Suicide falsely attributed to Spiritism.

According to the Sémaphore of Marseille, of September 29, several newspapers undertook to reproduce the following fact:

“The night before last, a house on Rue Paradis was the theater of a painful event. An industrialist who has a lamp shop on that street put an end to his own life, employing, to carry out his fatal resolution, a strong dose of one of the most powerful poisons.

“Here is in what circumstance the suicide occurred:

“For some time, this industrialist had been giving signs of a certain disturbance of the brain, perhaps in part produced by the abuse of strong liquors, but, above all, by the practice of Spiritism, that modern scourge, which has already made so many victims in the great cities, and which now threatens to exercise its maleficent action even in the countryside. Notwithstanding his good clientele, which assured him fruitful work, X… was not doing very well in business and, at times, had difficulty making his payments. As a consequence, his mood was generally somber and his character cantankerous.” The article notes that the individual abused strong liquors and that his business was not going well, circumstances that have many times occasioned cerebral accidents and led to suicide. However, the author of the article admits these causes only as possible or accessory, in the circumstance under consideration, while attributing the event, above all, to the practice of Spiritism.

The following letter, which was written to us from Marseille, settles the question and brings out the good faith of the writer:

“Dear master, “The Gazette du Midi and the Sémaphore of Marseille, of September 29, published an article about the voluntary poisoning of an industrialist, attributed to the practice of Spiritism. Having known this unfortunate man personally, who was of the same Masonic lodge as I, I know in a positive manner that he never occupied himself with Spiritism and had never read any work or publication on this matter. I authorize you to use my name, for I am ready to prove the veracity of what I advance; if it be necessary, all my brothers and the best friends of the deceased consider it a duty to certify it. Would that he had known and understood Spiritism, for in it he would have found the strength to resist the disastrous inclinations that led him to that senseless act. “Accept, etc.”

Chavaux.

Doctor of Medicine, rue du Petit-Saint Jean.