Show ELEVEN SUICIDES bridgeport conn sept 2 what la the truth as to the suicide club of bridgeport the self idling of george B wagner in new york recently lays open he the whole question which has remained a question for twenty bearr with a chain of incidents to awaken its discussion two decades ago it the truth was spoken by those who should have known but who are numbered with I 1 those who have heir own hands it was a joke that ascended into air redolent with the night to I 1 mingle with an electric storm early in there existed at bridgeport near the heart of the business portion of alie town a number of of a character they slumbered by day when the current of the busy towns life flowed by their doors they alured with the essence of bohemian ibm within their doors was light and laughter congenial spirits were gathered about the round tables the places smelled of the beer of tha germen fatherland the most popular of these places was kenslea Ken in main street one night there wag gathered much the usual party at kenzler Kenz les place the night was stormy and its blackness was cut by of lightning and the artillery of the heavens boomed above the city the assemblage included george city editor of an local dally paper a bright fellow as boac in his tastes as the typical denizen of the latin quarter of paris machele Ml chele who at the age of forty alve still believed a good artist bad ben spoiled by the sordid fate that had made him a decorator of house interior inter lor prince stevens a gay old aport whose bilk hat waa aa much bis pride aa his willared tor white hair and beard and who waa tuther distinguished as the father of marion manola alie popular actress william H maby a betted carrier writer of poetry tha was very bad but a bright fellow withal and popular with the oscar romulus beera an genius who wrote better poetry than bis friend maby who wa the author of plays that had gained him a reputation outside it bridgeport alexander a greek supposed to be a tand independent as to fortune a dandy with curling black hair and little waxed mustache ilsung at the corners bis shape astonishing from the width of his shoulders and the slenderness of bla waist and guatam wolf a young german of bastea and uncongenially employed as a clerk in a pawnbrokers pawn brokers shop to Javen worth ia attributed the first suggestion of the gruesome joke that originated in kenzler Kenz les saloon that night while the was at its height leavenworth rose from his table al which ho was seated from his pocket a copy of the figure the paris newspaper waved it aloft and eald gentlemen I 1 have a suggestion to make to you tonight while we are imprisoned here by the elements that rage without I 1 see before me thirteen persons of solemn coun tence including schweitzer all appear to me qualified for membership in a suicide club I 1 bold in my hand the constitution and bylaws by laws of organization which with your permission I 1 will read leavenworth translated from the paris paper an account of tha formation of a aalf society in a french city hood bays ok beers 1 I move we form a suicide club with as president the president set up the drinks now and then go himself oh go get Helster hagen said contle hell hang to accommodate you boys while the discussion continued in a vein and on the same topic th ended several of the catherine departed and the remainder went in a body to saloon tharo more than one round of of beer was drunk and tho was broached to the bavarian hows Kons le asked Helster hagen hes in said lawrence we need you and george wagner and dill zepp and dan looser to make up the thirteen all right eald and there was a round 0 drinks to the suicide club then the group went to magners wagners Wag ners where they found looser and roger alack it was at a late hour and after much more than the usual amount of beer had ben drunk that the party left magners wagners Wag ners next morning it wat reported that the suicide club of bridgeport with thirteen members had been formed at the garthaus gas thaus of george wagner during the night leavenworth the prompter ot the joke referred all inquiries to baum the secretary and beers the recording poet of the society who comes first was the question well recalde that at our annual banquet said leavenworth the man who draws the blank slip blotched with red ink must shuttle kofl within twelve months so therell be nothing doing tor a year or so bridgeport regarded it all aplean antry of the newspaper writer and after the thing had been written up two or three times more or less the ghoulish joke ceased to interest the general public one morning late in the year 1886 victor Helster hagen was found dead in the room behind his baloon he had kaled himself with a shotgun leaving no word of explanation in the fall of 1887 john kernsie Ke ensie the saloon kerperin main street went into the basement 0 bis place and fastening a rifle to one of his supporters of the floor above placed the muzzle to his mouth and with bis foot pushed the trigger when hs bady was found he chengor lay amid a hundred cases of swiss cheese that he had imported his favorite schweitzer in april 1888 william machele Ml chele the painter hanged himself thirteen months hater george leavenworth was found dead in his room with a vial of poison on the floor beside his bed on january 31 1890 william H maby the letter carler waa found dead at his home with his throat cut he left aletter saying that his suicide was due to insomnia maby bequeathed to his friend wendell bauman umbrella with a curious handle on it was carved a scorpion gnawing a human skull day by day wendell baum became more and more depressed on april 16 1830 baum met his friend chrales paul ln the street he astonished paul by saying you better be in town saturday I 1 want you to sing at my grave paul did not know bow to take the remark and seeing that baum shook his head raised his umbrella and walked away saying A cloud bangs over me I 1 am doomed A few days later baum was found dead in yew pork hotel where he had killed himself with a pistol on the day of his new york he had gone to the brewery of winter and company and given his umbrella to one of his workmen with bione tione to give it to the president of uio club |