THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAU PORTLAND, ; SUNDAY MORNING; . FEBRUARY '2; 1903 v ,
.I
reakdowi)
Dboald be a
kmm to tbe
art f - .'v'ji r s hi ii Mil . hi mm
6 . vVf .'(,7
III ' L'iJ M
kioD.Pocirri
Peclare
U
,EATH roll of the panic! How little
attention has been paid to the most
startling, the most thoroughly
farming phase of the financial gale that re
cently steep t over, us, threatening more dam
age than it did, fortunately.
.' There were many fatalities in the storm;
there was an actual death roll of the panic, as
there is of every panic. In some cases over
taxed nature, refusing to respond to more
exacting demands, simply quit and lay dowjt
the burden. Other exits from the trouble
were more speedy and tragic, as they were
made in the shape of self-murder. There
toere many suicides not sufficiently prominent
to attract the attention of the world.
An astonishing increase in the mortality
'from heart disease marked the closing
months of last year, especially in New York,
the financial storm center. The increase
there over the preceding year was nearly 30
per, cent.
In the lull following the storm thought- .
ful men, viewing the wreckage, have shaken
their heads and de flared it all a solemn warn
ing to the nation. "We must slacken our
speed, we must stop running after wealth
like mad men," they declare. Judging from
the record of the last half year, we should.
1MV
;' - - Vvrf 111
V f r r ' ' 1 I
Vvv.-.-'-W- .
'
,. Mi.iU'.' ,''.4, vm u
y
SOME OF THE PANIC VICTIMS
. . - v
CtuirlM T. Barney. depoMd prealdentC Knlokerbeeker
Trait Company, aulclda.
Profinanr L. M Undora-ood. of Colombia Untverait.
aulcida. attar raurdcroua attack on bla wlfa.
Mra. Nlchola IL Smith, aulcldat aftar klllint husband
Ura. B. T. Bondbaa. worried heraelf Into fatal illneaa,
Howard Maxwall. bank prealdent. luietda.
ValantiDa Hyderdahl dealer In china, aulolda.
Oaorre Fraltman. diamond polliber. aulclda.
Clara Bloodcood. actreaa, aulclda.
Wortb VaJace. retired millionaire, aulclda.
Brnert T. Btedman, lawyer and real aetata man.
killed by train; auppoaed aulclda.
B. O Hayemeyer. bead of the Busar Trnt, wbeea
ayatem. weakened by the atreaa of combat, waa
' unable to withstand a sudden Illneaa.
MORE ftppalllnr atUl is the prophecy of physician
that the roll la not complete; that during- this
year many more will die as a result of the
financial flurry men and women whose conatl
totlona bay been weakened by mental and physical
tress.
Nerrous systems racked and torn beyond bop of
repair: hearts dangerously weakened, energies sapped,
tJnbltlons crushed; death staring them grimly in the
face!
Frenzied Finance and Heart Failure!
4 . .This is the story of the past; the awe-4nsplrlng
prophecy for the future.
, .Wben the recent report of Dr. W. K. Oullfoy, registrar
feftno Bureau of V1U1 Statistics of New York city, show
ed an astonishing Increase in the number of deaths from
fcsart disease during the latter part of the year in Man
hattan, scores of physicians came forward with warn
ings declaring the increase to be due to worries over
difficulties In the money market What they said, con
densed Into so many words, was this:
1 "'Worry weakens the heart It lowers the resisting
ower of the body. Men worry over financial losses;
they suffer from continual strain; the heart is weakened,
there comes a loss, a great shock, and they succumb.
Heart disease stares the financial men of tbe country in
the face. And heart disease is the handmaiden of death!
, Eulcldo has ended the days of hundreds. But suicide
may be averted. Heart disease, however, attacks the
Victim unawares; it weakens the life forces insidiously,
' then suddenly snap! All is over.
V( PACE IS QUICKENING
Speaking of this phase of the matter. Dr. Thomas
Darlington, president of the Board of Health of New
Tork. declared:
"Increase of heart disease is due to the stress and
strain of modern life, and X have no doubt that the re
. cent financial flurry. has been a factor In some of the
recent deaths. The pace at which men live has been
steadily accelerated. Long hours, nerve tension, lack of
outdoor exercise, neglect of recreation and amusement,
constant hurry and effort all these must be considered.
"It is time for Americans to adopt the simple life
and to- slow down, instead of constantly subjecting them
If.fves to the effort to maintain high standards of living.
7 he Englishman as he advances in years gradually re
tires from the activities of business, but tho American
..CfiPr?v.M.,f spolM,d' and when there comes a great
" JI.?irr .m.eun are "kely to succumb."
