SUICIDE OF A FAMILY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 39

SUICIDE OF A FAMILY .

A man named Dreyfus (believed .to be a cousin of Captain Dreyfus, the deported, artillery officer, imprisoned on an island off the coast of French,, Guiana), his wife (formerly Miss RsbebcaFortado Abraham, an American), and their three daughters (respectively 13; 11, and 7 years of age) committed suicide on the morning of the Bth -November or the previous night at their residence at Moreceu, Paris. The porter of the house found their bodies in their apartments. They we're lying. on the floor in the bedroom of the youngest child. Dreyfus left a letter for the commissioner of police of the district inclosing 4-OOE to defray the expenses of tho funeral. The deceased husband was so upset by the sentence imposed on Captain Dreyfus that he changed his name Dreyfus to that of his wife. Dreyfus was the son of the Cjuntessa Dheuretti. The method cf suicide was by inhaling charcoal fumes. It is believed that the suicides were committed because of the recent losses by Dreyfus on thfe Bourse. Mdme Dreyfus lasb week made several purchases oE furs and clothing for the children, and w^s getting ready to visit her sister in London. This seems to show that she bad no ink< ling of her husband's intentions at the time f and leads the friends of the family to believe that it was only under his over-mastering influence that she agreed to share his fate. Tha deceased was in comfortable circumstances and had property with an annual income of £2500.