June 22, 1908 FIRED A BULLET INTO HIS BRAIN.
CHARLES H. LITTLE, LIVE STOCK BROKER, HIS OWN SLAYER.
HIS WIFE FINDS HIM DYING.
DEED COMMITTED WHILE STAND- ING BEFORE A MIRROR.
Worry Over Business Affairs Caused by Inactivity of Trade During the High Water Is Given as the Cause.
Awakened by a pistol shot at 6 o'clock yesterday morning, Mrs. Charlotte Little rushed into the adjoining room of her home in Bristol, a suburb of Kansas City, where she found her husband, Charles H. Little, lying on the floor unconscious with a bullet wound in the right temple. Mrs. Little ran next door to the residence of Dr. C. W. Martin who hurried to the ho use. After a hasty examination Dr. Martin summoned Dr. P. M. Agee of Independence, and the two physicians remained with the wounded man until he breathed his last, three hours later. From the position of the body on the floor Mr. Little had evidently stood in front of the bureau mirror and directed the aim of the weapon. A thorough search of the room revealed no note or message that he might have left explaining why he shot himself.
His wife and friends said yesterday that the dead man had never mentioned committing suicide and they could not give any reason for his doing so. Mr. Little's home life was pleasant and there was no family reasons which would cause him to want to take his life.
Mr. Little was 34 years old and was born at Des Moines, Ia., He came to Kansas City, Kas., when a small boy and was reared in that city. For a number of years he held a responsible position in the executive department of the Armour Packing Company at the local plant, resigning his position there to become associated with the E. S. Nixon Live Stock Commission Company at the stock yards. About two months ago he quit the employ of the Nixon company to engage in business for himself as a speculator at the yards. He had been fairly successful as a speculator, but was caught with a good sized bunch of cattle on his hands when the present high water destroyed the market and stopped trading at the yards. He took these cattle to his home near Bristol and placed them in a pasture which he had leased.
He was of a very nervous temperament, and ever since business at the yards was suspended he worried. His friends at the yards state that he was almost a physical wreck when he let the employ of the Nixon firm, and, instead of taking a vacation for the purpose of recuperation, he plunged into hard work again.
Mr. Little was a thirty-second degree Mason and past master of Wyandotte lodge No. 3, A. F. and A. M. He was also a member of the Shrine lodge at Leavenworth, a charter member of Wyandotte lodge No. 440, B. P. O. E., and belonged to Granite camp, Modern Woodmen of America. Besides his wife and child he is survived by his mother, one brother and two sisters. The body will be taken to the home of his sister, Mrs. Walter Ladd, 654 Washington avenue, Kansas City, Kas., today. The funeral will be held from there tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 o'clock.Labels: lodges, stock yards, Suicide June 12, 1908 BECAUSE HE HAD THE BLUES.
W. H. Bradley Drank Cloroform in Penn Valley Park.
Choosing Penn Valley park as a picturesque place in which to die, W. H. Bradley, 35 years old, 2937 Baltimore avenue, attempted suicide there yesterday afternoon by drinking two ounces of chloroform. He was seen lying in the park by a passer-by who called the police.
Bradley was taken hurriedly to the general hospital where he was revived by Dr. R. A. Shiras. Bradley says he wished to end his life because things looked blue.Labels: Penn Valley park, Suicide June11, 1908 LITTLE GIRL IS A SUICIDE.
Daisy Garnier, 14 Years Old, Shoots Herself -- No Cause Known.
Daisy Garnier, aged 14, the adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Garnier, 1213 Minnesota avenue, Kansas City, Kas., shot and instantly killed herself yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock at the home of her adopted parents. The girl in some manner obtained a revolver and, going into the basement of the house, placed the pistol to her head and fired a ball through her brain. No cause for the suicide is known.Labels: children, Kansas City Kas, Minnesota avenue, Suicide June 3, 1908
RIVER GIVES UP MURDER MYSTERY.
JOHN MASON HAD BEEN KILLED BY BLOW ON HEAD.
ROBBED OF JEWELS AND MONEY.
POLICE CLOSE ON THE TRAIL OF HIS MURDERERS.
Ray County Coroner Had Overlooked Important Clues to Dead Man's Identity -- Body to Be Exhumed.
When A. E. Dudley of 1825 Grand avenue, went to Camden, Ray county, Missouri, yesterday to look at three bodies found in the river there Sunday and Monday, he did not find the body of his friend, Fred Noosem, his partner in business, but he brought back the description of a man who disappeared here in January. Detectives Charles Halderman and James Fox say that it is no other than John Mason, known as "Dutch." His description and apparel prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt, and a deep hole in the skull behind the left ear indicates that he had been murdered.
Mason was a horse trader who owned twelve horses, a hack, a brougham and a runabout. He lived with a woman named Maude Wilson at 1403 Main street. On January 26, last, Maud Wilson told the detectives that she and Mason counted his money.
"He had with him just then $585," she said. "He wore a horseshoe pin in which were fifteen diamonds. The pin was locked in a lavender tie with a patent fastener. He also wore a solitaire diamond ring, a gold ring and a fine gold watch and chain. After he left my house that day he was never seen again to my knowledge."
When Dudley discovered that one of the bodies had on clothing bearing Kansas City marks he took a complete description of everything. Here is the description, which tallies exactly with the missing Mason: "He was between 24 and 26 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds. He was smooth shaved and had dark brown hair. There was no jewelry on the body, but in the tie is the remains of a pin from which the setting has been nipped. The pin is locked with a patent fastener."
Halderman and Fox say that there is no doubt that this is the body of the missing horse trader. Dudley says that the coroner of Ray county buried the body without a coffin and took no cognizance of the many identification remarks. The other two bodies found there have been claimed by relatives and removed. One was a suicide from Kansas City, Kas., and the other that of Harry Tuoroff of Independence, drowned while hunting ducks near Sibley, Mo.
There is not one man in a thousand who would have taken any further notice of the body after he saw that it was not the one he sought. It happens that Dudley formerly was a detective, and that instinct led him to take notice of these things and report them to the police here, a matter which the Ray county coroner had overlooked. Fox and Halderman have been on the case about six weeks. Arrests are expected in a few days when a sensation may be looked for.
The Ray county coroner will be ordered to exhume and hold the body of Mason. The detectives on the case say that from the first they suspected that Mason had been murdered, but until Dudley came in yesterday with the fact that the body had been found, it would have been hard to prove. The first thing to establish is the corpus delicti, the presence of the murdered body. Now that that is established they expect plain sailing.Labels: detectives, drowning, Grand avenue, Main street, Missouri river, murder, Sibley, Suicide June 2, 1908
NO MORE PENNY ICE FOR THE CITY'S POOR.
SALVATION ARMY WILL DISCON- TINUE THIS CHARITY.
All Effort and Funds Will Be Cen- tered in the Summer Camp for Women and Children -- Dull in Suicide Bureau.
There will be no penny ice this summer.
