922, page 3.



Peggy Beal Acquitted

SAYS SHE'LL MAKE GOOD WHEN FREED MURDER CHARGE

Peggy Beal Faces Life With Renewed Determination When Acquitted of Slaying Lover

(By The Associated Press)

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 24—Marie L. (Peggy) Beal faced life with renewed determination today, freed after a brief trial for the charge of having murdered her lover Frank Warren Anderson, who she said boasted he bad broken the hearts of fifty other women.

Leaping to her feet as the verdict was read last night, Mrs. Beal thanked the jury and asserted:

"Now I am going to stay right here in Kansas City and make good. I'm going to send for my little boys in Terre Haute and make a good home for them."

The court ordeal was comparatively brief, there were few witnesses and the testimony was adduced speedily. She took the witness stand, pallid and nervous and the story of the shooting was drawn from her by the attorneys.

From the first meeting in Dayton Ohio. Mrs. Beal, a young divorcee related in chronological order, incidents of their association which terminated in her fatally shooting Anderson and seriously wounding herself in a room which they occupied in a local hotel June 3. He lured her there, she said, with a promise of marriage. She had been reading a passage in a romantic novel in which a woman killed her lover. She shot Anderson as be lay upon the bed and turned the revolver upon herself, sending a bullet into her breast.

"I met Anderson in a restaurant in Dayton, 0.," she testified. "He asked me to marry him before he left Dayton and I told him I would give him my answer in June."

Twice she visited him in Kansas City. They moved to the hotel where the tragedy occurred. She asked him to marry her, she said. "I was nearly stunned when he told me he could find no grounds for divorce," she said. "I asked him what I was going to do," she told the court, "and he said 'do as you please.' "

She asked him why he had sought her love and he answered, she declared, "because I am a devil." She said that she could not recall shooting him but remembered shooting herself.

--The Olean Evening Herald, Olean, New York, Oct. 24, 1922, page 1.

Dreaming, Crawled Out Window, Fell Two Stories

Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1909
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IN DREAM CRAWLED THROUGH SECOND FLOOR WINDOW

George Huber Hurt About Hips While in Somnambulistic State.

Dreaming that he was caught under some hogs and endeavoring to escape from them, George Huber, an employe of the Eckart Packing company, crawled out of a second-story window and was only aroused from his somnambulistic state when he struck the ground, alighting full upon his back and hips. His injuries are also internal, but it is the opinion that he will recover. The unfortunate occurrence took place at the man's home, 1717 South Harrison street, about 2 o'clock Tuesday morning.

Huber's fall was twelve feet. In lifting the curtain pulled down over the window, Huber thought he was pulling aside the burlap used in rooms at the Eckart plant. He was crawling on his hands and knees, when he emerged into the empty air.

Mr. Huber was kept in his home Until late Tuesday afternoon, when the matter was reported to Trustee Branning, and he was removed to St. Joseph's hospital. That branch of the Huber family has been very unfortunate recently, one of its afflictions being the critical illness from typhoid fever of a daughter.

--Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, September 15, 1909, page 9.



Sacramento, California, 1922
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Mother Fails to Die In Eighth Attempt

BY INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE BY UNITED PRESS

SACRAMENTO, Aug. 4. -- Mrs. Antoinette Harlan, young matron of this city, shot herself here today in the eighth attempt she has made to commit suicide in the past six months. She will recover. Mrs. Harlan is the mother of an 18-months-old baby and is said to have been depressed as a result of a destitute condition.

--The Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California, August 4, 1922, page 1.



Battle Creek, Michigan, 1907
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STRANGLES SELF WITH STRAP.

Tennessee Banker, Fearing Associates Would Rob Him, Suicides.

Charles W. Shulte, a wealthy banker of Memphis, Tenn., committed suicide by putting a strap around his neck and tightening it notch by notch until he strangled himself. His wife found the body in a bath tub where it had lain for several hours. Shulte came to Battle Creek, Mich., two months ago to rest in a sanitarium. He believed his bank associates were plotting to secure his wealth, and that the bank faced a failure. Though not ill, Shulte brooded so continually at home that it was thought a change would do him good. His suicide came without warning. Shulte was 63 years old. His wife is much younger.

--Daily Herald, Chicago, February 1, 1907, page 2.

Attempted Suicide by Freezing

Syracuse, New York, 1902
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A New Method of Suicide.