'.S LSl!Ti .-f ,men wno ccumbed on this
l?ur?ozit llJ?; i?8eph ColliRe- well-known
-Buness Trt:?VeTeyer- Sald Dr. Collins:
1 jjusiness stress ana strain, due to firmnrtni rfisturh.
am r other depweaed condiuona, ciSms t. ton hv
causing Bhyalcal deblUtetlon of those who ar tr Jiw
gainst fheso adverse condition0 Menare 1 b?
the work and strain. wur" oul D
' "When adversity arises and stress - -a train
these younrold1 men find their vitality so depieedhat
or similar aliments as they, did in lorm yelr, 5Ti
recent death of Hury O, Havemeyer waa a case eiacUy
a Duriiis; tha last Mix months the number of suldd.
has been astounding. Men of supposedly unlmpeachabia '
tfaaracters hava resorted to the poison bottle and tha
bullet to escape meeting the results of the storm.
concpiouous example waa Charles T. Barneyi formerly
presiiipnt of tba Knickerbocker Trust Company, thi
failure of which precipitated runs on New Tork banks,
Mr. Barney shot himself In the head on the morning
rf NavombAr 10. Before the Knickerbocker crash be had
let a director In no fewer than thirty-eight buslneas
enterprises. He waa president of the Knickerbocker
Trust Company. Knickerbocker Safe Deposit Company,
New Tork Loan Improvement Company, and vice presi
dent of the Century Realty Company, the New Tork
Mortgage and Security Company and the Title Insurance
Company.
Fall of the financier was brought about by his asso
ciation with Charles W. Morse In the Morse banks, the
National of North America and the New Amsterdam.
When the Morse banks failed bankers turned their eyes
to the Knickerbocker with suspicion. To one of the
directors -of tbe trust company, who taxed him, Mr.
Barney admitted that he had a loan of mora than $300,000
from the National of North America and (80,000 from the
New Amsterdam.
A demand was made on Mr. Barney that he take up
these loans. In despair be declared that he was unable to
do so.
When the officers of the National Bank of Commerce,
which cleared for the Knickerbocker, learned of this they
rave notice that they could no longer clear for the
Knickerbocker Trust The directors of the Knickerbocker
Trust thereupon asked for Mr. Barney's resignation,
which was tendered on October 2L On October 22 the
trust company closed Its doors, after paying out t8.000.000
to deposltora
"RIVER OF SUICIDES"
And the panic was on! People filed In line before the
New Tork banks waiting their turn to withdraw their
money. Such excitement had rarely been seen In New
Tork in recent years. And In the meanwhile not a few
were going to the "river of the suicides." Hard pressed
by creditors, Barney took the quickest means of escape
from his troubles death by his own band.
Two days later, while men were still shuddering at the
death of the unfortunate New Tork banker, came the
news of the frightful tragedy In the home of Lu"en
Marcus Underwood, a professor of botany in Columbia
University.
Professor Underwood was one of the most notable
men in the world of botany. He was the author of a
number of books and was an authority on American
fern a
During the financial upheaval he lost most of his
Investments. Although he brooded on the loss, he bore
up bravely until he read of the death of Barney. Then
his spirits sank. At noon, on November 16, as he sat at
luncheon, his wife remarked that he was looking better.
"Tes. I feel somewhat relieved." he replied. During
the meal bis eyes rested upon a knife on the table a
long, sharp knife. While they were eating dessert the
man reached slowly for the knife, grasped it, and with
a cry Jumped from the tnble.
Seising the terrified wife he slashed the blade across
her throat Casting her to the floor, he jumped for his
daughter, brandishing the knife in the air. The girl es
caped, and the mad man. thinking he had killed his wife.
a.K y,
" waod.
himself
death.
fatally
stabbed
Injured.
Dramatic was tbe suicide of Clara Bloodgood, the
famous actress, who killed herself in Baltimore, Md., on
the night of December 6. She had suffered heavy losses
during the panic. While the audience was pouring into
the Academy of Muslo to see the production of "Truth,-"
Clyde Fitch's new play, the actress placed a revolver in
her mouth as she sat In her room at a hotel and shot
herself. She died almost Instantly.
Driven mad by fear that he would lose his invest
ments. Major Frank McLaughlin, a politician and capi
talist, of Santa Cruz, Cal., shot his daughter Agnes
through the head. Then he called his friend, former
Lieutenant Governor Jetter, on the telephone and told
what he had done. When Jetter and a physician arrived
McLaughlin lay on the floor gasping In the throes of
death, an empty bottle in his hand. He had taken prussla
acid.
On December 28 Ernest O. Stedman, who had lost
$1,000,000 during- the panic, was run over by a north
bound subway train at the Fourteenth Street Station In
New Tork city. Charles Rouft.-motorman of the train
and the only witness of the tragedy, declared that the
man had deliberately thrown himself on the tracks.
