It’s hard to imagine a time when boys and young men were allowed to play with guns so recklessly (inside the house!), and yet when we take a look in the newspaper archives, we can find so many stories like the one below.
In 1898, three brothers were playing with guns when one is accidentally shot and killed. The description of the aftermath is brutal. Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Edward Weller
Last night Edward Weller, a white lad aged 17 years, fired the contents of a single-barreled shotgun into his brother, William Weller, at East Chattanooga.
The three boys of the family were in the habit of playing Indian with three guns possessed by the family.
Last night when Edward reached home he found his brothers, William and James, in the kitchen playing with their guns, firing blank cartridges at each other.
Edward at once prepared to join in the sport, and, hastily picking up a cartridge, shoved it in his gun, took deliberate aim at his oldest brother, William, and pulled the trigger.
A moment later the boy realized the awful consequences of his carelessness. Almost simultaneously with the report of the gun, William, the boy fired at, fell in a heap on the floor with the whole side of his head shot off.
The cartridge was heavily loaded with bird shot and the whole load took effect.
One eye was shot out, one jaw and one ear torn completely off, and he was dead when found by neighbors some minutes later.
Source: The age-herald. (Birmingham, Ala.), 04 Jan. 1898.
