Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 295, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 December 1913 — Robert Toombs Explains How Accident Occurred. [ARTICLE]

Robert Toombs Explains How Accident Occurred.

Bjobert Toombs was down from his home north of Gifford Tuesday and explained how the accident that resulted in the terrible injury to his daughter occurred. The Toombs children were alone at the home and they had taken the idiotgun down to play with. The injured girl, whose age was 11 years, took the shells from the gun and the little t>y ear-old brother put them back in. She did not know it and a-little later held the muzzle of the gun up to the side of her face and asked the brother to pull the trigger, so that she could hear it click. He did so and the guh was discharged’. The shot grazed her face, inflicting the injuries heretofore reported. Her recovery now seems assurred and it is expected when she has sufficiently recovered an effort will be made to perform a dermatology operation and do all that is possible to restore the facial attractions of the unfortunate girl. Her little brother, although only 6 years of aye, is able to appreciate the terrible suffering his sister has to undergo and is very sorry for it all. He can really not be much blamed, for the children were all playing with the gun. It seems that the responsibility rests with the parent who left it iwhete the children could get hold of it.

Several parties have chronicled terrible (hunting accidents during the past, few days, and a word of warning should be said to all hunters. Never leave a loaded gun or revolver where children can get at them; never leave the ammunition where the gun is, and issue to the children the most positive instructions that neither are ever to be touched. These precuatiois will not save all the accidents, but if the grown people will do ttielr full part, then the children will be very much safer. Fire arms in the hands of those who know how to use them are dangeorus enough and in the hands of youths constitute so grave a danger that every parent should exercise every precaution against the children getting hold of them. .