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Show Gambling Losses Spur Draftsman To TakeHis Life Horse Player Gets Sore Keck After Five Attempts To Die in Car CROSSVILLE. TENN. A despondent de-spondent draftsman from Wauke-gan, Wauke-gan, I1L, abashedly confessed to police that he was unable to kill himself after a fruitless hunt for death during a bizarre cross-country motor tour in his automobile. He told what State Patrolman Charles Johnson called "a fantastic story" of seeking suicide on a cross-country cross-country motor tour. "I wanted to make it look like an accident so my wife could collect my insurance," Johnson quoted him. "Four or five times" since he left Waukegan, Hassart said he tried to end his life. He drove recklessly. He speeded on hairpin curves. He passed on hills. He tried to race trains to a dead heat at crossings. Nothing happened. What capped Hassart's failure actually ac-tually was "more or less of an accident" ac-cident" he said. Slips Off Embankment His car slipped off a 70-foot embankment. em-bankment. The car landed upside down in a tree, with Hassart still In it. He climbed out and to his amazement amaze-ment couldn't find a real scratch on him. Disgusted, he hid in the woods. Meanwhile, authorities sought "the victim" of the car found dangling on the tree, seven miles from here. Hassart went to a farmer's house, slept overnight there and called Crossville police. His decision to commit suicide, he said, stemmed from a number of reasons mostly horses of which he ramblingly spoke. He had been a draftsman, he said, until Jie was named administrator adminis-trator of the estates of two of his relatives who died about four years ago. Plays Horses Then he became a horse player, and carried on a stamp collecting business on the side. He did well at horse betting, too for a while. He used what he called "a comic strip" system. The system collapsed shortly. Also, he said, a friend who owned a stable kept giving him bum tips. Finally, he was down to his last $23. He told his wife he was going on a business trip. Crossville police sent Hassart to Uplands sanitorium here. Doctors said he could be released any time because his only injury was a possible pos-sible sore neck. |