Stories of Paraná - The last suicide

Stories of Paraná - The last suicide

The last suicide
J. Wellington Ax

Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, a former lieutenant in 1922, was in the words of Professor Darcy Ribeiro, "bachelor, Blessed, sad, chaste and quiet." He was also honest, which almost amounts to a mortal sin for those who want political.
Thus it was that a presidential candidate in 1945, the democratization of the country post-dictatorship of Getúlio, Brigadier openly declared himself opposed to any type of gambling. Plus, announced it would close the casinos and end the numbers game if it were elected.
It may not have been just that, but the point is that Brigadier lost the election for General Eurico Gaspar Dutra - this kept quiet about the game and thus was openly supported by unions of fun houses and employed in casinos across the country. The rest of the story everyone knows: a few months after his inauguration, on April 30, 1946, a Tuesday, the ministry Dutra met and issued a decree forbidding any kind of game in the country, except, of course, the national lottery.
The news of the closing of casinos caused uproar throughout Brazil, which was infested country of casinos. Strictly speaking, they could only be opened, as the law stipulated in the federal capital and the hidroterápicas stations, recreation centers and climate.
But it was enough to have a miserable look slightly mineral water for any village claimed the condition "hydrotherapeutic season." In the neighborhood of Ahu, in Curitiba, had a water these, justifying the existence of an on-site casino, appropriately known as the "Casino Ahu".
It was a beautiful nightclub, incomparable to those dens of the Paraguayan border deal for Brazilian tourists casinos. And true that led to ruin and many made the utter disgrace of others.
But never after him, Curitiba had a playhouse height to receive, as then, the biggest stars in "show biz" national and even some international, not counting the special patrons.
One night in 1941, for example, those who were there Unwinding was none other than Walt Disney, who was en route to Sao Paulo, from Buenos Aires, when his plane had to make a forced landing in Curitiba.
Closed, the building and the beautiful farm Casino Ahu fate would most unsuspected; were transformed into a convent of nuns.
Who knows, so calm down if the souls of suicides by gambling debts which, according to popular belief, insisted sorrow and the gardens of the casino.
The last of these suicides, shows us a string published at the time and signed by a JP Veiga, would have been a wealthy lumberman, who owns several properties in the Campos Gerais region.
Man in his fifties, he frequented the casino almost daily, sometimes losing, sometimes winning.
In last night's game, lost a small fortune, but nothing that would compromise your finances. The closing of the casino, took him more than the money, took her dream of trying to recover it.
This, he whimpered up with friends, was worse than losing to the penny. The opening of a clandestine another home game not served him for comfort - what the timber wanted was to try to recover the money which was lost.
Capricho, yes, but what the general Dutra had with it?
At the end of three months, one morning, deeply depressed - in the old string - the man fired a shot in the mouth.

J. Wellington Machado is retired administrator.


Source: Stories of the Paraná, Brasil.