The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1877-12-25
PROM EAR TO EAR.
SanRuinary End Of an Old and
Prominent Cltisen Of Independ-
enCe.
ian.a. CITY TImr-.

.ansas City Tim"--
FREQUENT as suicides have become
n our larger cities. such occurrences
re almost totally unknown in old fash
uned communities like Independence.
Hence it was, in part, that feeling
f horror seemed To seize upon every
me in the town. rs upon the early
'pening Of business Yesterday morning
he report passed from lip Ia lip that
Peter Hunters had taken his own life
With his own hand, AMI WAS then living
|. bloody corpse in his barber shop On
he north side Of the square.
THE DISCOVERY
vas first made nv Mr.. Joan Smarr.
Sr., about seven o'clock in the morn
ny, and from the testimony Of wit
nesses who last saw him, the awful
Iced was committed between that
hour and four o'clock. The deceased
was a widower. the head at a fimi-
" of several children. and lived two
Or three blocks from the square. For
several years he has been addicted ;o
strong drink, which. rs usual. was the
demon Of his destruction. lie was Il
jovial. corpuleIt. good-natused man.
and while many have been predicting
for some time that he would suddenly
drop dead with epilepsy or some kin
dred malay, no one dreamed that a
man of his composition would become
his own destroyer. lie WAS seen by
many late on the evening previous liz
HIS USUAL JOvIAL MOOD.
and seemingly entirely free from the
influence of liquor. His family state.
however. that during the nigh, he
became perfectly frenzied. and went {"
a neighbor's house and borrowed Il ris-
tol, stating that some one WAS at
to break into hiA,ou>c. Re
turning home drew the pistol on his
eldest son. Julius, and was about io
shoot him, when h. and the resi- III
the family became frightened AMI left.
About this time, which appears {"
have been in nci.hbori,"od at II
o'clock. he came up 10 the square.
where he seemed {" have wanicrr'!
around until nearly DAYLIGHT. About
2 o'clock he WAS seen bv one "f III"
witnesses at the iDpncs:. ". j.
Bailey. sitting on the Steps at the CITY
where he remained. IL ihe
witness STATES. for som. two hours.
Here he asked for 4 drink Of water.
and stated that they were
"GoiNG To HAM, HIM
and were erecting the ga.low> back ia
the Jail yarl." He next aroused
the porter oi the Merchants Hotel.
asking for his son Julius, AMI again
water once ar twice. lie
seems then Ia have gone Ia his shop
and broken into one of the front VIII
dows, a. a crash was heard by thn>e
sleeping near bv, aud the glass was
found shattered and attracted aiten-
ton Of Mr.. Smarr as he WAS passing
by about daylight. The cireumstan-
tial evidence is that he went through
this aperture into his barber si.op.
obtained razor. which was found "
ing at his side. pulled of his coat,
upon which his head was lying, and
placed it upon the floor for a pillow,
and then drawing back his white
beard. which gave him venerable
and almos, pa:riarchal appearance, de,
liberaiely
CUT mssTHEOAT
from ear to ear. No language can de
pict the terrible spectacle presented
as he lay on his back, his head falling
hack ward over the wadded up coat
bringing to view the two deep gashes
which had parted the physical and the
mental. and sent his spirit into eterni'
ty. Being a large, strong man, he
had bled profu>elv. and rs his white
hair and gray beard all but dipped in.
to the pool of blood surrounding him,
the venera,ion which we experience
when we behold the hoary head, and
the horror we feel when we look uLor
the selfdestroyer, produced feeling
that car be better imagined than de-
scribed.
An inquest was held this morning
by Squire Bean. before whom a jury
was impanelled and witnesses PRO
duced who swore TO about the fact'
above detailed. The finding of the
iurv was that the deceased came tn hi:
death by cutting his throat with d
razor. while in state of mental abcr
ration.
PETER Hunters
has lived in Independence for moro
than 20 years. and is known and re
membered by every one that has eveI
lived in or visited our city. He Wa
Lind and philanthropic in his temper
ament, being a greater enemy to h,m
self than to any one else. While hi
calling was that of a barber, he ha'
acted for a number of years as an in
surance agent. and was at the time %
his death President of the Insurance
Board of Independence. and al>o Pres
ident of the Beard Of Education o
this city. He was also, at the time q
his death, Justice Of The Peace by mp
pointment of the Court. in which ca
pacitv he had acted for MANY years
His sad end should be a terrible lessor
to the drinker.
C.E. Ellis.