Taking every precaution to succeed in his efforts to end his life, Nicholas Mourjakos, from Geraki, Lacedemon, Greece, committed suicide last night in his room by turning on the gas.

Apparently, after he had finished a four-page letter which the authorities found upon a table, he opened the gas jets and lay down on his bed to die. That the deceased was not insane or temporarily unbalanced is revealed by his associates and by the tear-stained letter. He curses certain people whom he accuses of being the cause of his brother's death and the misery brought upon him. Parts of his letter follow, which the police handed to us for translation:

"I have put an end to my life, alone, because I cannot bear to live any longer, although I have a large family of little children. Everyone comes to America to earn money. I came to lose money and life. God will punish those who are the cause of my beloved brother's death and of my own catastrophe.

Good-bye, vain world!

Nicholas Mourjukos.

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Editor's Note:

Some of the best minds the world over attribute suicide to mental derangement or to cowardice. Fear of the future also and many other causes are assigned to suicide. The deceased's letter reveals very clearly that he did not care to live any longer. His free, sane, and determined will put an end to his natural life. However, further enlightenment gained by scientific study will, in the future, will tell us more about suicide than we think we know to-day.

Do we not say, "Death is the liberation of the soul from the shackles of material tyranny?"

Whether death come one way or another, does it not liberate the soul? Because of our present narrow conception of life many things are assigned to the wrong category.