Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-11-28
SHOT DEAD.
Fatal Shooting on Sand Hill,
Thursday Morning.
Little Daughter Of TreA1e Croteau
Instantly Killed
Ry Bullet from Gideon Gosselin's Rife
Undoubtedly Result Of Accident.

A terrible tragedy was enacted during
the early hours of Thursday morning,
in that section of the city known as
Sand HILL which brought sorrow to the
hearts of hitherto happy family, and
awakened throughout the city feelings
of horror as the details become known
1t has been long time since anything
of a similar nature has occurred in the
city, and coming as it did on the day
set apart for Thanksgiving, it seemed
all the more terrible.
The scene of the tragedy was the two
ana one-half story frame house which
stands at the junction of Northern
avenue and Washington street, and
bears the number 116 Northern avenue.
The house is divided into two tene-
ments. The lower tenement is occupied
by Mr. and Mrs. Treffle Croteau, and
their little flock of five children, or
rather, four, for within one terrible
moment, yesterday morning, one little
life went out as quickly as does a
candle flame in gust of evening air.
The upper tenement is occupied by Mrs.
Fomalie Bolduc.
81 II
the morning, in the kitchen of the
Croteau tenement. In the room at the
time We're Mr.. and Mrs. Croteau and
their five children, Mrs. Bolduc, and
Gideon Gosselin, who is a cousin of
Mrs. Croteau. Four Of the children
were playing round the room, and one,
Alma, a bright little girl who would
have been six years old at her next
birthday, was still sitting in her high
chair at the table where she had had
her breakfast.
Gosselin had in his hands a new full
magazine, IS calber Winchester re-
peating rifle which he had bought, and
was showing his cousin how it worked.
In the course of the proceedings shell
was pumped into the chamber, and as
Gosselin was lowering the hammer, it
must have slipped, for it struck the
cartridge hard enough to explode the
cap, and the rifle was discharged.
Gosselin was at the time standing
within a few feet of the little girl,
across the end of the table, and the
bullet from the rifle struck her over the
left eye, tearing a great hole and
scattering the table with blood and
fragments of brain, and then, passing
on, buried itself in the wall on one side
of the room.
Death was instantaneous, for the
child never moved afterward, and the
little body still sat in the high chair,
spectacle which none could look upon
and keep back the tears. Loving
hands at once tooksthe body and laid it
on a nearby couch, and an alarm was
given. City Marshal Breen and
Coroners Bean and Plummer We're soon
at the house. No inquest was deemed
necessary, and from the testimony of
those who were present at the time of
the shooting, there was nothing to show
+n:t it resulted from anything other
than accidental causes.
Gosseiia Was taken into Cus.ody, and
1T 10 o'clock was given an informal
hearing before Judge Andrews, at the
court room, as the day being
q holiday, no regular hearing could be
held. Josselin does not speak English,
and Joseph Cadarette acted as inter-
prefer. In his story to the judge,
Gosselin said that he was 80 years Of
age and that he was unmarried. That
he went to his Cousins (Mrs. Croteau's)
on Wednesday evening, to make some
bullets for his new rifle, making 40 of
them. After that he went down town
to a rattle, and won two chickens.
Then he went to her house again, gave
her the chickens, and took his rifle to
show to her. She had never seen any
thing of the knd-all the guns she had
seen being the old fashioned muzzle
loading kind, that she had seen in
Canada. In showing her the rifle he
said to her: MY rifle is different. l
can fire Is shots by pulling back and
forth
When he went to the house Thursday
morning, he took the rifle, to show her
how it worked. Was doing so, when
her husband pulled the guard up too
hard, and loaded the rifle. That he
(Gosselin) took the gun and put a car
fridge in himself, to show Mrs. Croteau
how it worked. She was on one side
when he showed it, and wanted him to
stand round more, SO that she could see
better and as ne did SO he said: This
is the way you do it.
AS he said this he was letting the
hammer down, slowly, when all of a
sudden the gun went off. He further
said that he was busy with the gun and
was not looking. and did not see the
little girl in front of him
At the conclusion of his testimony,