The Salvation Army has decided that the money usually expended in this manner will be devoted to other and greater needs, and consequently that plan, which has been so popular among the poor people in the slums, will be discontinued.
The announcement was made yesterday, and when it becomes known to those who have had the benefit of this charitable work a wail of protest undoubtedly will go up. Penny ice has been a boon to the poor of the tenement districts for several years. The people in those districts have begun to look forward to the time when the Salvation Army would start its penny ice wagons.
The idea of the Army officers is to concentrate their work a little more. The time that has been devoted heretofore in the penny ice work will be devoted to the summer camp. Preparations for establishing the camp are already being made and by July 1 it will be ready to accommodate guests. The camp will be located on the Swope grounds south of Swope park as heretofore Preparations are being made to accommodate at least fifty mothers and their children for a week or ten days at a time this year This is on a somewhat larger scale than in previous years, and the officers feel that all the time at their disposal will be necessary to keep the camp going.
Another feature of the Salvation Army's work that may be discontinued after a time is the anti-suicide bureau. "We haven't had a case for months," one of the officers said yesterday.
If this bureau is discontinued it will not be because of a lack of its need, but because it is not being made use of by those who need its services. When the idea was new the bureau was brought into prominence frequently, but for many months there has not been a single application for its services.
"Nevertheless, we are always ready and willing to render services whenever called upon," said Brigadier Blanche Cox yesterday afternoon.Labels: charity, Salvation Army, Suicide, Swope park June 1, 1908
SUICIDE FALLS AT FEET OF HUSBAND.
MRS. HARRY SETTLE SWALLOWS ACID AT HER HOTEL.
HAD JUST MADE UP QUARREL.
COUPLE WAS HERE VISITING MR. SETTLE'S PARENTS.
All Sunday Morning He Pleaded Out- side Her Door and at Last Believed She For- gave Him.
As an outcome of several months of domestic troubles, Mrs. Mildred Settle, daughter of Richard L. Long, a prominent real estate dealer of Fort Worth, Tex., 18 years of age, committed suicide in her room at the Humbolt hotel at Twelfth and Locust streets yesterday afternoon by drinking carbolic acid. Mrs. Settle and her husband, Harry Settle, had been in Kansas City since Saturday at midnight, having come here to visit Mr Settle's parents, who live at 1308 Oak street. They went immediately to the Humbolt hotel, and nothing more was seen of them until late yesterday morning.
Settle appeared in the dining room of the hotel for breakfast at a late hour without his young wife. After his breakfast he went back to their room to see why she had not come down for breakfast. He found the door locked, and to his knocking he received no reply.
He called repeatedly, and she finally told him to leave her, as she wished nothing more from him. Surprised at this treatment, he began to plead with her, but the young wife would speak to him no more.
After urging a reconciliation for some time, he left the hotel and went to his mother's home. He enlisted her services, and together they went to the hotel, and stood outside of the door, first one pleading with the girl, and then the other. At last Mrs. Settle opened the door and let them in. Mrs. Settle then left the husband with his wife, and soon it appeared that all the trouble was over between them. They left the hotel together, and appeared in a happy frame of mind.
About noon they returned and went directly to their room. Mr. Settle left and went to his mother's home. As he passed out of sight his wife walked form the hotel to Hucke's drug store at Twelfth and Oak streets, where she purchased a vial of carbolic acid.
SHE RAN THROUGH STREETS.
Soon she was seen running through the halls, out of doors and into her father-in-law's home. In the room she found her husband talking with his father and mother. She ran directly up to him, gasping out an almost inarticulate cry: "Oh Harry, Harry," and then fell to the floor at his feet.
The family physician was called and tried to revive the fast falling girl by administering vinegar. His treatment was without beneficial effect and her husbans sent in a call for the police ambulance. At the Walnut street station, the nearest one, the doctor had gone out for lunch, but the ambulance was sent nevertheless.
When it arrived at the house where the unconscious girl lay, she was hastily carried into the carriage and orders were given for a record drive to the emergency hospital, fourteen blocks away.
The girl was almost beyond medical aid before they had reached the hospital and died a few moments after having been taken in charge by the police surgeon.
Just before Mrs. Settle left the hotel she had opened her door and called to Mrs. A. D. Buyas, wife of the proprietor, asking her the date of the month. Remembering this incident, Mrs. Buyas went into the dead girl's room, expecting to find an explanatory note of some kind. As she passed through the door she noticed a leaf of charred paper in the center of the floor with a half burnt match beside it. She stooped to see if she could make out what was written on the sheet and succeeded in deciphering the last word, which was "dead."
BURNED FAREWELL NOTE.
Apparently Mrs. Settle had written a note telling of her suicidal intentions and at the last moment decided to leave it all to the imagination. Mr. Settle says that he was not greatly surprised at his wife's actions, for on the occasion of their last years' visit to Kansas City his wife had bought a bottle of laudanum and announced her intention of committing suicide. He says that he was able to persuade her not to do so at that time, but the threat had been ever ready with her since.
Mr. and Mrs. Settle had lived for two years on a ranch near Amarillo, Tex. While on the ranch his wife had developed a strange fascination, according to him, of breaking broncos. At the beginning of her riding she was thrown violently to the ground, sustaining a serious injury about the head. Her husband thinks that this fall caused her to become despondent and in constant ill health, which made her very irritable at times. This fact he believes caused her to magnify the family troubles, which have frequently arisen.
Harry Settle was well known in college football circles, having been a tackle on the University Medical school football team for three years, 1899-1901. At that time he was reputed to be one of the best tackles in the West. He is a brother of Mrs. E. J. Gump of 105 Spring street in this city.Labels: druggists, hotels, Locust street, Oak street, sports, Spring street, Suicide, Twelfth street, visitors May 10, 1908 SAYS HE DIDN'T WANT TO DIE.
James Rowland Revises His Story Now That He Is Well.
James Rowland, 14 years old, 1516 Harrison street, was discharged from the general hospital yesterday afternoon as out of danger. He was taken to his home by his father.
Young Rowland is the boy who, late last month, was knocked from the north approach of the Hannibal bridge and fell thirty feet. A step on the baggage car of the Rock Island train which struck him fractured his skull on the left side and the fall broke and dislocated his right arm. Drs. J. P. Neal and H. R. Conway trephined the lad's skull at the emergency hospital an hour after the accident, and to that quick work the boy owes his life. They removed several pieces of bone which were pressing on the brain.
On the night the boy was injured, he was walking across the bridge from Harlem when James Knowlden, a farmer, called to him and said, "Look out! There's a train coming across the bridge."
Not seeing the train himself, and, being of a joking turn of mind,, Rowland called back: "Oh, I don't care. I want to die anyway." On that account it was believed that the boy had tried to commit suicide. He says now that he made the remark just in fun and did not see the train until it was upon him.
