Accidental Shooting.
On Wednesday afternoon Dispatch scribe learned that one of the Tift [sic] boys had been shot and killed by one of his brothers, and a visit to the house between 3rd and 4th streets confirmed the rumor. Around the stove sat the family, bewailing the sad catastrophe, while in the other room lay the cold and rigid remains of what a few hours before had been a bright and promising boy of 12 years, and whose death will be added to the already long list of "didn't know it was loaded" items. It seems the accident happened in this manner: William a boy some eighteen years of age, was handling a Winchester rifle which he supposed was empty. Right in front of him and leaning against a low bedstead was his 12 year old brother George Tift [sic]. The older brother was working the lever which pumps the cartridges into the gun from the magazine, and as this one cartridge which was still in came to its place the gun was accidentally discharged, and the ball struck George in the breast, passed through his body and came out in two pieces, having been split on a bone, these two pieces going through the back of the bedstead and the side of the house. The boy dropped to the floor with the exclamation, "Oh, Willie, what did you do it for," and in about eight minutes was dead. There was nothing about the matter that would indicate that it was anything but accidental and the coroner after viewing the remains concluded that an inquest was not necessary. The family is in hard circumstances as a glance at their surroundings indicates, and a subscription paper was circulated on Wednesday evening in order to procure a burial for the deceased and which we understand was subscribed to quite liberally. It is indeed a cheerless Thanksgiving day for the affected family, and should be a warning to others of the caution necessary in handling fire arms. (Brainerd Dispatch, 27 November 1885, p. 3, c. 4) [Contributed by A. Nelson]
Transcribed by Jim Lee
On Wednesday afternoon Dispatch scribe learned that one of the Tift [sic] boys had been shot and killed by one of his brothers, and a visit to the house between 3rd and 4th streets confirmed the rumor. Around the stove sat the family, bewailing the sad catastrophe, while in the other room lay the cold and rigid remains of what a few hours before had been a bright and promising boy of 12 years, and whose death will be added to the already long list of "didn't know it was loaded" items. It seems the accident happened in this manner: William a boy some eighteen years of age, was handling a Winchester rifle which he supposed was empty. Right in front of him and leaning against a low bedstead was his 12 year old brother George Tift [sic]. The older brother was working the lever which pumps the cartridges into the gun from the magazine, and as this one cartridge which was still in came to its place the gun was accidentally discharged, and the ball struck George in the breast, passed through his body and came out in two pieces, having been split on a bone, these two pieces going through the back of the bedstead and the side of the house. The boy dropped to the floor with the exclamation, "Oh, Willie, what did you do it for," and in about eight minutes was dead. There was nothing about the matter that would indicate that it was anything but accidental and the coroner after viewing the remains concluded that an inquest was not necessary. The family is in hard circumstances as a glance at their surroundings indicates, and a subscription paper was circulated on Wednesday evening in order to procure a burial for the deceased and which we understand was subscribed to quite liberally. It is indeed a cheerless Thanksgiving day for the affected family, and should be a warning to others of the caution necessary in handling fire arms. (Brainerd Dispatch, 27 November 1885, p. 3, c. 4) [Contributed by A. Nelson]
Transcribed by Jim Lee
Accidental Shooting.
On Wednesday afternoon Dispatch scribe learned that one of the Tift [sic] boys had been shot and killed by one of his brothers, and a visit to the house between 3rd and 4th streets confirmed the rumor. Around the stove sat the family, bewailing the sad catastrophe, while in the other room lay the cold and rigid remains of what a few hours before had been a bright and promising boy of 12 years, and whose death will be added to the already long list of "didn't know it was loaded" items. It seems the accident happened in this manner: William a boy some eighteen years of age, was handling a Winchester rifle which he supposed was empty. Right in front of him and leaning against a low bedstead was his 12 year old brother George Tift [sic]. The older brother was working the lever which pumps the cartridges into the gun from the magazine, and as this one cartridge which was still in came to its place the gun was accidentally discharged, and the ball struck George in the breast, passed through his body and came out in two pieces, having been split on a bone, these two pieces going through the back of the bedstead and the side of the house. The boy dropped to the floor with the exclamation, "Oh, Willie, what did you do it for," and in about eight minutes was dead. There was nothing about the matter that would indicate that it was anything but accidental and the coroner after viewing the remains concluded that an inquest was not necessary. The family is in hard circumstances as a glance at their surroundings indicates, and a subscription paper was circulated on Wednesday evening in order to procure a burial for the deceased and which we understand was subscribed to quite liberally. It is indeed a cheerless Thanksgiving day for the affected family, and should be a warning to others of the caution necessary in handling fire arms. (Brainerd Dispatch, 27 November 1885, p. 3, c. 4) [Contributed by A. Nelson]
Transcribed by Jim Lee
On Wednesday afternoon Dispatch scribe learned that one of the Tift [sic] boys had been shot and killed by one of his brothers, and a visit to the house between 3rd and 4th streets confirmed the rumor. Around the stove sat the family, bewailing the sad catastrophe, while in the other room lay the cold and rigid remains of what a few hours before had been a bright and promising boy of 12 years, and whose death will be added to the already long list of "didn't know it was loaded" items. It seems the accident happened in this manner: William a boy some eighteen years of age, was handling a Winchester rifle which he supposed was empty. Right in front of him and leaning against a low bedstead was his 12 year old brother George Tift [sic]. The older brother was working the lever which pumps the cartridges into the gun from the magazine, and as this one cartridge which was still in came to its place the gun was accidentally discharged, and the ball struck George in the breast, passed through his body and came out in two pieces, having been split on a bone, these two pieces going through the back of the bedstead and the side of the house. The boy dropped to the floor with the exclamation, "Oh, Willie, what did you do it for," and in about eight minutes was dead. There was nothing about the matter that would indicate that it was anything but accidental and the coroner after viewing the remains concluded that an inquest was not necessary. The family is in hard circumstances as a glance at their surroundings indicates, and a subscription paper was circulated on Wednesday evening in order to procure a burial for the deceased and which we understand was subscribed to quite liberally. It is indeed a cheerless Thanksgiving day for the affected family, and should be a warning to others of the caution necessary in handling fire arms. (Brainerd Dispatch, 27 November 1885, p. 3, c. 4) [Contributed by A. Nelson]
Transcribed by Jim Lee
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