SUICIDE ON SOUTH HILL

Forehand .38 caliber short.

Cortland Evening Standard, Wednesday, June 3, 1896.

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 almost 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 postoffice [sic]. 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 by. 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 [sic] 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 postoffice 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 postoffice 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. It was a 38-calibre and was made by the Forehand Arms Co. of Worcester, Mass.