Rowland said that on that day he played "hookey" from school and was induced by a boy called "Rusty" to go to Harlem. After reaching there, Rowland changed his mind and concluded to go home. He had only 5 cents left and intended to go home by way of the toll bridge. He walked onto the trestle approach instead of the wagon road below.Labels: children, doctors, general hospital, Hannibal bridge, Harlem, Harrison street, railroad, Suicide April 4, 1908
SHE TRIES SUICIDE AFTER THREE WEEKS.
MARRIED LIFE IS BITTER TO 16-YEAR-OLD BRIDE.
Mrs. Rowena Townsend Drinks Bi- Chloride of Mercury at Her Father's Bedside -- She May Die.
Three weeks of married life, one week of separation and an attempt to commit suicide last night, ended a chapter in the life of Mrs. Rowena Townsend, 1101 Michigan avenue. Mrs. Townsend is 16 years of age and was married to Edward Townsend, who is but four years her senior, at the home of her mother on the night of March 4. Townsend is a shipping clerk in the Kansas City Elevator Company.
After the young couple were married they made their home with the bride's parents and, to outward appearances, were perfectly contented. The mother, Mrs. James Smith, said that she had never seen a happier couple and that she began to regret having made objections to the marriage. After three weeks of this apparent bliss, Townsend failed to return to his home after working hours. Mrs. Smith then asked her daughter if there had been any trouble between them and Rowena replied that she did not care to discuss the matter; that it was an affair strictly between themselves and that she would never tell anyone what the trouble was.
After Townsend's disappearance Rowena did not seem to be in particular low spirits and went about the house laughing and singing; she never mentioned her husband's name. Yesterday afternoon she went down town after having told her mother that she was going shopping, and purchased two ounces of bi-chloride of mercury. She did not return home for supper, but her mother was not disturbed, believing that the girl had gone out to dine with one of her girl friends.
Shortly after 8 o'clock Rowena returned and walked into the room where her aged father was lying, dangerously ill; looking long at him, she turned her back and drank the contents of the phial which she had purchased. Immediately she began to choke and strangle. Mr. Smith called his wife, who was in another room. She hastened to answer her husband's summons and found her daughter lying on the floor by the bed.
Mrs. Smith thought that her daughter was in a fit, and dragged her out into the hall to the front door. There she removed the girl's wraps and hat and loosened her collar. The neighbors, hearing the sound of excited voices, hurried to the assistance of Mrs. Smith, with whom Rowena was struggling violently, declaring over and again that she must die.
Dr. B. W. Green, Twelfth street and Highland avenue, was called in and took charge of the girl. In her unconscious state she grew delirious and told how she had been deceived by her husband, whose affections for her had cooled so soon after the wedding. Dr. Green was unable to pronounce his patient entirely out of danger up to a late hour this morning.Labels: doctors, Highland avenue, marriage, Michigan avenue, Suicide, Twelfth street March 30, 1908 OUT OF WORK, TOOK POISON.
Jacob Kohn, Sick and Discouraged, Ends Life With Acid.
A man, believed to be Jacob Kohn, committed suicide in room fourteen at the Plaza hotel, Missouri avenue and Delaware street, Saturday night, and the body was found at 9 o'clock yesterday morning by Sara Ridgeway, the housekeeper. Coroner George B. Thompson says that during his term of office no other Jew has taken his own life in Kansas city and that the crime is almost unknown among men of Jewish belief
Kohn, in a farewell note, directed that the Jewish Society of Kansas City take charge of his remains. The society will bury the body, but it cannot be laid in a Jewish cemetery.
Kohn's farewell note, which he wrote just before drinking carbolic acid, as the pencil left on the table bears witness, reads:
"To whom it may concern -- This is my second attempt at suicide. I
think I shall succeed this time. I am in poor health, am unable to get
work and have no friends and no money. Give my body to the Jewish
Society. -- Jake Kohn."
Mrs. Ridgeway says that Kohn came to the hotel Saturday night late and registered as John Johnson. She had never seen him before. He paid for his room. Shortly before 9 o'clock yesterday morning when a maid was unable to get into the room to tidy it, Mrs. Ridgeway, who was called in, was informed from a man who had spent the night in room 15 adjoining, that he had heard the man in room 14 groaning and rolling around during the night. Upon that statement Mrs. Ridgeway called the police, who forced the door and found the body.
Coroner Thompson was notified and sent the body to Freeman and Marshall's morgue. Not a penny was found in the clothes. There was nothing to identify the man, excepting the signature on the note. In the pocket were cards from business houses and factories in many Kansas and Oklahoma towns. Kohn was evidently a laborer and had been in these towns looking for employment.Labels: Coroner Thompson, hotels, laborer, poison, race, Suicide, undertakers March 27, 1908 WAS SLAPPED BY HER MOTHER.
Lena Vaughn, a 15-Year-Old Girl, Tries Suicide With Acid.
The specter of suicide in her bedroom, and a door without a knob, almost broke the heart of 9-year-old Edna Vaughn last night. Her sister, Lena, 15 years old, after insolence to her mother and a slapping, had sulked through the evening, supperless, at a neighbor's until Warren Vaughn, the father, a contractor, sent Edna after her He said she must come home for bed. She went with her sister to a little square bedroom, where, in a moment, she said: "I'm going to take something to kill myself, Edna," and tipped a bottle of carbolic acid to her lips. The child was paralyzed with terror for a moment, then shutting her eyes, turned and beat her little hands madly against the door, from which the loose knob and handle had fallen to the outside.
The parents had retired across the hall, and did not hear at once. When they were aroused there was difficulty in opening the door. Lard and vinegar were forced down the girl's throat, while the police ambulance was making a run to the home at 1820 Summit street. Dr. Carl V. Bates, ambulance surgeon, found the girl a stubborn patient and it was only after a continued resistance that the stomach pump was used. When he left, the doctor said the girl would recover She was a laundry employe. When she came from work she resented her mother's refusing to fix a sewing machine for her.Labels: children, doctors, poison, Suicide, Summit street March 20, 1908 SAY SWANSON WAS DEMENTED.
While Serving in Philippines He Suf- fered Sunstroke.
It is the belief of relatives of Thomas Swanson, who entered the home of Mrs. Rose Everett, 819 Orville avenue, Kansas City, Kas., at 12:30 o'clock yesterday morning, apparently with the intention of criminally assaulting Irene Everett and afterwards committed suicide was insane.
"My brother had not been just right mentally, for over a year," said Mrs. Effie Hess, a sister, yesterday.
"He was a soldier during the Philippine war, and was then sunstruck. At times he was almost violent, and neighbors advised mother to have him taken to a sanitarium. I think he tried to commit suicide by drinking carbolic acid a year ago."
Many neighbors who have long known both the Everett and Swanson families believe, with Mrs. Hess, that Thomas Swanson did not know what he was doing when he entered the Everett home.
They say he had always borne the reputation of being a young man of good habits, but had lately been subject to fits of melancholia.Labels: Kansas City Kas, mental health, Suicide, veterans March 19, 1908
STABS WOMAN; SLAYS HIMSELF.
HORRIBLE DEED OF A CRAZED MIDNIGHT PROWLER.
