Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1875 — A Sad Affair and a Frightful Warning. [ARTICLE]

A Sad Affair and a Frightful Warning.

Another sad tragedy was, yesterday, added to the long list of terrible events that have occurred in the Bunker Hill district during the past few months. About noon it was reported that Miss Bell Whittier, living at No. 9 Linwood place, had been shot and instantly killed by a pistol in the hands of a young lady boarding in this same house. An indescribable degree of excitement followed the report, and a vast number of the curious and the anxious crowded around , the house in which it was stated that the tragedy took place. The report proved true, Miss Whittier having received her death wound from a bullet accidentally fired by the hand of her friend, Mrs. Thomas Banford. The sad affair took plape about eleven o’clock. Miss Whittier and her sister were standing in the dining-room, when Mrs. Banford, who stepped softly into the room with the pistol, which she did not know was loaded, cocked the weapon close behind the ear of Miss Whittier, and, with the intention of giving her a bit of momentary fright, pulled the trigger. The bullet penetrated the brain of the victim, and she fell dead without a word. The weapon used was an old, single barreled affair that had been lying about the house, unloaded, for many months, and had been regarded more as a harmless toy than as a weapon capable of doing any injury. The young ladies of the family had often amused themselves by pointing the muzzle at each other and snapping the hammer, bmt not until yesterday was it ever known to be loaded. Some days ago a young lady, a friend of the Whittier family, was followed in the street by a man who seized her arm, with the evident purpose of robbing her of a valuable diamond ring which she wore on her finger. Although the assailant was defeated in his object the young lady’s experience made such an impression on the minds of Miss Whittier and her sister that one of the latter, Miss Martha Whittier, aged about seventeen years, immediately suggested the propriety of preparing against any such an affair by loading the old pistol and having it ready for use. Yesterday morning, Miss Martha found somewhere about the house a cartridge which fitted the barrel of the pistol. Although unused to firearms she was successful in her effort to load the weapon. She then placed it on a shelf in the pantry, intending to remove it to some other part of the house as soon as she completed some household duties at which she was at the moment engaged. While the pistol lay on the shelf Mrs. Banford passed through the pantry from the front hall into the dining-room. Ah though a very timid lady and especially afraid of firearms, Mrs. Banford had become so accustomed to seeing the pistol used in a playful way that she unhesitatingly took it from the shelf. She passed noiselessly into the room where Miss Belle ana one of her sisters were, and the sad result followed as recorded above. The sister w-as partially stunned for a moment by the report, and recovered consciousness to find Miss Belle breathing her last in the arms of Mrs. Banford, who caught her as she fell. Mrs. Whittier, the widowed mother of the deceased, the sister, Miss Martha, the two brothers and other members and friends of the family were quickly summoned. Several physicians were also called, but only to find the poor girl already past all human aid. Among the first to hasten to. the side of the dead girl was her lover, to whom she was soon to be married. The utmost grief and sympathy were manifested on all sides. The deceased was known among a wide circle of friends and acquaintances as a kind, gentle, generous and warm-hearted young lady. She w r as eighteen years old. Mrs. Banfsfcd, as soon as she realized the terrible effect of her act, sank into a condition bordering on insanity, and it is feared that she may lose her reason. Her husband and herself have the sympathies of Mrs. Whittier and her family, who, in the»midst of their deep sorrow for the dead, are doing all in their power to relieve the condition of the living. Coroner Bradford was Called, but deemed an inquest un-necessary.—-Boston Globe , June 1.