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| Forehand pistol. |
SUICIDE ON SOUTH HILL.
HOWARD PARK SHOT HIMSELF THROUGH THE HEART.
A Broken Promise of Marriage the Incentive to the Rash Deed—No Coroner’s Inquest
Deemed Necessary.
Upon
the highest point of South hill, reached through Pendleton-st., and commanding one
of the most extended and magnificent cultivated views to be found in this
section of the country are located the broad acres of Cottage Hill farm, the comfortable
home of John S. Park, a well-to-do farmer and dairyman. The members of Mr.
Park's family are to-day almost prostrated with grief at the result of the rash
act of the second son, a young man in his twentieth year, who yesterday
afternoon committed suicide by shooting himself through the heart.
And
upon North Church-st in Cortland there is an utmost broken hearted girl who is
grief stricken at the thought that she may have indirectly furnished the cause
which led to this deed.
John
Howard Park, or Howard as he was always called by the family to distinguish him
from his father, and Miss Hattie Delaney of Cortland had been warm friends for
a long time, and since last January had been looking forward to marriage during
the early summer. Yesterday the engagement was broken off by the young lady for
reasons which seemed good and sufficient to her and which will appear later.
In the
first rush of feeling over what he considered his great loss, and in the
absence of cooler counsel he committed the deed which has plunged so many into
deep sorrow. His mother from the first had been his
confidant in his love affairs. She alone at first had known of his attachment
for Miss Delaney, she alone had seen the ring which he bought for her and which
he put upon her finger last January. She had known of all his joys and sorrows
in the matter, and to-day she reproaches herself that she was away from home
yesterday when he came home with heavy heart having learned the bad news
through a letter received at the post office. She believes if she had been
there Howard would have told her about it and she could have prevented any such
result as has come about.
Mr.
Park furnishes milk for patrons here in the village. Howard has driven the
cart. He left home at 6 o'clock yesterday morning calling out a pleasant response
to his mother's request to bring her home some groceries. At 7 o'clock Mr. and
Mrs. Park started for Truxton to spend the day with friends. It is the first
time they have been away together for a whole day for over a year. They returned
at about 7 o'clock in the evening and Howard was not there and no one seemed to
know where he was. He had been seen there at 8 o'clock, but no one had noticed
his presence later. He had not been on hand for milking which was a very
unusual thing, especially as he had said nothing to any one about being away.
At
home during the day there had been at the house Mrs. Wilcox, who is Mrs. Park's
mother, Mrs. Runyon, an assistant in the household duties, the oldest son Frank
and the three young children. Mrs. Wilcox saw him at 3 o'clock sitting at a
desk writing. She supposed he was figuring up his morning's milk accounts as he
did so often.
Soon
after the return of Mr. and Mrs. Park the mother became worried about her son. She
found all his clothing in his room so she was sure he had not dressed up and gone
away. At about 8 o'clock she noticed a slip of paper sticking into the corner
of the mirror in her sleeping room, and right below it a little ring box. She
opened the box first and as soon as she saw the ring recognized it and was
apprehensive. She called at once to Mr. Park, but the two were so frustrated
that they could neither of them read it and their oldest son read it for them.
The following is a copy of the note:
FATHER
AND MOTHER—Here is the ring, the engagement ring. Hattie has broken the promise and broken
my heart. I received a
letter and the ring this morning. When I opened the box and saw what was in it I was
surprised. If you want to
know any particulars about it, ask Bert Dickinson. He read the letter that she sent me. Well, as
I must bid you and all
my friends farewell, good-bye. -Mother, you wear the ring for my sake. Give my love to cousin
Jennie.
Howard.
In
the top of the ring box were written the words:
When
you see Hattie bid her good-bye for me and give her my last love.
Howard.
The
contents of the letter fell like a thunder clap upon the ears of all the
family. It was evident that he had taken steps to make way with himself.
Lanterns were lighted and all the family turned out to search every building on
the place, but to no purpose. Then Mr. Park started in a carriage for Bert
Dickinson's, who is also a milkman and lives on the back road to Homer. It was hoped
that he could throw some light on the mystery, as he was referred to in the note.
But he was too excited when told the news to remember a thing in the letter from
Miss Delaney.
Meanwhile
Mrs. Park went alone over the hill to the home of Thomas Park, her husband's
brother, to rouse him and his family to join the searching party. The oldest
brother Frank set out by himself to search. He knew that Howard had not been
seen by any of the family since he was writing at the desk. The others had been
all the afternoon in the back part of the house and the inference was that if
he left the house unnoted he must have gone out of the front or west door. Besides he himself had been at work
all day in the east part of the farm and he reasoned that his brother had gone
west.
Across
the street was an open barway leading into a recently seeded and rolled field. With the
lantern he discovered footprints leading down into the pasture and woods a half mile below.
He followed the
tracks to the other side of the ploughed field and then continued in the same direction. For
nearly two hours he
searched the shadowy woods and the pasture filled with clumps of bushes and second growth trees.
At just about 11 o'clock
he caught sight of a straw hat in a thicket and started to it. There he found the body of his
brother rigid in death.