TRIES TO ASSAULT A GIRL.
BREAKS INTO HER ROOM AND THREATENS LIFE.
Mother Rushes to Her Rescue, Seizes Intruder and Is Stabbed -- He Takes Carbolic Acid.
Rather than face arrest and trial for attempted criminal assault, James Thomas Swanson, 23 years of age, stabbed and probably fatally wounded Mrs. Rosa Everett, the mother of his intended victim, at her home, 819 Orville avenue, Kansas City, Kas., at 12:30 o'clock this morning. Immediately after having stabbed the woman, Swanson ran to his own home, just two doors distant, 823 Orville avenue, and drank an ounce of carbolic acid. Half an hour later he died.
Swanson, according to the neighbors, had been paying particular attention to Irene Everett, a pretty girl of 18 years, for several months. He had called at the house many times, but was never seen out with the girl. Gossip had it, however, that the two were engaged. Nothing out of the ordinary had transpired between them up until last night. Irene's bedroom is located in the west side of the one-story cottage at 819 Orville avenue, and has windows on the west and south sides. At 12:30 she was awakened by someone softly opening one of the west windows. Thinking that it was a burglar Irene decided that she would pretend sleep. As the intruder entered the room he struck a match and lighted the gas. It was then that Irene recognized in him her erstwhile lover, Swanson. SHE QUESTIONED HIM. Knowing Swanson as well as she did, she at first made no outcry, but asked him his purpose in her room at that hour of the night. Swanson replied that he had just come over to see her and would probably spend the rest of the night with her. He told her that he was surprised to find her in bed so early. Irene, noticing that Swanson was peculiarly nervous and agitated, glanced at the clock in her room and saw that it was nearly 12:30 o'clock. Then she became frightened and demanded again an explanation of his presence, telling him that he was mistaken as to the time. Then Swanson, according to Irene, became most horrible to look upon. His face was contorted and the muscles in his face and arms moved convulsively. He leaned towards the trembling girl and whispered his purpose to her. Horrified, Irene screamed frantically for help, calling her mother's name again and again. Swanson was somewhat taken aback by the stubborn resistance with which he had met, and grappled with the girl. At this juncture, the door to Irene's bedroom was opened, and Mrs. Everett, dressed only in her night clothes, entered the room. Seeing Swanson she quickly guessed his purpose, caught him around the waist and tried to drag him from the room. Meanwhile both mother and daughter were screaming for help. Realizing that his dastardly attempt frustrated, Swanson drew a knife and plunged it deep into Mrs. Everett's left breast. He then ran from the room, making his exit through the window which he used to gain entrance. HE STABS THE MOTHER. Directly to his own home Swanson ran, and entered the house through the kitchen door. Meanwhile, Mrs. Everett had burst through the south window with her bare hands and leaned out, still screaming for help. S. F. Essex of 817 Orville heard the cries and ran from his home to investigate. Following the sound of screams he came upon Mrs. Everett and her daughter. Mrs. Everett was fast losing consciousness and Irene told the story of the terrible ordeal through which she and her mother just passed.. Essex immediately notified the police and then carried Mrs. Everett into his home, where she was attended by the family until A. J. Gannon, police surgeon, arrived. Mrs. Ida Swanson, mother of Thomas, was awakened at this time by a draft which blew through the room. She arose and called to her daughter, who slept in the adjoining room, asking if the windows were open. Finding that the draft came from the open door in the kitchen of the house, Mrs. Swanson started to close it. As she neared the hallway she heard her son cry out: "I've taken carbolic acid, and I am a dead one!" Her son had fallen in the doorway, and soon died. Labels: Kansas City Kas, Suicide, violence March 6, 1908 ANOTHER MAN WAS CHICKEN.
Edward Williams, Being Feathers, Tried to Take His Own Life.
"Let me die, Doc. I want to die. I'm chicken today and feathers tomorrow. Nothing more to live for, let me die."
With a gash in his throat, four inches long, Edward Williams, a transfer man, living at 214 East Missouri avenue, lay on the operating table at the emergency hospital yesterday and begged the surgeon not to sew up the wound. Williams says that he recently discovered that his wife no longer loved him. After this discovery he decided to kill himself. He went to his room yesterday with suicidal intentions. He had just drawn a knife across his throat, inflicting the would when a friend discovered him and knocked the knife out of his hand. Williams is 28 years old.Labels: emergency hospital, marriage, Missouri avenue, Suicide March 1, 1908 WOMAN DRINKS CARBOLIC ACID.
Mrs. J. T. Woodford Was in Ill Health and Despondent.
Mrs. J. T. Woodward, 50 years old, the wife of J. T. Woodford, formerly an elevator man at the city hall, drank a half ounce of carbolic acid at her home, 1121 Harrison street, about 6 o'clock yesterday evening. A call for a physician was sent to the emergency hospital from this address at 10:20 o'clock last night. Dr. R. A. Shiras answered the call and found Mrs. Woodford in a semi-comatose condition from the effect of the acid. She was revived and may recover.
Woodford had not called in a physician before he sent the call to the emergency hospital. He told Dr. Shiras that he had not thought it necessary, knowing that his wife had swallowed only a half an ounce of the liquid. He thought that she would recover without the assistance of a physician, And he would thus escape the notoriety.
Mrs. Woodford is said to have been despondent and in ill health.Labels: city hall, emergency hospital, Harrison street, health, poison, Suicide February 29, 1908 REPUDIATED HER IN DEATH.
Man Claiming to Be Husband of Sui- cide Shows Indifference.
Mrs. Maude Bearden was taken to the emergency hospital last night suffering from the effects of carbolic acid, which she took with suicidal intent She died within twenty minutes.
Soon after a man called at the hospital and said that he was the woman's husband.
"Where was her home?"
"Her parents live at Osceola, Mo.," said the man.
"Where did she live here?"
"I don't know and I don't care."
"Do you want to take charge of the body?"
"I do not."
And the man who said he was the husband left the station. It was learned that Mrs. Bearden had been living at 510 Central street. She was seen standing at Fifth and Central streets at 8 o'clock last night by G. E. Ritchey, a saloon man. He saw her raise a bottle to her lips. He ran toward her, but it was too late. She had swallowed about three ounces of carbolic acid. Mrs. Bearden was 28 years old.Labels: Central street, emergency hospital, Fifth street, saloon, Suicide February 27, 1908 WOMAN COMMITS SUICIDE.
Mrs. Hickey Dies at Emer- gency Hospital.
Mrs. Margaret Hickey, 41 years old, took carbolic acid with suicidal intent at 517 May street last night and died fifteen minutes later after she had been taken to the emergency hospital. She was the wife of W. D. Hickey, a bartender, who has been employed in Oklahoma. Hickey visited here a month ago. Mrs. Hickey had been living at the May street address for a year.Labels: emergency hospital, May street, Suicide February 3, 1908 FROZEN STIFF IN HIS CHAIR.
Neighbors Found the Body of George Ordway, a Suicide.
