C&T Publications Eye On Fine Art Photography - September 2014 | Page 58

best of spirits up to the time of committing suicide, and no cause is known for the act. The deceased was well known and
popular.”
Further information is found in the Los Angeles Times, November 8th, 1897:
“Coroner L.W. Heim of Bakersfield this afternoon held an inquest on the body of Percy E. Smith, the man who committed
suicide yesterday morning by shooting himself in the mouth. The evidence was given principally by his surviving brother and
Constable Macy. The jury rendered a verdict of death by his own hand. Percy E. Smith was born at Marlborough, Mass., and was
38 years old at the time of his death. He and his brother had been in Randsburg since last June, running the Wedge saloon on
Rand street. He was buried in the country east of town this evening.”
The Los Angeles Times reported on this other suicide, dated May 18th, 1900:
“Albert Raul Ritter died this evening at 6 o’clock. It is presumed that he committed suicide. Ritter was a married man and leaves
a widow and three children. He had been waiting on two sick men and took morphine. The doctors say he died from morphine
poisoning. He was born in France and had been here nearly three years. He had not been successful in business and was
despondent. He came here from San Bernardino and was a member of the Foresters. An inquest will be held.”
The Randsburg Miner reports further on this incident on May 19th, 1900:

“ALBERT RAUL RITTER
Died in Randsburg on Thursday evening from the effects of Morphine poisoning. This was the verdict rendered by the Coroner's
Jury of 12 men who heard all the evidence in the case before Justice Doty on Friday afternoon. Mr. Ritter had been nursing the
two sick men who are in the cottage back of Rand Street. He had been on duty in daytime and one of them had been very violent
in the delirium of fever. Mr. Ritter had had a rather bad day of it on Monday and on quitting to start home that evening
complained of his hard lot and said that ever since he had been on the desert he had done nothing but nurse sick men and take
care of crazy ones and he was getting tired of it.
On leaving, he shook hands with Mr. Ellis who took his place and said he would just fool them tomorrow. Nothing was thought
of this however until he failed to show up next morning and it was learned he was sick in bed. He took sick Monday night and
Dr. Nichols was sent for about 2 o'clock and again at 5 o'clock in the morning. The doctor testified that at his first and second
visits he found no symptoms of morphine poisoning, but did discover that he was suffering from ptomaine poisoning and treated
him accordingly.
In the medications prescribed by Dr. Nichols there was not more than 1 3/4 grains of morphine all told and both he and Dr.
Swayne testified that if he had taken it all in an hour it would not kill him. Both doctors also testified that he must have had 5 to 6
grains to keep him in the comatose condition he was in for so long a time before death. During his first days sickness he also took
a small bottle of Chamberlain's diarrhea medicine, but it was not prescribed by a physician.
Dr. Swayne was called to attend him at 1 o'clock Thursday, and Mr. Ritter died a little after 5 the same evening. He was
unconscious during all of that time and had been for many hours before. Dr. Nichols and the night nurse at the cottage testified
that some 5 or 6 grains of morphine left at the house disappeared and they did not know what became of it. Mr. Ritter was aware
it was there and knew its effects. Someone took it away and it might have been Ritter and if so it would account for his condition.
The coroner's Jury returned the following verdict: That to the best of my knowledge and the evidence, Albert R. Ritter came to
his death by morphine poisoning - intentionally or unintentionally not known - F. O. Moore, John O'Brien, L. V. Lonsway, Frank
Griffith, Julius Goldsmith, J. E. Harris, B.B. Summer, D. V. Barton, B. C. Arthur, Wm. H. Pierce, J. Kinyon, F. W. Snell.
Mr. Albert Raul Ritter was born in Alsace, France and was 43 years old at the time of his death. He leaves a wife and 3 children,
2 girls, aged 14 and 16 years and Tommy aged 10. The family came here from San Bernardino and have lived in Randsburg
about 2 1/2 years.”
What citizens of Randsburg may not have known about Mr. Ritter is that one of his brothers was married to a woman who had been a
lady-in-waiting to the Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III and that the Ritter family may have immigrated to the United States
for reasons of personal safety.
From his military career to his civilian endeavors as a merchant, Mr. Ritter seemed to have nothing but a string of bad luck.
Another supposed suicide in Randsburg made headlines and probably had people talking amongst themselves due to the strangeness
of the incident. The Los Angeles Times reported this incident in their June 10th, 1930 edition:
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