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John William Warde was a twenty-six-year-old native of Southampton, New York who committed suicide on July 26, 1938. He leaped from a window ledge of the seventeenth floor of the Gotham Hotel at 5th Avenue and 55th Street〔(New York Times ) Gotham Hotel, now Peninsula New York〕 in Manhattan. The son of a Long Island express agent, his eleven-hour dilemma before jumping held three hundred New York City Police Department officers at bay. They were afraid of making a move. Warde earlier had become upset by a remark made by his sister while he was sitting with a group of people in a 17th-floor room of the hotel. He dashed for a window and then occupied the ledge,〔 balancing there〔''Is Life Worth Living?'', New York Times, July 28, 1938, pg. 18.〕 from morning until late in the evening. ==Chronology of death== Four hundred police officers and NYPD personnel responded to the emergency together with members of the Fire Department and volunteer helpers. Psychiatrist J. C. Presner was called by hotel management to make a plea to Warde, who was believed to be clinically depressed. Presner dropped tablets in the water which was being handed to Warde, which he hoped would help a person suffering from melancholia. Unfortunately the medicine did not work.〔 Policeman Charles V. Glasco attempted to persuade Warde not to jump by talking to him on and off for hours. They discussed baseball, ping pong and picnics, among other subjects. Glasco eventually stripped off his uniform coat, police shield and pistol belt. He impersonated a bellhop who proclaimed he would lose his job if Warde jumped.〔 Glasco had nearly convinced Warde to come in and most likely would have, but a photographer ran into the room (it is not known how he was able to enter) and attempted to take a picture. This caused Warde to jump. This deeply upset and angered Glasco because if not for this photographer, Warde likely wouldn't have jumped. During Glasco's time with Warde, Warde had disclosed a secret which Glasco did not disclose to anyone for as long as he lived, in accordance with his promise. It is unclear what this secret was or if it had any correlation to his suicide. Warde eventually leaped feet first at 10:38 P.M., crashing into the glass marquee of the 55th Street entrance of the Gotham Hotel. His body smashed to the sidewalk. When he jumped, ten thousand people were gathered at the busy intersection of 55th Street and Fifth Avenue. Collectively they shouted, “Here he comes!” prior to becoming silent at the moment Warde made his plunge.〔''Window Ledge Sitter Leaps To Death'', ''A Century of Journalism'', New York Post, Volume III, pp. 62 ''-'' 72.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John William Warde」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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