SEVENTEEN DEATHS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 302, 21 December 1932, Page 9

SEVENTEEN DEATHS.

HARBOUR BRIDGE. \ _____ < PROBLEM OF SUICIDES. j SHOULD ANYTHING BE DONE? j (From Our Own Correspondent ) SYDNEY, December 16. i On Wednesday, December 15, a man named Charles Diamond, an Englishman « n o relatives in Australia" —leaped ; from the Harbour Bridge to his death. I I have not attempted to chronicle all ; these tragedies of late, but it may alarm some of the "good easy folk" in New = Zealand that this suicide from the bridge was the second attempt within two days, the fifth within a fortnight, the nineteenth since the opening. Of these 19 falls, 17 have been fatal; and it is not surprising that an agitation has been going on here intermittently for a long time in favour of some sort of protective or defensive addition to the bridge, which would limit the present very° obvious facilities for self-destruc-tion. The difficulty is to see what can be done. Various people have approached Mr. Brunner, the deputy-Premier, who as Minister of Transport, is supposed in some vague sort of way to have some kind of responsibility in this matter. By the way, Mr. Brunner has already suggested to the newspapers that if they did not give suicides so much publicity perhaps the people who wish to end their lives might not be so frequently attracted to the bridge. To this the "Sun" made answer, somewhat tartly, that "It is obvious that if mention of the tragedies were conveniently suppressed, the Minister would not be troubled with so many questions about it." But it seems to me that Colonel Brunner is on valid ground in his objection to netting, and other proposed „ methods of protection. One ingenious " person, has offered, Jo defend, ghe

approaches to the foridge effectively against would-be suicides —for the sum of £4000. But says Mr. Brunner, "Even if the bridge were fenced there are other bridges in Sydney; there is the 'Gap/ and miles of high cliffs. No special precautions have been taken to make it impossible for people to jump from these places, and it would, in fact, be impracticable. There is no bridge in the world where anything has been done to prevent suicides, such as. the suggested netting or fencing. To stop people falling on to the roa4way at the bridge approaches it would further be necessary to protect the parapets; and even so,' there are many high buildings in Sydney." All of which seems to me sound common sense. The suicidal attitude is not due to the presence of the bridge, but to a state of mind, against which nettings and barricades are useless.