Completely frozen, the body of George Ordway was found in a chair in a sitting posture in his home, 2308 Main street, yesterday morning. Some of his neighbors had called to see him, knowing that he had been in ill health and was somewhat desopndent over the death fo his wife which occurred three weeks ago.
Upon entering the room they found the body and a bottle, which had contained laudanum, upon a table at its side. The police found a note Ordway had left for the coroner, containing several names of persons whom he desired to be notified of his death.
Ordway was 75 years old and had been employed as a laborer on a rock crusher at Twenty-fifth street and Grand avenue. He has no relatives in the city. The coroner said that he had probably been dead for twenty-four hours as it would have taken the body that long to have become completely frozen.Labels: Grand avenue, laborer, Main street, Seniors, Suicide, Twenty-fifth street January 28, 1908 WIFE WANTS PUGH'S MONEY.
But Finds That Suicide's Mother and Brother Have It.
The suicide of W. A. Pugh at 721 East Eighth street, Saturday evening, threatens complications regarding the disposition made of his money and jewelry by the emergency hospital authorities. The brother, W. G. Pugh, went with the mother to the hospital and was given the $234 in money and diamonds amounting to several hundred more.
Yesterday the wife returned from Waterloo, Ia. She was told that W. G. Pugh had made affidavit that the suicide had never been married and had no wife, thereby obtaining the property. Dr. J. P. Neal, however, who was in charge of the hospital and after searching the body took charge of the valuables, said that W. G. Pugh gave no affidavit but only a receipt for the articles. Coroner Thompson, who, by virtue of his office, ordinarily takes charge of a victim's property, says that the custom is, where the emergency hospital people have searched a body before death, that he does not receive the property from them.
The wife insists that she and Pugh were married six years ago. She came direct from her train to Stine's morgue to view the body, and found the mother and brother present. The three conversed, the wife telling the others that she had written him she was coming back. It was later, at the emergency hospital, that she learned that his valuables had been turned over to his family.
Mrs. Pugh, before marriage, was employed in a restaurant and studied two years to be a trained nurse. W. G. Pugh, the brother, has remained single and lives with the mother at 3622 Independence avenue.Labels: Coroner Thompson, Eighth street, emergency hospital, Independence avenue, probate, Suicide, undertakers January 21, 1908 HER HUSBAND TOOK THE BOY.
And Mrs. Mary E. Brown Tried to End Her Life With Poison.
More than a week ago Silas Brown, a driver for the American Butter Company, 540 Walnut street, left his wife, Mary E. Brown, and went to live with his mother at Seventh and Oak streets, taking with him a 2-year-old adopted boy. The wife continued living alone at 1214 East Eighth street, pining for the child. Last night she visited her husband and his mother, and begged them to let her have the boy . It is said they received her coldly, and refused her request.
Returning to her home Mrs. Brown took poison, and notified a friend of her act. She was removed to emergency hospital, where the physicians worked over her until 1 o'clock this morning, at which time she revived sufficiently to tell them what drove her to the attempt upon her life. She did not say w hat kind of poison she had taken, but the doctors believed it to be strychnine. It is thought that she will recover.
Mrs. Brown in 23 years of age, and comely.Labels: custody, Eighth street, general hospital, Oak street, Seventh street, Suicide, Walnut Street, women January 20, 1908
LOSS OF LOVE CAUSES SUICIDE.
EARL LEMMON SHOOTS HIM- SELF IN THE HEAD.
GIRL BREAKS ENGAGEMENT.
"Do Not Trifle With a Man as If He Were a Dog," the Last Words by Lem- mon. 
EARL LEMMON.
Because Nellie Hickey, 2521 Myrtle avenue, had broken her engagement to marry him, Earl Lemmon, 24 years old, killed himself in his room at Twenty-sixth and Mersington streets yesterday afternoon. Less than two hours after he had bed Miss Hickey a cheerful adieu, his body was found lying across a bed in his room, a 38 caliber pistol lying beside it and a wound in the head revealing the course of the bullet. Upon a table near by the coroner found the following letter:
To All of My Friends. Please forgive me for what I am about to do. I have suffered as no one knows in the last four or five months, but cannot stand it any longer. You will find my plicey at Mrs. Hanifin's. One deed to a lot at Thirty-third and Brighton, a deed to two lots on Leeds road in that box also. If hell is any worse than what I have went through with, I am willing to welcome it.Mr. Cook, you will find a few bills unpaid. If my brothers care for me, they owe me enough to pay all my bills. Give my watch to Mr. Cook and my ring to Nellie. You don't konw what I went through with for you, and you shall never know. But be square next time. Do not trifle with a man as if he was a dog, because they bite back. I must stop now. God bless you. Love and best wishes to Nellie. (Signed) EARL.
(P. S.) God forgive me for this. Goodby all. What money I had I lost some six or seven months ago in a freind-turn-you-down-style.
TWENTY KISSES FOR NELLIE.
Beside this letter was found a souvenir postcard with the photograph of a girl upon it. Upon this card, scrawled in the dead man's handwriting, were the words: "Twenty kisses; goodby, Nellie. Be a good girl."
Young Lemmon was employed by Clayton E. Cook of the Home Produce Company at 2446 Cleveland. He roomed in the home of Clarence Stumpff, a fellow employe, in a cottage near Twenty-sixth and Mersington streets. During the eighteen months he had been in the employ of Mr. Cook he was said to have been a sober, industrious, hard working young man. He had managed to save a little money which he had invested in real estate.
Early yesterday morning he called at the home of Miss Hickey. About n oon he returned to his room and ended his life.
Miss Hickey is the daughter of Lawrence Hickey, a Missouri Pacific switchman. She was very much distressed at the news. When she was seen at her home several hours after the suicide, her eyes were swollen with weeping.
JEALOUS OF THE GIRL. 
MISS NELLIE HICKEY.
For the Loss of Whose Love Earl Lemmon Ended His Life.
"Earl and I have been sweethearts from childhood," she said. "We have been betrothed for several years. But he was insanely jealous of me, and several months ago I broke off the engagement on that account. At that time he threatened to kill himself, but I never thought he would do it. He seemed very much grieved because I had received attentions from other young men, but I didn't think ghe took it so much to heart. This morning he called upon me and we chatted pleasantly. When he started home, he called out, 'Goodby Nell,' very cheerfully. There was nothing in his manner that indicated he was thinking of killing himself.
The story was corroborated by Mr. and Mrs. Hickey. Both said there had never been any parental objections to the affair between their daughter and Lemmon, and that ever since the engagement was broken off the young man had been on terms of close friendship with the family.
Lemmon has a brother, bert Lemmon, who lives at the home of a Mrs. Hanifin at 3315 East Twenty-second street. He has four other brothers, a foster sister, who lives in Armourdale, and his father, who lives in California.
Labels: Armourdale, Cleveland avenue, Mersington street, romance, Suicide, Thirty-third street, Twenty-second street, Twenty-sixth street January 6, 1907 MAIL CLERK DRINKS ACID.
