KinSource - Tale of the Week

KinSource

Minnesota Tales

The St. Paul Daily Globe, October 21, 1885, p. 2

A DEADLY DOSE.

Adolph Laguhn Swallows a Dose of Carbolic Acid and Dies.

A miserable existence was ended yesterday afternoon about 4 o'clock. Adolph Laguhn swallowed a dose of carbolic acid and a few minutes later was a lifeless corpse. The history of the man is an eventful one, and will be [read] with some interest, since he has made himself somewhat conspicuous in the past in the sensational circles of journalism. He came to St. Paul a few years ago and became a teacher in the public school. He was married to an estimable woman, but Adolph's terrible appetite for liquor would not be sated, and he soon became a total wreck from its influence. All his wife's efforts to raise him from the depths into which he had fallen were futile, and driven to despair, she applied for divorce. This drove the man to desperation, and one night last March he placed a revolver to his head and fired five shots, three of them taking effect. One of the balls passed through his head just back of his eyes, severing the visual nerves, and, although his iron constitution survived the shock of his terrible wounds, he came out of the hospital totally blind and for the past few weeks has been boarding at the St. Paul house, while he gained a livelihood by begging in the streets. Yesterday he went to the residence of his wife, 293 Louis street, where she has lived since the divorce was decreed her, doing washing and other menial labor for the support of herself and four children. Laguhn, on his visit yesterday afternoon, pleaded with the woman to return and live with him, but she realizing the extra burden he would be on her hands refused. This seemed to crush the man and he stepped outside the door. In a moment he returned and sat down on a chair. Mrs. Laguhn noticed a peculiar expression on his face, but had hardly time to question him when he fell from the chair writhing with pain and almost immediately expired. Subsequent examination showed that he had swallowed carbolic acid. The coroner was notified and the inquest will probably be held today.