The Tragedy of a Careless Hunter
In an era of casual firearm handling, a tragic accident in the Snohomish area leaves a man dead and prompts a warning to residents.
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.
Mr. Joseph Hull, a well-known resident of the town of Snohomish, W.T., met his death on the 23rd inst. by shooting himself with an amiable fowling piece, which he had been cleaning for that purpose. He took it into the front of the house, and after cleaning it, he was in the act of replacing it in his gun rack, when the hammer struck a piece of stick and discharged the contents of both barrels, the load entering his head and killing him almost instantly. Mr. Hull was an old resident of the Territory, and a man who was highly respected and well-liked in the community. His loss will be felt by a large circle of friends.
“He was in the act of replacing it in his gun rack, when the hammer struck a piece of stick and discharged the contents of both barrels.”
Gun safety remains a persistent challenge in Washington, where household firearm accidents continue to be a grim feature of public safety discourse. The casual nature of 'cleaning a fowling piece' inside the home in 1883 mirrors modern concerns about how we balance firearm ownership with the risks of accidental discharge in residential spaces.
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