Despondent, F. A. Dunn Kills Himself at His Forest Avenue Home.
F. A. Dunn, a railway mail clerk, 32 years old, committed suicide by drinking three ounces of carbolic acid at his home at 3417 Forest avenue yesterday noon.
His act is said to have been the result of depression following the protracted use of intoxicants. Mrs. Dunn was in the house at the time but supposed her husband had gone upstairs to lie down. Soon after he had left her she heard a heavy fall upon the floor above and and rushed to the stricken man's side, only to find him already breathing his last. Dr. J. W. Kyger was hastily summoned by the man was dead many minutes before he arrived. The body was turned over to Freeman & Marshall.Labels: doctors, Forest avenue, Suicide, undertakers December 29, 1907 YOUNG WIFE TIRES OF LIFE.
Mrs. Grace Kemper, Invalid, Tries to Kill Herself With Acid.
Despairing of ever regaining her health, Mrs. Grace Kemper tried to end her life yesterday afternoon by drinking carbolic acid. She has been in ill health for the past four years. Mrs. Kemper is the wife of T. J. Kemper, and employee of the Central Ice Company, and lives with him at 2030 Holmes street. She was married at the age of 16. They have no children.
When the attending physician caled at the Kemper home yesterday morning on a professional visit to Mrs. Kemper, he left the impression in his patient's mind that she was beyond all medical aid and that she would be more or less confined to her bed for the remainder of her life.
At 5:30 o'clock, when she thought the house was empty, Mrs. Kemper went to a medicine cabinet where she knew carbolic acid was kept and, taking a vial from the chest, drank its contents. She then staggered to her bed and began groaning loudly. Her husband had returned from his work just a few minutes before and, hearing her groans, went into the room.
His wife was in such a condition that she could not speak, and was fast growing worse. Seeing acid burns around her mouth he hastened to the general hospital, just back of his home, where he got Dr. W. C. Smith to go with him to his wife.
When the doctor got to the Kemper home, Mrs. Kemper was unconscious. He applied antidotes before the acid had been assimilated into her system and, notwithstanding the fact that mrs. Kemper was unconscious for several hours after medical treatment, she will survive.Labels: doctors, general hospital, Holmes street, Suicide, women December 25, 1907 DID "FRAT" MEN HANG HIM?
Frank Miller's Father Denies That His Son Was a Suicide.
Did Frank miller, the young Pennsylvania university student who was found hanging ead in his room at the university last Wednesday, commit suicide or was he the victim of a prank played by "frat" men in his initiation into the Psi Omega fraternity? His father, the Reverand J. H. Miller, 2930 Main street, does not believe his son committed suicide, but he will offer no theory as to how he came to his death.
There are two reasons which tend to disprove the theory of suicide. According to the Rev. Miller, his son was not of a morose or nervous temperament as stated in the dispatches from Philadelphia, but was of a cheerful disposition and well liked by his fellow students. The note alleged to have been found in young Miller's room in which he is said to have stated his intention to take hsi life, has not been forwarded to the father, although other letters and personal effects belonging to the young man have been received.
"I cannot believe that he has taken his life until I see that note in my own boy's handwriting," said the grief-stricken father yestrday. "It's a mystery to us all. We only know that he lost his life, but we do not believe he lost it at his own hands. How he came to his death, we are not able to say."
Young Miller was a candidate for membership in the Zeta chapter of the Psi Omega fraternity and the Friday before his death he was initiated into the society. At the initiation ceremony he was roughly handled and one of his toes broken. Whether any further pranks were played on him by the "frat" men is not known. The father stated yesterday that he would write the coroner for a full account of the tragedy.Labels: death, Main street, ministers, pranks, Suicide December 23, 1907 COULDN'T WAIT FOR SLOW DEATH.
HEALTH FAILED RILEY AND HE SWALLOWED POISON.
WIFE FOUND HIM TOO LATE.
HAD JUST RETURNED FROM A TRIP FOR HIS HEALTH.
For Many Years Charles C. Riley Was a Department Manager for Emery, Bird, Thayer -- Broke Down From Overwork.
Charles C. Riley, a former department manager for the Emery, bird, Thayer Dry Goods Company, who a year ago next New Year's day went to live in Paloma, La., to regain his failing health, returned with his wife to their home at 3911 East Tenth street at 10 o'clock yesterday morning to await death within a few weeks.
His strength was barely sufficient. Upon his reaching home, for him to climb one flight of stairs to the bath room. He had been in the room but a minute or two when his wife called to him.
"I am all right," he said, but his voice sounded strange.
She pushed open the door and found him lying on the floor. He was holding in his hand an empty vial which had contained carbolic acid. As she stooped to speak to him, he smiled and whispered:
"Goodby, dear!"
There were several friends in the house, who had met the Rileys at the depot and escorted them to their home, and upon Mrs. Riley's giving the alarm, someone telephoned for a physician. Dr. W. A. Armour, who lives at 3401 East Twelfth street, reached the house within ten minutes, but Mr. Riley was already dead.
Coroner G. B. Thompson said that an inquest was unnecessary where the cause of death was so plain. The label on the acid bottle showed that Mr. Riley had purchased it in Paloma, and that he had likely many days ago planned to end the hopeless struggle to regain his health.
Three years ago, while Mr. Riley was serving his thirteenth year as manager of the woolen dress goods department of Emery, Bird, Thayer's, his health failed. He kept on working and a year later took upon himself additional work. During the holidays last year he suffered nervous prostration and never returned to his work. His nervous system seemed to be utterly shattered, and the trip to the South, which was his last hope for recovery, failed to build him up.
The only relatives in Kansas City are the widow and one daughter. Mr. Riley's parents, who live in Farmington, N. J., have been notified. The funeral services will be held from the residence after their arrival.Labels: doctors, retailers, Suicide, Tenth street, Twelfth street December 21, 1907 HE WAS DETERMINED TO DIE.
Man Thought to Be Charles Corbett Killed by Sightseeing Car.
A man believed to be Charles Corbett, a railroad laborer from Rossville Station, Ill., was run down and instantly killed by a "Seeing Kansas City" car at Eighth and Delaware streets about 3:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. There were a dozen or more witnesses to the man's death. It is said Corbett was under the influence of liquor.
Harry Criner, 707 Washington street, and William Houser, who gave his address as the Santa Fe cutting house, were standing waiting for a car when Corbett started across the tracks. "Houser grabbed hold of the man," said Criner, "and eh jerked away from him. Just then, seeing the car approaching, I stepped forward and the man was so intent on crossing that he struck me across the nose for trying to interfere with him."
There was nothing in the dead man's pockets but what appeared to be a laborer's transfer from Rossville Junction, Ill., on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad, to some other point. The name of Charles Corbett is on that. The same name appears in several places in a small account book he had. Not a cent of money, not even a pocket knife, was found.
The dead man probably was 30 years old, five feet seven or eight inches tall, and weighed about 135 or 140 pounds. He had dark hair, blue eyes, fair complexion and smooth face. He wore a blue flannel shirt, blue overalls and black trousers.
