East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-06-02
CONDOR PROFESSOR
COMMITS SUICIDE
ACCUSED BY GIRL STUDENTS
OF INDISCRETIONS. TAKES LIFE
Principal III. l.. Mccain of Gillian
County High School. Rather Than
Face Charges Sends Bullet Into
Brain-Was Well Known Educator.

Condor. Ore.-Unable to stand the
disgrace of threatened dismissal for
unbecoming conduct. H L. Mccain.
principal of the Gillian county high
Schol. committed suicide some time
Monday afternoon by shooting him
self through the head with a S2-cal-
iber revolver His dead body was
found Tuesday afternoon by Sheriff
Rogers following a vseveral hour
search by the side of a deserted ca
hin in lonely canyon five miles
northwest of this city An empty vial
that had contained alcohol was found
beside the body.
Less than a month ago Professor
! McCann was reelected principal of
| the county high school for another
year. With enthusiasm he at once
| inaugurated plans for important
changes in the curriculum by which
| the efficiency of the school work
could be best promoted. Only last
| Friday night he took an active part
/ in the annual commencement exer-
cises of the institution of which he
was principal. 8
Girl Students Accuse.
!, The first intimaton that McCann's
relations with his pupils We're other
than proper came ten days ago when
two 16-year-old girl students report
ed to their parents that the prin-
cpal had been guilty of indiscretions.
These young girls. who are motherless,
) related that Mccain on frequent oc-
casions under the guise of consoling
with them. carressed and kissed them
at every convenient opportunity.
Indignant relatives of the girls i'm
mediately referred the alleged mis-
conduct of Mccain to the attention
of members Of the county high school
board and demanded that his resig-
nation be asked Monday an official
note was addressed and mailed to the
! erring principal, summoning him to
appear before the board at a special
SESSION ana answer the charges
against him.
Mccain left his home early Mon
day morning. telling his wife that he
had considerable business to tran
Sact and did not know wnen he would
return. He attended to a number of
business matters and was last seen
alive about II o'clock in the fore
| noon, walking out of the city in the
direction of the cabin where his dead
BODY was found. Mccain evidently
killed himself early Monday after
noon.
Mccain 81 Years Old.
Mccain was 81 years old and
; leaves wife and three grown chill
dren. one son and two daughters He
came to easter Oregon three years age
from the Willamette valley and for
two years was principal of the
' Wheeler county high school at Fos-
sill. year ago he came to Condor
having been elected principal of the
county high school in this city Pre-.
Vious to coming to this section of the
state McCann. who was an able edu.
Gator, was employed in the public
: schools at Oregon City and McMinn.
vile. At one time he was for a short
time associate editor of the Oregon
City Courier
Mental Unbalance Hinted
Coroner Darling will conduct ar
- inquest when friends of the dead mar
. viii undertake to prove that he wa.
mentally unbalanced when he tool
$ his life. In a letter found on his per.
: son. Mccain denied as groundless {
> rumor alleging improper relations be
: tween him and a subordinate woman
s teacher As to the accusations of tn,
/ young girls, McCann declared tha
Y his conduct had been above censur,
> and that his only interest in then
was purely paternal and actuatet
: solely by a desire to inspire them to-
d wards higher ideals. Two days be
Z fore killing himself however. Mccain
admitted to friends that the charge
: Of the young girls were true. In hi
ante-mortem communication McCanr