A Desperate Act and a Hardened Response
Thomas Witt swallowed bichloride of mercury, was revived at an Eagle pharmacy, and jailed for disorderly conduct.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Thomas Witt was dragged back to life from which he had tried to escape early this morning, to find himself in jail charged with disorderly conduct. Witt took 14 grains of bichloride of mercury in the Fremont house, on the Grant street bridge. Dr. J. M. Snyder found him unconscious in the Eagle pharmacy on King street and managed to pull him through. The drug store people had given the man emetics and materially aided his recovery. Witt got news yesterday of troubles back at his home and decided life wasn't worth living. He got hold of a box of antiseptic tablets and took seven of them. Then he began to die, until friends found him and interrupted proceedings. Mrs. Witt was about the place and happened along after her husband had been dragged down to the drug store. She and Witt were both taken to police headquarters.
“Thomas Witt was dragged back to life from which he had tried to escape early this morning, to find himself in jail charged with disorderly conduct.”
The reporting of this incident reflects the severe, punitive approach to mental health and suicide common in the early 20th century. By charging the victim with 'disorderly conduct' for an act of self-harm, the law treated personal tragedy as a public nuisance, a stark contrast to modern mental health intervention protocols.
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