The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-18
MERIWETHER
 SHOOTS SELF Street Car Conductor Commits Suicide. DRINK AND DRUG TIE CAUSE Uses Rifle Pressed Against His
 Forehead. rsll. His eniy Son Goodbye and Press e Trssser ef Weapon with Tss-Dsash Follows I'm
 simultaneously.
DRINK AND DRUG TIE CAUSE

Telling his s13-year-old boy goodbye and not needing the lads imploring that he would not kill himself. w. B. Meriwether, q street car conductor, committed suicide in the bedroom of his home, 23 Brassell Street. yesterday morning. with a 22-calibre Winchester ride. Death was Instantaneous, and when his son. Thomas Benjamin Mer- iwether who had fled from the room when he realized that he. could not prevent his father from shooting him self, ran back to his father, MT. Meri- wether was lying lifeless upon the floor.
 Threatened several times to kill him. self, and when yesterday morning he again made the threat, his son, att tempting to dissuade him, believed that his father would finally give over his plant to quit life. Coroner W. H. Tice, after viewing the body. gave verdict that he had come to his death by his own hand.
 Thomas Benjamin Meriwether. his son. told pitiable tale to The Adver- tiser yesterday afternoon. mere child, so small that nis feet, as he sat in, q chair in the office. did not touch the floor, he spoke of duties and labors that few men have been called upon to perform.
 
 hut for the last day or two he had quit. But he was terribly nervous, al- 1 most crazy. He was that way when we got up yesterday morning. Grand ma was not at home at the time.
 q thought everything was all right though. Papa picked up a 22-calibre rife and began looking at 1t. didn't think he mas going to do anything with it. I went out of the room for a while and when came back he had the gun pointed at his head. The gun was held in his hands and he was. barefooted- The big toe of his, right foot was on the trigger.
 Tells Son Goodbye.
 s Son, I am going to kill myself.
 l" No. sir. I wouldn't do that told him.
 anything, He knew that if I could get to him I could keep him from Killing himself, because I had tusseled with him sometimes. So he had everything ready. And when saw l couldn't do any good ran from the room so that I wouldn't see him do it.
 .Just as ran into the kitchen I heard the dull pop of the gun. Then ran back into the bedroom. The gun had fallen under his leg and he lay on the floor. He vas dead. He died in- BT&ntly. TneTet was ~ 4ttttS DAooo ou his shirt front and traced the red line up to his forehead and there was the hole-a tiny hole. The bullet didn't go all the way through his head.
 'sWhen l found out he was dead ran across the street and told Mrs. Goodwin about it. She was afraid to go into the house. so We got another neighbor to go with us.
 Then we made another investigation but there was nothing else to find out.@
 It is believed that the wrecking Of the nervous system with whiskey and drugs wrought Mir. Meriwether into such a condition that he could no 1ong-N CT endure life. He had ceased to drink about two days ago and since then had been using an opiate. The drug had crazed him.
 Mir. Meriwether was well known in Montgomery. For six or seven years he had been a conductor for the Mont- gomery Traction Company by which his services were highly valued. He was thirty eight years old and native of Bulloch County. His wife died thir- teen years ago. He Is survived by his | son, Thomas Benjamin Meriwether. and 1 his mother. Mrs. M. B:sderiwether with | whom he lived: by Thomas George | Meriwether, his brother: and by sew | eral sisters, Mrs. Jack Mckay. Mrs T. | M. Crowell. Mrs. Clora viclSers and Mrs. | Mamie OLeary, of. Atlanta. Mr. Meriwether's body will be ship | ped this morning to MitchelPs Station | where 1t will be buried by the grave of ! his father.