June 11, analysts have found, is the most common date for suicides. Tuesday is the most common day of the week; 11:00 a.m. the most common hour. This year there is no fatal conjunction: June 11 is a Saturday.* But surveyors of the civilized scene (primitive people rarely, animals never kill themselves wantonly) view with alarm a rising tide of self-murder.
Statistics on suicide are, from the nature of the deed; never complete. Fear of God and the insurance companies, desire for burial in hallowed ground and insurance payments to heirs, constrain many a suicide to disguise his act. Commonest...
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