COULD NOT DROWN HIMSELF

NZ Truth, Issue 1206, 10 January 1929, Page 3

COULD NOT DROWN HIMSELF

Out of Work and Miserable, John Russel Vainly Tried To Commit Suicide GRAPHIC STORY OF Hisl^

— ..,.•.' o A FEW Sundays- ' rt ago Death stretched out its claws to • claim John Russell, a derelict on the tide of hopelessness and misfortune. Life had' shown him naught but kicks, and ahead of him

there appeared^. — : . nothing else but a • , . vista of jobless days, and of the grind of oppressive poverty. Well, they dragged him from .the Yarra, and. now such interest as attaches to his case . centres round the question whether or not he was done a good turn by those who refused to let him drown. ,•/ , "I want to -give you .my reasons for jumping into' the river, and to tell you why I didn't stay there," said Russel when he approached "Truth" with, his story. "I'm John Russel," he continued. "The man who changed his mind." / The facts of the case as they related to Russel's most, recent exploit" were not difficult to -recall," foremost people were inclined to ,laiigh when they read that a man had jumped over Prince's Bridge, but evidently .had thought better of it when he reached the water, and on coming to the surface had clung like grim death to a nearby boat until help arrived. . . For him, it was anything but funny. It taught him, a lesson. .. At the moment he is making cheap 1 toys at the' Salvation Army men's home- at Abbotsford. ' Russel is a skilled carpenter and a decent enough young fellow, and a live craftsman is better any day than a dead man on a slab at the morgue. ..Let him tell, his story: ;. / - "Born m Adelaide. 23 years ago, I have earned my own living for the best part of that period, working either m town or country,, wherever opportunity! off ered. At last j found myself m Melbourne, out of work and with very little m my pocket;

' (From "N.Z. Truth's -",s pedal Melbourne Representative.) •-.; How does it feel -to vault the parapet of a bridge, plunge into the waters, which await to drag the lion-swimmer down to death— and live? There has always been a difference of opinion on the sensations of death by drowning, whether it be pleasant or unpleasant, and most of us are content to leave it at that rather than try it. ' ' / ■■■ . ■ Here is the story of a man who set out deliberately with the intention of suiciding. Without a job, without a friend, he could see' nothing, ahead but misery, so he decided to end it all— and failed. He, at least, has no illusions concerning suicide as a panacea for social ills. ...;

"Melbourne is a good town for those with money; bad for those without. "This last year, '.work has been very, very scarce. A ..fortnight ago, after vainly trying for a job, I found myself with £2 m my pocket._ Two pounds is a. lot of money; at present it would be a fortune. " ' ; "A sober man,, as a rule, 1 started worrying, and,, giving up hope, -decided to drown my sorrows;' It was a big mistake — they float. "Saturday passed, and when i awoke on Sundiiy morning all I had was the modegt sum of 3/3 and a cheap -waxen. By the way,.- the . : '" - '"•' ■•'

watch continued, going while m .the' river, arid is still, keeping good time. V "I 'was not 'broke,' but .work was as

far off as over— further off, it seemed. "Something seemed to say: 'End it. Life is not worth while.; If you work for a living: you drag on m misery on the breadline all the time. If yoir steal, or beg, they give you gaol. If would be better ;to be. m the river.' ; . : . „.;; '';;. "Drowning is, ' I think, .a .terrible dea'tii. Yeai-s ago I once drpwfied some ..kittens.' I would never do;ittagain. , ' .-''But to continue.'! tried to reason' thing's' out^yhe'ther to live or , to die. Walking: for hours, or, so it :seemed f . I finally found myself ' at the . city end of. Princess Bridge. > I lit my last cigar-; ette; .and after smoking it I thoroughly

To Live or Ta Die?

enjoyed it. I thought.it would be my last smoke in' this world. "Brought up a Roman Catholic, for years . I havepractised no religion. At times denying there is a "God. I know now that there is: .You cannot die until your time comes* neither can you take your own life": Your fate is marked out, arid live to it you^ must. You. have; no say m. the matter 'at, all. "I cannot swim— or could : hot, 1 . should- say. Being always afraid' of Water,. I never learned; ; As I smoked, I suddenly made-" up my mind, and, finishing the cigarette, walked to the centre of the bridge, arid, putting my •'■•.■' . ■ - " hand on the railing

on the down river '■ side, I leaped over. ■"I pity any man whd falls f rom -a height .before • being killed. It only

takes a second of time, but you have hours, or' so it seems, before you hit anything. /Phat was so before- 1 hit the water.' I, thought of many things. ; , "I hit the water feet, first, and ■ must have gone down very deep. ■■■• As I entered the water I opened . 'my imb.uth, 1 hoping' 'to swallow plenty of, water; and finish ;jt quickly. 1 It seervied years before I came to the surface again. , . : ': . "Never before .having ibeen under water, I noticed the light as I rose to the surface, and it flashed throxigh my mind : that I had died. But it is not so easy as all that. On reaching the surface I was surprised to find that

o— — •■■•• ...... . : I did not sink again immediately. The force of .the stream must have carried me down. I saw that some boats which ' were anchored' on the station side were not so faraway. fy "It was then I

,■■■ , changed my mind. r I seemed to know tnen that I. was not going to drown, and suddenly I - realized what a fool I was. I splashed t arid struggled, and .succeeded m ' reaching, the rieare'st boat, but found > .that k 'stood too. high out of the {water i for. me to get a. ; hand hold. Feeling 5 very tired, I looked: around and saw another boat not so fai'.pff.. Ins.tead of . striking out for- it,. I. put -up. my hand [ find sank, for the second time. On . r-'is- ' : ing I managed to struggle to the boat. - .\ "No. : one : shou (d drown if they > keep their heads. ?.J cannot swim, • but this did not prevent me from getting put. j hung on to the boat : until taken ashore by :^ome boatman. I. dp not know who he was." • • After this Russel w?xs charged at the 1 City Court for attempted suicide, and ' while- waiting to appear was confined ;' m the. metropolitan gaph ' . • 'fl was' there ,f6r; seven days," he 1 remarked, ' "und.'l learned ' what gaol is like. I sincerely hope I will never • b.ave : ;to'.go there again. My idea of it .is, when : ybii are m you stand" still, and life goes past: .Gaol does not cure cviminals— it makes them. . "At present I. am m the care of the Salvation Army. A very fine 1 institur tipn, it' does more good than most of , the {churches. ; ;' ' .;■•■, ; . • ' "But ! don't want charity— l want . work, WOFIK, just work; so that' , I may live and work out my. --. destiriy." • . ' ■ ..•■'.: '. ■ ' 0" v" "■"•■■• ." :-.' " 'There, then, is the story of John s Russel, would-be suicide, now a . cpn- ; tlrmed Fatalist. -;: