SUICIDE IN VIENNA

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8365, 27 February 1913, Page 3

SUICIDE IN VIENNA

Statistics of the cases of suicide which occurred in - the course of last year in Vienna show, according to a "Lancet" correspondent in that city, that 1558 persons killed themselves there, as compared with 1406' during the previous year. It is worthy of note that the increase was mainly among females, 627 of whom took their own lives as compared with 510 during the previous year, whilst the corresponding increase among the males was only thirty-five. This makes it seem that females are less able than males to resist bodily and mental troubles and the strain of daily life, but a sad feature of these statistics, the constant increase of suicides of children, contradicts this view. The ages at which persons committed suicide varied within wide limits, the oldest of the victims being eighty-eight years of ago and the youngest only nine years. It is a curious fact that the bright sum T mer months are apparently more con' ducive to suicide than the gloomy winter days. Thus June, July, and August head the list, whilst the lowest number of suicides occurred in February and December. The modes of death most frequently selected were hanging (633 cases), shooting (233 oases), and poisoning (108 cases). Two women burnt themselves alive. The most frequently assigned motives for suicide were ill-health, disappointment in love, and want of food. In seventeen instances attempts at suicide were made by children who found themselves unable to accomplish their class work at school; this subject will be investigated by a special commission.