A Wedding Night Turned to Blood
A celebratory shotgun 'charivari' in Ping Gulch went terribly wrong when pranksters left live ammunition in their guns, leaving the bride with multiple bullet wounds.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A very quiet wedding took place Thursday, October 22, when W. E. Long and Miss Audie B. Childers were united in marriage by Rev. D. C. Sanderson. The charivari on October 22 was not so quiet. Some of the boys forgot to extract the shot from some of their guns and the contents of one of them blew a hole through two thicknesses of boards in the front room, where the bride and groom were sitting. The bride had six or seven holes shot in her dress and two entered her thigh. There were several shots on the floor and some in the chair where she was sitting. The groom was also struck with the shot, but his clothes were too thick for it to enter the flesh. There was another load of shot that went through the wall in the upper story where the children were sleeping. Mr. Childers called them to order and as soon as the excitement quieted down the boys were all seated to a nice supper, after which apples and cigars were passed around. We do not see how Mr. Childer's family could be so composed and treat the boys as they did under such circumstances.
“The bride had six or seven holes shot in her dress and two entered her thigh.”
The 'charivari' was a traditional, often raucous, wedding custom meant to 'shame' or celebrate newlyweds with noise; here, it highlights the transition from loose rural frontier customs to the dangers of unregulated firearm use. Modern readers will find the victim's stoic hospitality toward those who shot her almost as baffling as the recklessness of the guests.
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