MISDIRECTED LOVE.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 315, 16 January 1902, Page 2

MISDIRECTED LOVE.

A DISAPPOINTED CUTS HIS THROAT. UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS AT SUICIDE.

At AVhatatutu yesterday afternoon a Maori named Peta Ropene, aged about 25, attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat, It appears that Peta was enamoured of a plump Maori maiden of sixteen summers. The lass loved Peta as fondly as he loved her, but stern parents forbade the putting of matrimonial intentions into effect, and for the past fortnight Peta, who is a shearer and bushfaller, has spent a good deal of his time in devising suitable means to get rid of himself. He flung himself into the river on one occasion, but was pulled out before he had had much more than an enjoyable swim. Later on he caused a sensation by being found with a rope around his neck, and in the act of attaching the other end of the rope to a beam. Yesterday morning he went to the Whatatutu Hotel, and enjoyed himself by playing billiards. He had a couple of drinks during the morning, it is said, but nothing to have any serious effect on him. He returned to the pah, and and at about three in the afternoon he went to his whare. He was followed there by a young native named Wi, who was horrified to find a quantity of blood on the floor, and that Peta had been cutting at his throat with a razor. After the previous attempts on his life the Maoris had watched the demented man, but on this occasion he had been too quick. Constable Adamson soon arrived on the scene and took charge of the injured man. The wound, which is a wide one, but not very deep, was sewn up by Mr Long, and between 8 and 9 p.m. Constable Adamson started for town with a buggy coutaining '.he patient, who was taken to the Hospital, arriving there at about 2 o’clock uis morning. Two other Maoris also ■amo in the buggy. On the way down feta was quite chatty. He was able to talk, and took part in the discussions. He cannot understand why a man should have so much trouble to dispense with his life if he feels that way inclined. He considers that he is a much injured man. He is not allowed to have the girl he says he loves with a great love, nor is he allowed to cast off the life which in his present frame of mind he declares is no longer of any use to him. He should soon recover from the effects of the wound.