Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-06
ENDED HIS LIFE
John Shea Blows a Hole Through
His Head.
CLERK IN RECORD and PENSION OFFICE
Family Troubles Thought to Have
Family Troubles Thought to Have
Caused the Act.
L EFT SEVERAL LETTERS

minutes past 10 o'clock this morning, and
two minutes later John Shea, one of the
most efficient clerks in the record and pen
sion office, had ended his life by his own
hand. The suicide caused much excitement
among the clerks in the department, and
| for an hour more the transaction of bus
mess was interrupted.
The CHASTITY affair occurred in the toilet
room on the second floor of the building,
near the northeast corner. Mr.. Shea had
| been absent from the office, unaccounted
| for, since January 81, and he was marked
absent again this morning. Shortly after
10 O'Clock, however, he ascended the stairs
from the floor below. and was seen by Mes
| senger r. F Fortune to enter the toilet
room. A few minutes later the pistol shot
| rang out, and almost Immediately Mr..
Percy Israel, a clerk, who had been occu-
pying a closet adjoining that entered by
| Mr.. Shea, made very hasty exit from the
room. Messenger Fortune, alarmed by the
| shot and the startled appearance of Mr..
Israel hastened to room 259 and Informed
| the chief of the division, Mr.. George w.
! Pratt, of the condition of affairs. Mr..
| Pratt at once hurried to the toilet room
and endeavored to open the door of the
only closet that was closed. 1t yielded
slightly, and then Mr.. Pratt with his foot
pushed aside the foot of the man inside,
and, with the assistance of others, sue
| ceeded in lifting out the unconscious form
4
ing from a large hole over the right temple,
| and 32-caliber revolver lying the floor
! told plainly the story.
He Was Dead.
The unfortunate man was then carried 20
! the window at the east end of the north
corridor, and there he was declared to be
| dead by DR.. B. w. Sunny, one Of the
clerks in the department, who was near by
at the time. A few minutes later the body
| was carried into room 2U0, opposite that
which had been the SceIe Of the laborS Of
| the deceased, his hands tied together with
| red tape and his head covered with a hand
| kerchief. There it remained awaiting the
| arrival of Coroner Hammett, who had been
rotified of the affair. During these pro-
ceedlnSs the news of the suicide had spread
| to all parts of the building, and The cor
| ridors leading to the spot where the body
| lay were soor blocked with clerks and
| others. Tie details of the affair were whis-
| pereG from OF to anther, but nothing
! definite could be ascertaiDed. For some rea-
sop the officials Of the record and pension
| Office refused to make any statement what
soever regarding the affair, and the news
! paper men were referred to Gen. Doe, the
az fsistant secretary of war.
Letters Left.
| In the toilet room where the shooting
took place package of letters had been
| left by Mr.. Shea. One of these Was ad-
| dressed to his wife, another to Mr. John
! c. KEEPER, clerk in the office, and third
| to MIR. George w. Pratt, the chief of the
| division in which Mr.. Shea employed.
The latter epistle follows:
WASHINGTON, DC, January 4.
| "Mr. George w. Pratt.
| Dear Sir: To you and the other of my
| friends in the office 1 desire to state / am
| simply tired Of life. 1 propose to end my
troubles, and not only propose it, but will
do it. Bid all the boys goodbye for me. If
| l have offended any of them l ask pardon
l always aimed to be right but unfortu-
| Eately V as many times wrong, not with in
| fHr,t hr,f han 41,D Il. ;,,,
| all the boys and 1 like you, perhaps more
than you have me, but now that does not
| matter. All such questions are with me
| settled. Good-bye-God bless you, as 1 am
afraid he will not do to JOHN SHEA"
The envelope Of the communication to
Mr. Pratt bore note in pencil, saying:
If Mr. Pratt is not here Mr.. KEEPER will
] The communication TO Mr.. KEEPER was
| brief and written III pencil 1t merely
asked that Mr.. KEEPER deliver the note
break the news of the death to her. The
| letter to Mrs. Shea was of an affectionate
| nature, but the coroner would not divulge
\ its contents.
| in the case, sent for Undertaken Gawler
| and directed the latter to take charge of
| the body; 1t was accordingly removed to
| his establishment and Mr. Keiper then
| set out on his sad mission to the widow.
Family Troubles.
of Mr.. Shea's self-destruction, and judging
from the fact the letter to Mr. Pratt was
! dated January it would seem that he had
| contemplated taking his life for some time
| and had deliberately planned the whole
affair. Mr.. Shea had been separated from
alimony at the rae of $40 per month. Com
plant had been made by Mrs. Shea to
| General Doe, the assistant secretary of
war, that her husband had refused to send
>.0y,,iA 60 I,
ruary. During the last few days General
Doe had sent . number of times to the
record and pension office with a summons
| for Mr.. Shea to appear before him but
owing to the absence Of the clerk the in
| tervieW was never had.
Tie dead man roomed at 2l41 Pennsylva-
MIA avenue, while his wife resides at 90S
| NJ street. She is his second wife, and the
couple had no children. The deceased has
grown son by his first wife, but he is
| married and living in the west. 1t is
stated by some who knew him well that
| Mr.. Shea had been on a spree since Jam
| uary 81, the time he was last seen at the
office.
Military Record.
Mr.. Shea was sn Englishman, and was
| slightly over fifty-nine years of age. He
was q short, thick-set man, with a heavy
reddish mustache, just becoming tinted
| with gray. He came to this country at an
| early age, and has rather extensive mill
tary record. He enlisted in company &,
fifth United States infantry, May 1, 1858,
| and served until May 1, 1863 He again en-
| listed October IL, 1867, this time in COM
pany G, thirty-sixth United States infan-
i try, and was later transferred to company
! c of the same regiment, being discharged
| with the rank of first sergeant September
| B. 1870. y month later he enlisted in troop
| of the second United States cavalry and
| served therein until November l. 1875 The
next day he enlisted as o commissary SER
nj nd fins llX nIor
| 1882.
Mr.. Shea was appointed to clerkship in
the adJutant generals office, War Depart
| ment September Z, 1889. July il, 1890, he
was transferred to the record and pension
| office, and was promoted to the second
! class May II, 1888, receiving a salary of
| 81 400 up to the time of his death.
| The statement was advanced that in sup
pressing trouble in the west on one occa-
sion with his company Mr. Shea was
| wounded in the head. The old wound had
| been troubling him great deal of late, It
| is said, and he had complained bitterly of
| it. Certain of his friends maintain that