The Peril of Backyard Marksmanship
A Deep Creek Falls woman’s attempt to shoot a hawk ends in a gruesome accident that serves as a cautionary tale about home gun safety.
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.
Mrs. Anna Miller, the wife of a carpenter who lives at Deep Creek Falls, met with a peculiar accident which goes to prove that a gun is a dangerous thing, even if you have the muzzle pointed in another direction. About three weeks ago, a large hawk perched itself in a tree near Mrs. Miller's home, and the temptation to take a shot at the bird, in order to try her skill as a markswoman, was too great for her to withstand. Procuring a shotgun which happened to be in the house at the time, she proceeded to carry out her desire. After having taken careful aim, she pulled the trigger, and the damage was done. Subsequent results showed that the weapon had been overcharged, and the recoil loosened several of her teeth and broke her left jaw, splitting it from the chin nearly to the back part of it.
“Mrs. Miller met with a peculiar accident which goes to prove that a gun is a dangerous thing, even if you have the muzzle pointed in another direction.”
While gun safety is a constant modern conversation, this story captures the 19th-century reality where firearms were kept in almost every household, often with dangerous consequences for the untrained. It echoes current debates about firearm safety and the risks associated with improper storage and handling of weapons in domestic spaces.
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