He was lying flat upon his back with his head resting upon the root of a tree, and turned a
little to one side, his heels close together and his hands by his sides. A 38-calibre
revolver rested on the
ground by his right hand. Three chambers were loaded, one had a discharged cartridge and the
fifth was entirely
empty and unloaded. The young man had on his corduroy trousers that he was
accustomed to
wear every day, a striped cotton shirt and red necktie, and a straw hat. He wore no coat
or vest. From the
way in which he was found and from the fact that his hat was on his head it was evident that he
had lain down there and
had then fired the fatal shot. His knowledge of anatomy was exact and his aim true, for he had
fired the ball directly through his heart, as the autopsy proved.
The
time that the shooting occurred was made very certain this morning by testimony
of Allen Gay, a young farmer who works the next place to the Park farm.
Yesterday afternoon, he and a boy were marking a field for potatoes hardly
twenty rods from the thicket where the suicide occurred. One looked at his
watch and remarked that it was 4:20 o'clock. Scarcely five minutes later they
heard the report of what they thought was a revolver or a small rifle from up
near the woods. Both stopped and looked, but saw no one. A moment or two later
a flock of blackbirds passed over and the remark was made that it was some one
shooting blackbirds. Now they know differently.
As
soon as Frank found his brother's body he started across the fields to the home
of Fred Brooks on the South Main-st. hill, as his father had told him when he
set out for Bert Dickinson's to go to Mr. Brooks' for help if he found his
brother. Mr. Brooks got up and dressed and taking his two-horse platform wagon
went with Frank to the place of the shooting. Others of the searchers joined
them and at about midnight the remains of the rash youth were carried into his
father’s house.
Coroner
Moore was sent for this morning, but was out of town and Coroner Bradford was
summoned. He arrived at the house shortly before 9 o'clock accompanied by Dr.
Angel. An autopsy was performed. The wound was probed and it was found that the
ball had penetrated the heart, going between the fifth and sixth ribs. A probe
was inserted nearly ten inches and the ball must have come near to coming out
of the back, though it did not show from the back.
Questions were asked of all the family and the above facts were
elicited. The spot where the body was found was viewed. The coroner inquired if
the letter from Miss Delaney to which Howard referred had been found and was told
that it had not. He was seen to burn a paper yesterday afternoon and it is thought
that it was destroyed. Coroner Bradford inquired of the family in regard to
Miss Delaney and said that if the young lady was all right he could see no reason
for impaneling a jury and holding an inquest as it seemed to be a plain case of
suicide. The only thing to be gained by the inquest would be the opportunity to
learn from Miss Delaney what she had said in the letter and whether it
contained anything in particular which would cause him to take his life.
The
family spoke in the highest terms of Miss Delaney and said that while they did
not know what reason she had or what she had written they felt sure that she
must have thought she had sufficient reason for breaking the engagement and
were confident that she would not have done it without believing that she had a
good reason. They were of course grieved beyond measure at the result, but did
not think she could have dreamed of what would be the outcome of her note.
As a
result of the statement the coroner decided that no inquest was necessary. The
STANDARD man then came down from the hill and hunted up Bert Dickinson. He said
that a friend of his had seen Howard yesterday morning before he reached the
post office and he was then in high spirits. He himself saw him after he
received the letter from Miss Delaney. He was then all broken up. He showed him
the letter and asked him to read it. He only read a few lines of it , but from
what Howard told him and from what he did read concluded that they had had some
difference of opinion, he would not call it a quarrel. Howard had tried to see
her and she would not see him and Howard had written her a note and this letter
from her had resulted. He could throw no further light on the subject.
The
STANDARD man then called at the home of Miss Delaney on North Church-st. to learn, if possible,
from her the contents of
the letter which she had sent to Howard and which could not be found. Miss Delaney was so shocked
at the news which
had come to her early in the morning and so filled with grief that she was able to
say very little
to any one about it, but it appeared that some question had arisen between them upon which
they had disagreed very
decidedly, each taking strong ground, and Miss Delaney was very confident that she was in the
right. Discussions of
this had followed upon several occasions.
Last
Saturday afternoon Howard mailed a note to Miss Delaney asking her to be home
Sunday evening as he desired to see her. The note was not delivered from the
post office until the first delivery on Monday morning, consequently Miss
Delaney did not know of his intended call and when he came he was told that she
was at church. He supposing that she had received the note evidently took it as
a deliberate slight and cut, for the second delivery of Monday morning brought
to her a note from Howard written after his call Sunday night. After reading
this Miss Delaney decided that the engagement had better be broken off. In the
letter which she wrote to him she said that this act of breaking the engagement
was the hardest of her life, for she had cared for him, but she felt that under
the circumstances it was better that they should part. She had no idea that he
would be so rash, and the thought that she had been a cause in bringing about
the suicide is almost unbearable.
The
failure to appreciate the delay of the mails evidently played its part in this tragedy.
If Howard had seen her or had known that she was not at home Sunday night for
the simple reason that she had not received his note he would in all probability
never have written the second note which brought about his dismissal.
Mr.
Park told the reporter that Howard had always been an impulsive boy. It was
think of a thing and do it at once. He had always been a good boy and had never
given them any trouble or anxiety. He had been very affectionate with all of them
but thought everything of his mother in particular who, as was said before, was
his confidant. It is surely a very sad affair in every respect.
The
funeral will be held from his late home on Friday at 2 o'clock.
The revolver which was used was one which
Howard had drawn at an Emerald hose fair [Fireman Fair—ed.]. It was a
38-calibre and was made by the Forehand Arms Co. of Worcester, Mass.
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