Fort Worth Daily Gazette

Suicide in Prussia.

The Statistisches Correspondenz contains a sad and important chapter on suicide. In the Kingdom of Prussia during the year 1885 there were 6028 cases of suicide, as compared with 5900 cases in 1884, and 6174 in 1883, so that while there has been a decrease from 1883 to 1884 of 271 persons, or 4.39 per cent., the sum had risen from 1884 to 1885 by 128 cases, or 2.16 per cent. The suicides of the year 1885 are divided into 4811 men and 1257 women. In 4928 cases the motive for suicide was known, and is catalogued as follows: One thousand, five hundred and eighty-two cases from insanity, 766 grief, 659 vice, 641 weariness of life, 477 physical suffering, 435 remorse, shame, etc. It is naturally often impossible to ascertain the real cause. Most of these suicides, namely 3632, ended their lives by hanging. The rest are divided thus: Drowning, 1150; shooting, 686; poison, 245; cutting the throat, 123; jumping from a height, 81; under railway trains, 71; opening a vein, 46, etc. Suicide was relatively most frequent above middle age, for 21.3 per 100,000 persons were from 20 to 30 years of age, 28.1 from 30 to 40, 39.1 from 40 to 50, 52.7 from 50 to 60, 59.7 from 60 to 70, 53.7 from 70 to 80, and 55.2 above 80 years of age.