Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-08-22
Earl Demarais Shot.


Ats o'clock this morning Earl Dcmar-
las. the l0-ycar-old son of Dolph. ID.
Demarias, 32}3 Nicollet Ave. was shot
and probably fatally injured by Lyman
Plumley, the 10-year-old son of Seward
A. Plumlcv, Of the law firm Of Benton,
PIumley, & Healy, living at 1870 lst
Ave s. Early this morning Mr.. and
Mrs. Plumlev started on q visit to their
former home in Litchfeld, leaving the
house in charge Of the servant girl.
The two boys, Lyman and Morton
Plumlcv, have had for their playmates
Earl and Lemmie Demarias. This
morning the lads played together as
usual and the Plumley boys invited
them to their home After rummaging
the lower part of the house the boys
uscended to the second floor. In the
front room stands 4 secretary IN which
Mr.. Plumley keeps two revolyers, one
of which was a - calIbre and the other
a big navy. Lyman opened the drawer
in which the pistols were kept, and
showed them to Earl. Picking up the
smaller pistol he playfully pointed 1t al
his companion who stood within Il few
feet of him.
'tDon't point that atme" exclaimed
Earl moving away. ct might so off. .
"Oh, this isn't loaded Only the big
one is loaded" answered Lyman as he
pulled the trigger.
AZ trl
fell to the floor
For a minute the boys were trans
fixed with horror. Then Lyman raised
his companions head and called him 10
speak to him, but Earl could not ans
wer. Lemmie Demarias and Morton
Plumlev with the aid of the servant
girl, carried the wounded lad to his
home and placed him on couch in the
parlor. The bali had struck him in the
eye and little stream of blood flowed
from the wound.
DIR G.. L. Bates was hastily summoned
1t required but glance to show the
physician that the wound was not only
serious but perhaps fatal, and he at
once dispatched the messenger for Drs.
J.T. Moon, J. T. Crosby, and c. I.
Allen. Then he probed superficially
for the bullet. but failed to locate it.
Earl was unconscious from the shock
and 1t became necessary to administer
stimulants every % minutes. The
physicians held consultation and
decided that it would he dangerous to
probe for the ball until the lao had
recovered from the shock. He remain
ed unconscious all morning and DR..
Bates remained with him.
At > this afternoon DIR. Bates told
a JOURNAL reporter the chances for
Earrs recovery appeared very slim.
q only made a superficial examination
of the wound" said the physician, land
therefore / cannot speak positively.
The ball entered the left eye between
the eye ball and the bone. probed
carefully for it but failed to find it and
the chances are that it has gone into the
head, The patient is very low now and
we are giving him brandy every 20
minutes and trying to get him over the
effects of the shock. Then he will be
put under an anaesthetie and we can
make thorough examination and we
WILL if possible, remove the ball. p
The shooting cerated considerable
excitement in the neighhorhood in
which the boys lived, but all say it was
an accident. Inquiry at the Plumley
residence elected the fact that Lyman
had not been home since the accident
happened Lemmie Demarias who
was with his brother when the shot was
fired, says that when Lyman found that
he had shot Earl it made him crazy.
Some of the people in the neighbor-
hood censure Mr.. Plumley for leaving
his pistols where the boys could get al
them II Minneapolis Journal.