Syracuse, April 11. -- Joseph T. Boylen tried a new method of suicide yesterday and was unsuccessful. He lay on the bank of Onondaga creek, dangled his legs in the ice-cold water and endeavored to freeze to death. He was discovered when unconscious from the cold, and revived by stimulants. He said he was out of work and discouraged. He did not have the nerve to jump --

--Naugatuck Daily News, Naugatuck, Connecticut, April 11, 1902, page 1.

Live To Face Shame

Couple Tried To Dodge Disgrace By Suicide In Kansas City.

Kansas City, Aug. 17.-Overcome by remorse on account of the disgrace they had brought upon their families, Mrs. Nora Bradley and Charles Dunbar, both of New Albany, Ind., attempted to commit suicide by taking morphine, in their rooms at 903 Troost avenue, yesterday. They were discovered before the drug had done its deadly work, and by prompt and hard work Dr. Snider and Dr. Bell, assistant police surgeons, saved their lives. Mrs. Bradley is now at St. Joseph's hospital. Both are convalescent, and with a few days' quiet will be able to leave for home, where they expect to go.

About 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon E. Pofenberg, proprietor of the apartment house at 903 Troost avenue heard groans and heavy breathing coming from the room occupied by Dunbar and Mrs. Bradley. Looking over the transom he saw the man, and woman lying on the bed in an unconscious condition. He immediately summoned aid and the police ambulance was sent for. Both were so near death that the physicians were in great doubt about saving the life of either. It was nearly 10 o'clock before they showed signs of improvement.

Until a few weeks ago Dunbar was a druggist in New Albany. He is married and is the father of three children. Mrs. Bradley is the daughter of D. W. Carpenter, a manufacturer of the same place. She is married, too, and has two children. Dunbar and Mrs. Bradley became infatuated with each other and finally left together. They went to Omaha, where they remained two weeks and then came to Kansas City. They engaged rooms first at 903 Troost avenue as man and wife, and remained there until the national convention, when Dunbar went to work for Gus Lund, a druggist at 635 Minnesota avenue, Kansas City, Kan., and lived across the state line. Recently he found employment with C. A. McCampbell at Sixth street and Minnesota avenue. They returned to live at the Troost avenue house about a month ago.

A reporter called at the city hospital this morning and talked to Dunbar. He is a slender man with dark eyes and hair and a sharp, protruding chin. He discussed the attempted suicide freely. "Some persons," he said, "advance the theory that a man is crazy who attempts suicide. This is not true, at least in my case. I was just as sane when I took that morphine as you are now or any man of your acquaintance. I am also positive that the same applies to Mrs. Bradley. It was simply a case of having made up our minds that nothing except death would relieve the terrible remorse we felt."

"Who first suggested that you end your lives?" he was asked.

"She did," he answered. "It was her idea several weeks ago. Ever since she first suggested it, it seemed to be the one thought uppermost in her mind. I did all I could to dissuade her. I argued that everything would come out all right in some way, but it was of no use.

"Finally I gave in last Monday. We had only $2 left. I went out to a drug store and bought a sixty-grain bottle of morphine. In the meantime we had made all of our preparations for death. That is, we had written all our letters. I took the morphine to the house and dissolved it in water. This solution I divided in two equal parts -- almost to the drop. It was 1 o'clock Tuesday morning when I prepared the poison. I also brought back with me a bottle of chloroform. We each drank his portion of the morphine solution. We saturated handkerchiefs with the chloroform and she placed hers over her face as she lay on the bed beside me. I intended to do the same, but don't remember whether I did so or not. We lay there for, it seemed like an eternity before the morphine began to take effect. Anyhow, it must have been two hours. Then the light faded."

"Why did you select morphine?"

"It was all left to me. I selected morphine because I thought it would be sure and blissful."

"Didn't you think of shooting?"

"I had a revolver, but to end it all that way never occurred to me. It would have been too harsh."

"Are you glad you didn't succeed?"

"Yes, I am. I have had all I want of that. I expect to go home so soon as I am able to travel and hope to receive forgiveness there."

"How much money did you have when you left New Albany?"

"Exactly $110. They said back there that we took $1,000 with us, but that's not true."

The reporter then visited St. Joseph's hospital to see Mrs. Bradley. She is good looking with light hair and blue eyes. She is still too weak to talk much although the physicians say she is out of danger.

She was asked who first suggested the "double suicide."

"I don't know," she answered wearily, "we had been talking it over for some time. After we had decided to die together I left the means of dying to him. He selected morphine. We drank it Tuesday morning at 1 o'clock and I put the handkerchief saturated with chloroform over my face and supposed he did the same."

"Are you glad your life was saved?"