The records at police headquarters show that twice this week a man by the name of Charles Corbett was held for safe keeping. Both times he had been drinking heavily and once went into the station himself claiming that he was being followed. From the description given them of the dead man the police are sure that it is the same one.
Fritz Braden, conductor, and Lowry Burke, motorman, of the car, were arrested by Sergeant James Hogan and Patrolman John T. Rogers. At headquarters they refused to make a statement to Captain Whitsett and were sent to the county prosecutor. They were released after their names had been taken. They promised to be on hand when wanted.Labels: Captain Whitsett, Delaware street, Eighth street, laborer, police, railroad, streetcar, Suicide, Washington street December 17, 1907 FOUR ATTEMPTS AT SUICIDE.
Member of Aristocratic Philadelphia Family Tries to End Life Here.
Four attempts to commit suicide, none of which was successful, marked an eventful day in the life of Robert Patterson yesterday. Patterson, who is said to be of an aristocratic family in Philadelphia, seemed determined to end his life and it was not until he had been strapped to a bed in the emergency hospital last night that his attempts at self-destruction ceased.
Patterson had been at the Baltimore hotel since December 14. He is said to have told that he had wealthy and influential family connections in Philadelphia, but that he had had trouble with his father about a marriage he was contemplating. He told a policeman that an uncle of his was at one time governor of Pennsylvania. he had evidently been drinking heavily for the past few days.Labels: alcohol, Hotel Baltimore, Suicide, visitors December 13, 1907 HE DRANK CARBOLIC ACID.
Max Sight Was Despondent From Liquor and Illness.
Despondent because of domestic trouble over his habit of drinking intoxicating liquor, Max Sight committed suicide at his home, 1407 East Eighth street, yesterday afternoon, by drinking more than two ounces of carbolic acid. Sight was operated upon for appendicitis two weeks ago, and his illness is also said to have had something to do with his despondency.
The body of Sight was found on a sofa in his house by his wife about 4:30 o'clock.
Sight was born in Russia 42 years ago. he came to Kansas City five years ago from New York and was employed by the Flersheim Liquor Company here. He leaves a widow and three sons, Jacob, 20; Harry, 18; and David, 8 years of age.Labels: alcohol, Eighth street, immigrants, Suicide December 1, 1907
LEFT HIS WIFE'S ADDRESS.
Then Louis Belderbeck Sat Down and Took Poison.
Brooding over business difficulties, Louis Belderbeck, 35 years of age, attempted suicide at the Helping Hand institute last night. At about 12 o'clock he went to the night clerk in the institute and had him make a note of his wife's name and address in Omaha, Neb. He then went around the room telling each of the men present that he was going on a long journey and would probably never see any of them again. He then went into the chapel, sat down and swallowed morphine. Some of the people who had remained in the room after services called a doctor. He was treated and sent to the emergency hospital, where it is said that he will recover. He had been at the Helping Hand two or three weeks.Labels: Helping Hand, Suicide November 16, 1907 BANKER SHOT AT MIDLAND.
WITH A BULLET J. B. THOMAS OF ALBANY, MO., ENDED HIS LIFE.
Found in the Bath Room of His Apart- ment of the Hotel Yesterday -- Well Known as a Mason and to State Politics.
J. B. Thomas, cashier of the Bank of Albany of Albany, Mo., committed suicide in the Midland hotel this morning by shooting himself through the right temple with a revolver. Mr. Thomas's body was found in a bathroom at 2:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
Coroner Thompson was called and said the man probably had been dead several hours. He ordered the body taken to the undertaking rooms of Freeman & Marshall.
"Mr. Thomas came here last night," T. B. Bishop, the clerk at the hotel said. "He went to his room at about 8:30 o'clock. This morning the maid found his door locked when she went to the apartment to arrange it. About 2 o'clock she went there again and received no response when she knocked.
"No response was made to repeated knockings and the carpenter forced the door open. Mr. Thomas was found dead in the bathroom."
Mr. Thomas was fully dressed. The revolver was still clutched in his right hand and contained one empty cartridge. On his left hand was a Masonic ring. Engraved inside was "J. B. Thomas, Consistory No. 2, From Nicholson."
He wore a gold watch and a chain with a Knight Templar charm attached. In his pockets was found $3 in change and a bunch of rings.
"I can conceive of no reason for his act," Judge Thomas Morrow, who is a close friend of Mr. Thomas, said yesterday. "He was one of the leading citizens of his town. He was a prominent Mason."
T. B. Bishop telephoned the Bank of Albany at once. The officers of the bank could give no reason for the act. Mr. Bishop told them the body would be placed in the care of the Kansas City Masons subject to advice from his relatives.
Mr. Thomas, who was apparently about 60 years old, was a Kentuckian by birth. He came to Missouri as a young man and at first was a village blacksmith. He was elected circuit clerk of Gentry county in 1876 and re-elected in 1880. He was made cashier of the Bank of Albany soon after he retired from office, and had held that position ever since. He was elected grand master of the Masonic order of the state about six years ago and his Masonic ring was the first identification when his body was found. Mr. Thomas accumulated considerable money and invested most of it in mining properties around Galena and Baxter, Kas.
He left one son, Claude Thomas, cashier of a bank in Gravity, Ia., and a daughter, Mrs. Dr. Stapleton at Ha Harpe, near Iola, Kas. His wife is living.
Mr. Thomas was a familiar figure at nearly all Democratic political gatherings of importance. He wore a heavy beard which in recent years has been changing from a dark brown to gray.Labels: banking, blacksmiths, Coroner Thompson, Judges, Midland, politics, Suicide, undertakers November 15, 1907 DEATH RATHER THAN BLINDNESS.
Probable Cause of the Suicide of Leo Mainhardt.
"I believe I am going blind. I can't see to read the paper at night at all."
Before Leo Mainhardt, the cigar dealer, left his store at 601 Delaware street Tuesday night that was a remark he made to one of his clerks. It is the belief of his business associates that he may have wandered about the streets until 12:00 when he went to the Centropolis hotel, engaged a room, then committed suicide.
Mr. Mainhardt's eyesight was rapidly failing and he was constantly worrying about his inability to see.
Constant worry over his ailment," Mrs. Mainhardt said this morning, "is the only cause to which I can attribute his act. He has never said anything that would indicate that he intended to commit suicide, however."
The funeral will be held this afternoon at the house, 1322 Euclid avenue.Labels: Centropolis, cigars, Delaware street, Euclid avenue, retailers, Suicide November 6, 1907
WAITED FOR POISON TO ACT.
Woman Tells How it Feels to Expect to Die. Mrs. Ora Shugart, the young woman who attempted suicide by taking cloroform yesterday at the Sexton hotel, was removed from the emergency hospital this morning to the home of her grandmother, Mrs. H. A. Snyder, at 2010 East Seventh street. She will recover.
