SUICIDE OF A SCHOOLBOY.

Thames Star, Volume VIIi, Issue 2825, 5 March 1878, Page 2

SUICIDE OF A SCHOOLBOY.

Early on Tuesday, morning a r shocking and Tery tad ease of-anicide on the part of a schoolboy wm discovered to have ? taken place on the Melbourne, and Hbbf*, ton's Bailway at Biehmond. At about " 10 minutes past 6 a.m., Michael Pureell, a ganger in the employ of the oompany, was walking down the Brighton tine, iron Biehmond to see that the rails ware clear for the first train. Some 70 yards heyrtd the Stephenson street gates; be ftfttsf Jj» body of a boy lying on taebeUwtoatsiJe ■' the rails, the head completely severed from the trunk, and lying ibside-Son what is technically known as the "firefoot." The left hand of r the deceased j was also greatly mutilated. From the position •in , which the. * renuuna _ were found/ it appeared that*-the deceased had laid himself down with his neck on the west nil,''and it' was sdWeir that he must have been ran* over-aid* killed by a late train on Monday night In committing the rash act he had exercised some deliberation, hating, previous to placing himself on tbe line, taken off his hat *ud boots, i leafing tbmav outside- • tb« fence, wbere ttor tftiyjimii by thpV : railway, official., r^jfcfi^-pf. the, death wm sent to Melton* aatf'&astable Flannery was' despatched jto the scene of the tragedy. The remains har-. ing been conveyed tothe looai atation, were brought on by,Flannery rathe next train to the city, and placed in tbe morgue, In the -meantime, the body had- be#f>, identified aa thai of Percy John Owns* ? bell, fifteen years of age, who had. lived with his stepfather, Mr George Smart, teacher, of dancing, at the corner of Balmain and Dover streets, Richmond. Although but a mere boy. k^ had formed an attachment for a yoiioc . lady in the neighbourhood, and in one of his pockets was found a onrd, upon which the following was written By him in pencil :^'Dear 'Ohriasy^X am; flou* •way next Tuesday or Wednesday, and will not return till ,1 .have .made my fortune. Then I Will oome and claim you for ever. lours truly and sincerely.—P. J. Camfbuz.." Ihe demised was a pupil at tbe Brighton road state school, and had made good progress in his education. Me left for, school as usual, on Monday morning, but about 12 o'clock Mr Higgins, the master, sent Mr Smart word that his stepson had not attended that morning.- About the same time, Mr Smart was handed' a pencil note iatho . handwriting of the deceased, which had just been [ received by ths[ young Jadr referred to above. This note read as foP lows:—Dear Christy,—! am now going away from home, and you will not seeise) any more alive ou the face of this wirteaL earth. All I ask you to wear when I«■ gone is a backhand on your right antw I will drown myself in the Tarn to-night, Yours for ever; P. J. Cawmmo.". ..Xh# ; . deceased bad on several previoaioee*. sions ciused much anxiety to hit mmi» ; by absenting himself from home, and staying away over night. His abtenot from school on Monday was not, therefore, regarded aa a very extraordinary oeeifVj| rence, but the note he had sent to thr^ young lady occasioned considerable oncost* ness to hi« friends. Fearing that the youth might have some suicidal intentions, Mr Bmart reported the circumstonees of tha, caac at the detective office, ; and left'their . a copy of the letter. The detootavet* ; however; seemed to regard the letter aa merely a ruse to frighten the young lady to whom it was addressed. On Tuesday it was ascertained that the deceased spent Monday evening at Sandridge. He called on his uncle there, Mr Charles Potter, landlord of the Hibernian, Hotel, and had tea. Mr Potter; inquired a «f him^ what bad brought him to Bandndge that night, and he replied that be was down on hqsfc . ness. "There irW th«n nothing vnusnal in his manner. He did not even appear despondent, but on the contrary seemed to be in high spirits. He left for home in time to catch the 7 p.m. train for Melbourne at the North Sandridge station, and the next heard of him was the finding of his remains on the railway The tragedy was enacted on, a part of Ac line which Her just behind the hovse where the young lady to whom the letter was written resides; There can be no doubt that the deceased committed self* destruction, and it may be easily: be*. eluded that when he did so he wassnffering from mental aberration. ~~ . An inquest was held by Mr dandier at the feUy mejhraetiti Wednesday on the body. The jury returned a verdict that the dcoeased oolsniUted self-destruction in a fit of temporary insanity.—Anitra* iasiw.