Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 213, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1919 — SHOOTS SELF; DEATH PROBABLE [ARTICLE]

SHOOTS SELF; DEATH PROBABLE

IRA DEWEY, 15 YEARS OF AGE, IN SUICIDE ATTEMPT TUESDAY EVENING. Ira Dewey, 15-year-old son of Jacob Dewey, residing six miles south of Rensselaer on the Remington road, lies at the point of death in the county hospital in this city, the result of a self-inflicted bullet wound administered about dusk Tuesday evening during a fit of anger. Small hope is held out for his recovery, and his condition this Wednesday morning is extremely critical. The bullet passed through the two walls of the stomach and the left lobe of the liver, lodging in the spine. A hurried trip was made to Rensselaer and an X-<ray examination disclosed the extent of the wounds. An unmediate operation . was performed and a drain placed in the stomach. However, the patient’s condition would not permit the removing of the bullet. - Dewey’s deed followed an altercation with his father, who had asked him to help with the chores. It is said that the boy refused to do so, Whereupon his father told him to “forget his foolishness and come along.” Dewey replied that he would kill himself, went to the house and, procured a rifle and ran down the road. His father followed but was too late to prevent the rash act. The boy was lying beside the rifle in a small wood. It is said that the young man possessed a violent temper and that on several occasions had threatened to leave home, "being discontented with farm life.