Arizona republican., 1910-04-17
HELD ID THE GRAND JURY IA Mesa CAizen Who Would
 Not Be Fired SHOT AT HIS EMPLOYER
Ben Ferguson of Weak Mind Made Himself More Dangerous By Taking On a Load of Stimulating Whisky

Den ferSuSOn, HnO, Witn ms Wlie, has been q resident of Mesa for the past two years, was arraigned yester- day morning in Justice Irwin's court | on a charge of assault with intent to kill and was later bound over to
 the grand jury under 1000 bond, which he was unable to furnish. The | complaint was sworn out by Marshal Peterson. but the prosecuting witness 1 is Contractor l.. E c Smith.
 Ferguson has been employed by Con tractor Smith in the capacity of bod
 carrier on the George Johnson bunga- low. and it was at that place where the shooting took place Ferguson. it ap- pears. has been drinking recently. which rather made him incapable of attending to his work. MT. Smith de- cided to get another man to take his place and Ferguson was given his time. This incensed the man considerably
 and about o'clock Friday evening he appeared at the Johnson house and asked Smith why he had been fired. The contractor at first replied that he
 
 for a day or two. Ferguson refused to be put off and became insistent. Iwhereupon the contractor took him by l the arm and led him off the lot and told him not to come back on the work again. Ferguson's house is but a few steps from the house where the trouble occurred and he went home, re- turning in a few minutes and again
 wanted to know why he har been fired.
 He was again led off the lot by MT. I Smith. When the property line was reached Smith started to walk back toward the uncompleted house on
 which his men had been working dur
 the day. when Ferguson called to him. ] As he turned he saw the man in the
 sort of a wavering attitude draw d pistol and fire in his direction. The aim was in line but considerably too high The contractor started toward I the man with the intention of taking the gun away from him, but he again
 leveled the weapon, this time being nearer and the contractor, evidently taking the wise course, turned and walked back to the house. Ferguson went on to his own home, but returned | in a few moments and began hunt
 for his bottle of whiskey that he had hidden some place in the debris around
 the house. Smith at that time asked him if he had brought his gun along
 again and he replied that he had left | it at home but that he had lost his
 bottle.
 i After the affair, MT. Smith went on
 to his own home and later came up
 town to get the mail. when Marshal Peterson prevailed upon him to swear
 out a warrant The first intimation
 that the officers had of the shooting
 was late Friday evening. when the
 men who were at work on the build
 ing wanted something done with Fer
 guson for fear that he would return
 again yesterday and take a pot shot
 at the entire force. Ferguson was later arrested and locked up for the night. MT. Smith, the man at whom the shot was fired. appeared less concerned
 than any one else in town over the
 matter. According to his own state
 ments, he has not considered Fergu-
 son very bright. but he was willing to give him work when he was sober. Only once during the entire affair does it appear that Smith took the matter in the least seriously. and that was after Ferguson had fired one shot and was taking aim for another. Smith was only a few feet from the man and he could easily determine that the aim was directly toward his breast. his first
 idea was to grab the gun out of the
 mans hands and then. as he remarked yesterday, Taking the fact that the man is weak minded and on top of that
 was half drunk, I just made up my mind that I did not care to go against a propsition of that kind barehanded." In binding the man over to the grand
 jury, Justice Irwin has asked that an
 examination be made as to the mans
 sanity It has always been considered
 that the man was not exactly right at all times. Mrs. Ferguson. the mans wife, is responsible for the statement that her husband is subject to melan- cholia an dthat often times in the night he will get up and look around the premises stating that some one is after him or that some one is trying to break into the house.
 It is known that the man has made gun play or two within the last few
 months and on on occasion, New Years night. he drew a knife and made
 threatening remarks. At other times
 he has frequented pool rooms and
 talked religion.
 At his arraignment yesterday he
 seemed perfectly composed and 1t is E..ll- n