Mr. Stedman was a well-known lawyer and carried
on extensive operations In real estate. His friends said
In an Interview, in which be advises Amer
icana to slow down, be ajys:
"Every American baa before) bla eyas t)M
example of the well-known mulU-mllllonalrea,
who worry themselves mora about bow to get rid of
their money than others do to earn It What la the use
to them of their mountains of gold, which they bar
heaped up by dint of work and cunning, talent and vto.
Invention, enterprise, perseverance, speculation, exploi
tation and cruelty t
"They are envied by fools, hated by minions, despised
by idealists, admired by Jackanapes. They hava over
strung nerves; they know no simple, wholesome Joy;
their life Is devoid of any real satisfaction; their pre
dominant feeling is a thirst for gold which becomes all
'the more burning the more fully it is satisfied.
"The great danger of excessive money making eon
slats in a man letting himself soon be carried away by It,
to regard It as an object In Itself. If one has coma to
money making for money making's sake, on la lost unto
the evil one.
"It is too easy to forget that money In Itself la
merely a symbol. It represents the good things which
can be procured with It It has a value because the
good things have one. In Itself it is Incapable of afford
ing the least satisfaction; It. Is a promissory not for
satisfactions, but this promissory note is a meaningless
rag so long aa it la not presented in exchange for tho
satisfaction.
"Ask yourselves sometimes In the midst of your mad
race whither you are running? Quo vadlsT and why
you kill yourselves In order to advance aa quickly aa
possible? Stop of your own free will before you break
down. Earn money in order to exchange It for Joy. Re
place your Ideal of quantity with an ideal of quality.
Break fewer records, but gain for your Individual Ufa
Instead of ambition, hope; Instead of competition, lovei
Instead of triumph, happiness."
Girl Gardener in Man's Garb
LIVING near a small village near Norwich, England,
is a young and pretty girl gardener who baa
adopted mle attire for her work.
It is a large and beautiful garden over which th
young lady reigns. She baa men assistants and a neat
little cottage to rest In when tha day's labors are over.
Flowers and grapes are her specialty, and the fol
lowing la her explanation for wearing male attire:
"It is almost impossible," she said, "to move about
among flowers and plants in a skirt without breaking
some of them down and without the skirt soon hanging In
tatters. Besides, the feelings of a woman In skirts are
never quite comfortable when she finds herself at tha
top of step or a ladder.
"First" she continued, "I tried a skirt that reached
to my kneea ard high leggings. But the costume waa
pronounced far from elegant Nothing remained, there
fore, but to give up skirts altogether. Needless to say,'
however. It is only while I am working in the garden
that I wear trousers. As soon as my work Is over and i
whenever I have to go beyond the garden boundaries I
get back into skirts.
"In my opinion, it is impossible for a woman In skirts
to work in a garden Skirts were Invented rft a time
when women performed little manual labor, and. as must
ine
be obvious,
culture."
bey could not be more unsulted to h or ti
the only reason for the suicide If such it was was
financial losses, his entire fortune of more than $1,000,000
having vanished in the failure of a building operating
company of which he waa vice president and treasurer.
On the death roll of the panlo are names of scores
of unknown persons whose savings were swept away.
Of the deaths from heart disease which resulted from
worry one can only hazard a guess.
And from all the deaths one can take what lesson?
The aim In America, says Max Nordau, is to become a
millionaire. Health, happiness, peace of mind are sacri
ficed In the frantic struggle. The end is what? Success
or vanqulshment. And to what does this success amount?
Hair Doctoring for Women
i t T T TOMAN'S hair has been called her crown of
glory, and every self-respecting woman val-
V tiea her hair at far mora than its weight
In gold." says a recent writer.
"Women hair doctors would rank far above the or
I dlnary man's barber," he says, "for there would ba
F nothing derogatory In doing professionally what every
' woman does for herself more or less amateurishly; be
sides, th prevention of baldness Is as legitimate and
dignified a business aa any other branch of hygiene
and therapeutics.
"Hair, as things go In this world. Is one of tha
parts of one's anatomy that the family physician Isn't
much good at. For one thing, he is generally not eon- ,
suited till too late, and, for another, tbe preservation of
the hair usually implies more manipulation than a busy
doctor could give to it, even If such work were suit
able for a man."
This la Just where the woman "hair doctor" would
eome in. This profession would offer "great opportuni
ties for distinction and wealth," while calling for na
departure from "woman's sphere," in the modern ac
ceptation of those words. This "medical specialty" la
actually recommended to college-bred women who are in
aouDt wnai to turn to a aengntruuy Humorous auggesm
uuu.