"Oh, so glad," she replied, her face brightening, with a smile. "I'll never try it again. I'll bear my cross hereafter, however heavy it happens to be. Mother has been telegraphed for and she will be here tomorrow. I'll know then what it is best for me to do."

Having determined to die Dunbar and Mrs. Bradley wrote numerous letters. Dunbar recited that he was a member of the Elks, Masons, and Knights of Pythias and requested these organizations to take charge of the funeral. Mrs. Bradley's letters were to Miss Poffenburg and simply gave directions as what should be done when she was found dead. Dunbar's letters follow:

Exalted Ruler, K.C. Lodge:

Dear Brother-I want to ask a favor of you. Will you please wire the parties named below of my death; also of that of Mrs. Bradley, as found on another paper.

We deserted our families about six weeks ago; has been nothing but suffering since the time we left, and to think or know we could never return or right the wrong to our loved ones at home we think it justice to them that we should die. C. DUNBAR.

Dear Brother - I may have been expelled from Lodge of Elks, but you will find my card. I also have been member of Jefferson lodge of Masons No. 104, New Albany; and Ivanhoe lodge, Knights of Pythias, in good standing when I left home.

I ask you to help and assist my wife and children toward having an undertaker to take charge of my body and ship home without the expense of having someone come here.

Please wire George Steinhauer, New Albany lodge 270. Have him confer with Masons and Knights of Pythias to have the lodge to guarantee undertaker bill here; if not the lodge have as individuals to do so, to take the worry off my wife until she gets insurance money. Please telephone Mr. C. A. McCampbell, Sixth and Minnesota avenue, Kansas City, Kan., as he is a Knight of Pythias, and I have worked for him. The undertaker bill will be paid, but wish to take the worry from her at present. If you can possibly make arrangements, Mr. Carpenter will pay for Mrs. Bradley, his daughter.

Wire Dr. C. P. Cook, East Spring street, New Albany, Ind., of my death, and have him tell my wife. C. DUNBAR.

The letters left by Mrs. Bradley were as follows:

To Miss Nellie Poffenberg - Nellie: If you all think best in the morning, put my black skirt and shirt waist on me; If not, leave me as I am until you hear from my mother. Give all my love. Good-by.

Nellie, please send my father this telegram first thing in morning: "New Albany, Ind., Mr. D. W. Carpenter - "Nora is dead. 903 Troost avenue." When clothes are sent for, send everything, both Charlie's and mine, and oblige your loving friend, Nora.

Use this money for telegrams and express package.

Please wire D. W. Carpenter, East Third street, New Albany, Ind.:" "Nora is dead." Wire to guarantee undertaker's bill. Will send remains. Please have exalted ruler of Elks to send message.

Dear Nellie (the daughter of Mrs: Poffenberg, landlady at 903 Troost avenue); I did not have the money to pay this week's rent, but have sent home for it. My mother will send it to you, and you please express my things to her. You will find them already packed. She will write you where to send them. Yours lovingly, FRIEND NORA.

Dunbar and Mrs. Bradley eloped from New Albany, June 26. Both were members of good families, and their elopement caused a big sensation. Their names were constantly linked together and several months ago Mr. Bradley attacked Dunbar with a revolver, but his aim was bad.

--Dubuque Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, August 18, 1900, page 4.

Comment: Poffenberg is spelled three different ways in the original article.



TRIED TO KILL THEMSELVES.

Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 15.-Charles Dunbar, a druggist, thirty-five years of age, and Mrs. Nora Bradley, thirty years of age, both well known in New Albany, Ind. were yesterday found in an unconscious condition in a lodging house in this city, as a result of each having taken thirty grains of morphine with suicidal intent. Dunbar, who has a wife and four children in New Albany, is said to have eloped on June 26 with Mrs. Bradley, who is the mother of two children and wife of a prominent citizen of New Albany. They went from New Albany to Omaha, where they remained until the first of July, when they came here. Dunbar secured a position in a drugstore, where he worked but a short time. Later he was employed as a cigar salesman, but he did not succeed at that, and soon found himself without employment or money. In despair he and Mrs. Bradley decided to end their lives, but they were discovered in time and will recover.

A lengthy letter was found in their room. It contained a detailed statement of how and where Dunbar wanted to he buried and a request that a message be sent to Rev. C. P. Cook at New Albany, Ind., asking him to tell his (Dunbar's) wife of his death. The letter also contained this startling sentence:

"We have taken poison because of the wrong done to our loved ones."

--The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, August 15, 1900, page 25.