The record-union., 1897-10-29
A CRANK AND HIS PISTOL.
SHOT HIS FRIEND AND THEN
SHOT HIMSELF.
William Deming's Insane Act-He
Will Probably Die, but Wales
May Recover.

About o'clock yesterday morning
William Z. Deming, who resides at 9l6
in the alley between Ninth and Tenth,
c and D streets, deliberately fired a
bullet into Antone Wales face and then
turned the smoking revolver against his
own forehead and sent a bail crashing
into his brain.
Deming, who is about IS years of age,
has lived in this city since boyhood,
making his home with an aunt He has
| been a hard drinker, and for the past
year h1s been afflicted with malaria.
For the past three weeks Deming' S
! aunt has been i'll, and only a few days
ago was removed to the Sisters Hos
pital for treatment. Since her illness
Deming had been morose, and on sev-
eraI occasions declared his intention Of
ending his life.
For several days preceding yester-
days tragedy Antoine Wales, a Portu-
guese. who resides in the alley between
Sixth and Seventh Q and r streets,
had assisted Deming with his work,
and on Wednesday night he stopped at
the house Of the latter instead of cross
ing the city to his own home Wales
was seen by Record Union" re-
porter, and gave the following version
of the shooting:
L have been helping Deming off and
on ever since his aunt was taken sick,
and always thought we We're pretty
good friends. He had been morose for
some time, and had repeatedly de-
clarad his intention of killing himself.
I thought he was crazy, and asked him
why he wanted to kill himself. He
said he had been sick a long time, and
was tired of living
Yesterday morning he drank two
glasses of beer and then picked up a
revolver and said to me: DO you see
that? It's a Colts I replied, Put it
away! It might go off,
with that, and without saying an
other word, he stuck the weapon in my
face and fired. The bullet struck me,
as you can see, in the left jaw, and as
ran out of the room I spat it from my
mouth. Just as I got outside I heard
another shot, and that was when Dem
ing shot himself. I don't know any
reason why Deming should have shot
me, and am inclined to believe he was
crazy"
The police patrol wagon was sent
to the scene of the shooting, and both
Deming and Wales We're taken to the
Receiving Hospital, where they were
attended by City Physician Nichols
and Assistant City Physician Ogden.
Wales wound was found to be of
a serious and painful nature, but it is
though he will recover unless inf1am-
nation sets in. The bullet entered the
left side of his face, below the ear.
and s,o4 L,
DemTng made a center shot on him
self, the bullet entering the brain di-
rectly in the center of the forehead.
The surgeons inserted probe four
incnes into the wound, but failed to
locate the ball.
The peculiar part of the matter IS
that Deming was perfectly rational,
and did not lose consciousness. He
also was seen by a Record Union" re-
porter, and when asked why he shot
Wales replied:
Did I shoot him? Well, I'm sorry
for that. But then he was no good.
anyway, and I had to watch him all
the time to keep him from robbing and
cheating me-
When asked why he shot himself.
Dening said:
well, you see, I've been sick for a.
year with malaria, and I had grown
tired of living. I'd been intending to
shoot myself for some time"
The physician in charge stated yes
terday morning that the chances were
ten thousand to one that Deming
would not recover, but cited a number
Of instances where persons have lived
many years with bullets in their brains.
The general opinion prevails that Dem
ing was insane when he did the sboo+-
ing.