Mrs. Shugart and a man giving the name of M. L. Wells registered at the Sexton hotel as husband and wife last Monday night. She was found unconscious in her room yesterday afternoon. "Wells was jealous of another friend of mine," Mrs. Shugart said this morning, "and he threatened to kill me. He left the room saying he was going after a revolver. I thought I would kill myself before he had a chance to do so. "I sent a bellboy out for an ounce of chloroform, saying I wished to use it to clean my kid gloves.
"After I took the poison I combed my hair, polished my finger nails and stood around and waited to see what it was going to do. I took the poison about 10:30 o'clock; it was about noon when I became unconscious." Mrs. Shugart hadn't heard from Wells this morning. Labels: emergency hospital, hotels, romance, Seventh street, Suicide October 9, 1907 WHISKY SAVED HIS LIFE.
Aconite Failed to Take Effect on Lawyer William Grady.
Aconite failed to kill William Grady, an attorney, yesterday noon, because whisky is an antidote for the poison. Dr. G. A. Dagg, with the Walnut Street police ambulance, was called to the Grady home, 1627 Cottage, and found the young attorney had taken several ounces of aconite, supposedly with suicidal intent. It had only failed to kill because the man's system was heavily charged with alcohol. Patrolman Prewitt, who accompanied the ambulance, brought a stretcher into Grady's presence to carry him to a hospital, and the patient's condition improved quickly. A family doctor who arrived then agreed to take full charge of the patient, and as the doctors agreed that the poison's power had been offset, he was allowed to remain home.Labels: alcohol, attorney, Cottage street, doctors, poison, Suicide, Walnut street police station September 28, 1907 HE DRANK CARBOLIC ACID.
Abe Friedman, 21 Years Old, Was Un- der Treatment for Melancholia.
Abe Friedman, 21 years old, killed himself by drinking three ounces of carbolic acid at the home of his mother, Mrs. Rachel Friedman, 1512 Troost avenue, yesterday afternoon between 5 and 6 o'clock. For the past several weeks young Friedman had been an inmate of the Grandview sanitarium, a Kansas City, Kas., institution, where he had been treated, it was thought successfully, for acute melancholia.
Besides his mother he is survived by three brothers, Meyer, David and Samuel, who are associated in the grocery business.Labels: grocers, hospitals, Kansas City Kas, Suicide, Troost avenue September 16, 1907 OPIUM USER TRIES SUICIDE.
Rivers Made Three Attempts on His Life at the Workhouse.
Otto Rivers, an intimate of the city workhouse who is addicted to the opium habit, and who shot John Spangler, head guard at the workhouse a few days ago in an attempt to get the guard's revolver to commit suicide with, tried three times to take hos own life yesterday morning. First he set fire to his bunk. He did not have nerve enough to let the flames envelope his clothing and the fire was extinguished before any damage was done. Later he pounded up a two-ounce glass bottle and swallowed the broken glass. A police ambulance was called and he was started to the general hospital. On the way he seized a revolver which was protruding from the officer's hip pocket and attempted to shoot himself. He was overpowered and the weapon wrested from him before he was able to discharge it.. At the general hospital last night it was said Rivers would recover. He had been given opium, the first time in several weeks, and was said to be resting easily. Rivers' dementia is entirely due to his having been deprived of the drug while confined in the workhouse. He is only 27 years old, but has been using the drug several years. He says his life becomes torture without it and is worse than death.
Rivers was sentenced to the workhouse on a technical charge of vagrancy June 17. He had been seen prowling around a number of office buildings at the time the "office building firebug" was operating.
Spangler, who was shot in the tussle with Rivers several days ago, is still in the general hospital.Labels: general hospital, narcotics, Suicide, vagrancy, workhouse August 29, 1907 THREW HERSELF IN RIVER.
Upon Being Rescued Woman Said She Was Tired of Life.
Mrs. Maggie Lewellen, who lives near the Quindaro water works, attempted suicide yesterday afternoon by throwing herself into the Missouri river in full view of several employes at the p umping station. They hastened to rescue and dragged her from the river. The woman had sunk twice before the rescuing party reached her and was unconscious when rescued.
After rolling her on the ground and releasing a quantity of water from her lungs, she revived sufficeintly to be taken home, where a physician was summoned. When asked her reason for her act, she is said to have remarked that she was tired of life and wished to die.Labels: Missouri river, public works, Suicide August 22, 1907 AFTER A QUARREL, POISON.
Barton Thought Wife Drank Florida Water; She Is Dead.
When Mrs. Mildred L. Barton, 15 West Fifteenth street, drank carbolic acid before her husband, William Barton, last night, he thought it was Florida water. They had quarreled and she soon after started to a drug store, as she said, to buy Florida water. At 7:30 o'clock she re-entered the room and swallowed the contents of a a two-ounce bottle.
The Walnut street police ambulance, half a block away, was called and Dr. G. R. Dagg gave the woman emergency treatment as the team galloped to the city hospital, but she died ten minutes after being placed in the operating table.Labels: doctors, Fifteenth street, hospitals, poison, Suicide August 8, 1907 WAS IT A DECOY NOTE?
Police Do Not Believe Schreider Committed Suicide.
"To the coroner: --Kansas City, Mo.
"There is nothing to say why I did this deed. I simply committed suicide. Please notify my wife, Mrs. Mary Schreider at 3016 Belleview avenue, Kansas City, Mo. Everything in my pockets please turn over to my wife.
FRANK SCHREIDER.
"P. S. : Reason for this deed known only to me and no one else."
The foregoing not was received by Coroner George B. Thompson in his mail yesterday morning. He at once made inquiry at 3016 Belleview avenue and found that Frank Schreider had been missing for three weeks. His body has not yet been located, however.
Yesterday afternoon a woman who said she was a sister-in-law of the missing Schreider called to say that she did not believe the man had taken his life. She said that "financial troubles" had caused Shreider to want many persons to believe him dead. The police have been searching for Schreider on account of those same "financial troubles." A check now in the possession of the Fitwell Clothing Company for $30 and other checks in Leavenworth, Kas., the police say, are a part of the "financial troubles."Labels: Belleview avenue, Coroner Thompson, Leavenworth, missing, Suicide August 3, 1907 JOKE WAS ON THE JOKER.
Pretended Suicide Called for Police to Send an Ambulance.
Walter Radcliffe, while in a saloon at Nineteenth street and Grand avenue last night, was struck with a desire to see the police ambulance "make a run." He called up No. 4 station and said he had taken carbolic acid. As the ambulance rattled up he dashed out of a side door and into the arms of Officer Shelly. The officer loaded him into the ambulance and delivered him to Dr. G. R. Dagg, at the station. The doctor refused to accept Radcliffe's explanation of "the joke" and he was plied with violent emetics. It was Radcliffe's turn then, but he failed to see "the joke."Labels: doctors, Grand avenue, Nineteenth street, No 4 police station, police, pranks, Suicide July 28, 1907 FORGIVEN IN DEATH
BODY OF MRS. INEZ YOTHERS IS FINALLY CLAIMED. |
