Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1890 — Tried to Commit Suicide. [ARTICLE]

Tried to Commit Suicide.

Monday morning Charles Fay, a boy of about 16 years old, son of Thos. Fay, of Union tp went before breakfast to the residence of F. M. Lakin, a neighbor, and asked to borrow some strychnine to kill a dog. He was furnished with about \\grains of the deadly drug, and this he himself swallowed, stopping at a well for the purpose, on bis way home. On arriving at home he soon became sick, and told his family of what he had done. They compelled him to swallow some melted lard and this probably caused him to throw up most of the poison, but enough remained to make the young man very sick, and a messenger was sent to Rensselaer, for Dr. Bitters. He administered the proper remedies and the boy was soon relieved of the effects of the poison. Dr. Bitters is of the opinion that the dose taken was too small to have caused death, but would, without treatment, have caused him several hours of convulsions.

The boy has talked and acted somewhat strangely of late, and is probably more or less insane. He is still said to threaten suicide, and to say that he will try drowning, the next time. ,