Buzz
During the Victorian and Edwardian periods, individuals resorted to various methods of ending their lives, such as jumping from heights, consuming Paris Green, throwing themselves in front of speeding trains, or igniting kerosene-drenched clothing. Yet, some cases were so peculiar that they leave us questioning the circumstances that led to such drastic actions.
10. Gunpowder Tragedy in Chicago, Illinois
On July 28, 1893, the discovery of W.H. Irving’s body near Chicago shocked investigators due to the gruesome state of his remains. His head was obliterated, his jaw barely attached, and his nose completely missing. Evidence suggested Irving had packed gunpowder into his mouth and lit a match, resulting in a catastrophic explosion. A suicide note was recovered from his pocket, yet his well-dressed appearance and costly straw hat raised suspicions of foul play. The note hinted at extreme poverty, despite Irving having a job awaiting him in Winthrop Beach, Massachusetts. Investigators noted fresh footprints near the scene, but these leads went nowhere. Irving’s wife believed he had gone on vacation and speculated that if he had taken his own life, it must have been a momentary lapse of sanity.
9. Fatal Encounter with a Railway Car in Erie, Pennsylvania
While stepping in front of a train was a common suicide method, Ralph Kane’s actions were far more extreme. His wife, the mother of his four children, had filed a complaint against him, likely for domestic abuse. On December 1, 1892, Kane was released from custody and returned home. Fearing for her family’s safety, his wife took the children to a neighbor’s house. Kane convinced her to step outside for a conversation, only to shoot her multiple times with a revolver, leaving her fatally injured. He then proceeded to the railroad tracks, released a parked railcar on a steep slope, ran alongside it as it gained speed, and threw himself onto the rails. The impact instantly decapitated him, crushing and splitting his skull in two.
8. Tragic End with a Corkscrew in the Pacific Ocean
In March 1899, as the steamer Puebla sailed across the Pacific following stops in Japan and the Philippines, the captain observed unusual behavior in John McKenna, the chief steward. McKenna had indulged in heavy drinking during their visits to Nagasaki and Manila, and after a few days at sea, he began experiencing delirium tremens. The captain confined him to his quarters under the ship surgeon’s watch. Shortly after, an attendant outside McKenna’s room noticed blood leaking under the door and forced it open. Inside, he found McKenna in a deranged state, violently stabbing his own throat with a corkscrew. When the corkscrew was wrested away, McKenna clawed at his wounds with his fingers. He succumbed to his injuries the following day, likely due to severe blood loss.
7. Tragic Encounter with a Circus Lion in Paris, France
In 1909, a play at the Theatre Moncy included a scene featuring Abyssinian lions. The lion tamer, a young man living with an unnamed woman, had a heated argument with her one morning. On the evening of October 1, the woman went backstage directly to the lions’ cage. In front of stunned onlookers, she deliberately thrust her arm through the bars into a lioness’s mouth. As the stage manager rushed to intervene, she provocatively pushed her arm deeper. The lioness seized her, crushing her shoulder and chest. The woman collapsed and died as all three lions mauled her body. The commotion disrupted the performance, prompting the manager to lower the curtain and inform the audience of the tragedy. The play was canceled the next day, and the lions were sent back to the menagerie.
6. A Multitude of Fatal Methods in Baltimore, Maryland
On April 25, 1897, Dr. W. Wilson’s wife decided to take her own life during what was described as a temporary mental breakdown caused by insomnia. She first consumed a lethal dose of mercuric chloride, a highly toxic substance that would have caused excruciating pain and internal bleeding. She then used her husband’s straight razor to slash her throat from ear to ear. To ensure her death, she jumped from a second-floor window, landing on the cellar door below. The door broke under the impact, dropping her into the cellar, where her husband discovered her still alive. She passed away the following day.
5. Tragic End in a Blaze in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
On November 21, 1901, shortly after midnight, an unidentified man infiltrated Schoenberger’s Iron Mills and entered the cage hoist transporting coke to the blast furnace. Accompanied by bewildered workers, he ascended to the top, about 30 meters (100 feet) above the ground. When the cage door opened, he hurled himself headfirst into the scorching furnace before anyone could intervene. Minutes later, when workers reached him, most of his body was charred and unrecognizable, resembling partially cooked meat. Only his left foot remained intact. The man was believed to be American, but his identity and the motive behind his shocking act remain unknown.
4. Tragic End with Boiling Water in Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Belle Coleman, a troubled woman with a history of suicide attempts, including shooting herself in the chest, was a patient at Western Lunatic Asylum (later Western State Hospital). Her intense suicidal tendencies were likely driven by severe depression. On May 17, 1899, despite constant supervision, she managed to slip into the bathroom. At the time, bathroom water heaters were essentially large, unsafe kettles. Belle turned on the faucet, positioned her head beneath it, opened her mouth, and allowed scalding water to flow down her throat and over her body until she lost consciousness. She succumbed to her injuries shortly after, enduring immense pain.
3. Fatal Somersault in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Thomas Hanlon, a member of the renowned Hanlon Brothers trapeze act, experienced a severe fall during a performance in Cincinnati in 1868 (the troupe performed without safety nets). While he appeared physically unharmed, his mental state deteriorated. After parting ways with his brothers, he was discovered wandering the streets in a drunken and delirious state. Following his arrest, he attempted to hang himself using a bedsheet in his cell. When that failed, he shattered a pewter plate and tried to slit his throat. After fiercely resisting officers’ attempts to stop him, Hanlon was transferred to an empty cell, save for iron heating pipes secured by a large brass nut. Using his acrobatic skills, he leaped into the air, twisted his body, and slammed his head into the brass nut, causing severe injuries—his scalp torn and bloodied. Jailers intervened, but Hanlon succumbed to his injuries hours later, believed to have been driven by insanity.
2. Tragic End in a Steam-Powered Machine in New York City, New York
James McCullough, an employee at American Fire-Escape Works, entered a nearby machine shop on April 1, 1875, seeking permission to sharpen a lead scraper. After disappearing inside, the steam-powered machinery—a complex system of cogs, wheels, levers, and valves—suddenly jammed. The foreman, investigating the issue, was horrified to find a human head on the floor. McCullough had apparently thrown himself into a massive cogwheel, five meters (16 feet) in diameter, driven by an eight-ton flywheel. The machinery crushed his body, scattering fragments of bone and flesh across the equipment. Workers used shovels and brooms to collect the remains, which were sent to the city morgue. McCullough’s motives for his drastic act remain unknown.
1. Explosive End in San Francisco, California
On September 8, 1891, an explosion rocked the Prescott House (not the Prescott Hotel), shattering the windows of a room rented by a Mr. Caroll. Investigators found the man’s mutilated and dismembered body inside the room, with his arm discovered in the street outside. The evidence suggested he had been killed by a dynamite explosion. Further investigation revealed his true identity: William F. DeYoung, a Dutch national who had been employed on a fruit farm near Fresno. DeYoung had confided in friends about his desire to end his life in a dramatic fashion to make headlines. A suicide note found at the scene expressed his belief that his life was no longer worth living. Newspapers dubbed the incident “suicide à la Lingg,” referencing Louis Lingg, a Haymarket Massacre conspirator who had similarly used a bomb to end his life in prison.