Ik Perils of Gettipq fat
a ZD
IN CHICAGO, the other day, August Doel,
weighing considerably more than 200 pounds,
was seriously injured on a street-car plat
, form because of his lize
Not being able to get in the car he was com
polled to stand on the platform. At one stop.
where a number of persons were trying to get on,
while others,, were endeavoring to get off, Doel's
bulk proved greatly in the way.
"Push him out of the way," called a would-be .
passenger, and the crowd on the platform surged
forward, sending the fat man headlong to the
pavement. When picked up he waa found to be
badly injured.
' Many are the perils of getting fat There is
little comfort for the person of much avoirdupois
in this world and doctors say there is a growing
tendency to corpulency. -
w
HAT is doing It nobody- can positively tell;
but that something is. doing It ail physicians
agree.
Mpii MtiMitllv: nt th United Rtata are
F" .ti.n on avoirdupois with the. same abandon with
3Thlh lhey takinr oft their suspenders. Th belt
r?'.?r,t a,- n corpulent.
.i.1 i year or, so ago, , physical culture Jn its most
' K? itiJ0Pm "n ha nation In It powerful grasp,
and all th mea who Wfrcn't hefting dumbbells wr
pushing garden rollers.
Biceps and deltoids grew up like majorities where
the election officers all belong to the party we don't
belong to; chests swelled like the heads of successful
candidates on the glorious day afterward;' waists
shrank like the expense accounts in sworn affidavits
to tbe costs of the campaign.
' Then they forgot it Physical culture was a mighty .
good thing, you know; very healthy and sanitary and
stimulating and all the rest of It: But a man can't be
late at th offlc avry morning for th sake of matu-
v .". ' " "
tlnal exercise,
and he can't stay up every night half
rubber
an lictur after bedtime in order to do ground and
tumbling and tear thaVllnina- out of an India m
chest exDander. . . ..
The peaceful life for theirs, if they did have to dia
at the aarly age of 10 Instead of 111. " . m -
.?our8e. the danger of carrying too much flesh,
from the standpoint of the physician, is well known.
The corpulent one rarely takes sufficient exercise, hi
breathing . become inadequate, .his heart grows
weaker, under, Increasing strain, other organ fcro Ha-
bla to disease. H la a fit subject for apoplexy and
heart troubles.
Most certainly be Is continually afflicted by phys
ical discomforts. The sleeping-car berth Is too
cramped; It la a horrible nuisance to lace and tla bla
shoes; when he piles into the bathtub there Isn't room
for much water.
Then, the girl to whom the fat man Is attempting
to make love must have learned to think a great deal
of him if she can suppress a snicker at his effort! to
get on his knees gracefully. His very caresses, gen
erally, are elephantine and' clumsy.
Many are the troubles of the overstout Th maa
of vast girth fills the barber chair so generously that
it is uncomfortable; be occupies so much space In tha j
street car that other passengers glower at him; build- j
ers of theaters never provide extra slsed seats for
him.
He must always be on or ahead of time, for undue
haste is not compatible with bulk; he cannot run to I
catch the street car. When he is compelled to stand
upon the platform, the other passengers there become I
sore at the extra crowding and make disagreeable and I
insinuating remarks. I
Mr. Doel, of Chicago, is the only fat man actually I
xnrown on a car piatiorm, so tar as tnere are recoraa i
to show, but many are the times when an exasperated I
crowd wouta nice to ao just that tning.
DREADS HOT WEATHER
And it isn't the fat man's fault at all. He doesn't
want to present the lines and dimensions of a barret
It is with the utmost pity that he regards the. thin
Individual,, who says: "I am doing everything I can
to get fat, but cannot" Especially is this pity pro
nounced In .summer. - .
Jit you are not an Idiot stay thin," he warn all
his attenuated friends. For if there is .one misery
high above another. If there Is an acme of physical
,i,irin at fminii hv tha fat man in hot weather.
Of course, the fat woman has as -many troubles-
more, perhaps, because th very ract or ampie ro
tundltv is not only magnified, in her eyes, out it ma
nifloa avoi-v nthr a ttendant ill. 1
Nothing, perhaps, makes an extra stotat maid, o
matron feel more entirely ridiculous Jthan the beha
vlor of a cab as sne settles oacx on tunuiuui oj
the driver attempts to climb to hi sea&
Tio.irwnrrl aroea the overweighted cab body, upwar
..h- .hafti t hrentanlne- annarentlv. to lift th
wan off Ha feet-and passersby look and smile. Tha
Htok-aa mad Pi". me.
What of the future, when men and women ara toj
t mn,h mn PArnutflnt than now? I
Many large cities are 'preparing for that time. Iff
would seem, by constructing subways instead of more?
olnvaCeil roaas. DUt . wnai or our susrunri i auuea
' . .. .... ........ . i .
rnoma. our elevators and our theater seats
Will the long-suffering fat man rise up
mand tha comforts that ara due aim?
and d