The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-11-04
A Tragedy and a Lesson.

into his real manhood. There is always
sadness in a funeral procession but
when these professions follow a trag-
edy they sometimes preach a powerful
sermon.
/ Chester Hammelev who was accident
ally killed on last Saturday was USE
full member CT the community. His tax
ing off was due to a useless custom.
There ism It any reason for anyone to
carry a gun unless he be regular Off
cial sworn to enforce the law. The
owning Of revolver is even dangerous
The poignant sorrow of death in the
case of young Hammelev is felt in cir
cles other than those Of his own blood
and kin. There is another family
stricken. A young man who had known
him as friend and as fellow work
er must go through life with the feel
ing that in some horrible and altogeth-
er unforeseen manner he was the cause
of taking the life of fellow being.
The sorrow of the other man is prob
ably just as great as that of some who
are much nearer to the victim of the
/ accident by ties of blood. He probably
would give years of his life just to live
over that fatal minute which brought
death to his friend.
It raises the old question: Why car
ry a revolver9 and the other one, Why
own a revolvers How many times in
q year is revoler used in Kenosha in
defense of a man or his home or loved
onesa How many burglars were ever
shot in Kenosha9 How many men would
deliberately take the life of q fellow be-
ing In order to prevent him from steal
ing something that could be replaced?
In year how many rounds of ammuni-
tion are shot from revolvers for legiti-
mate causes Of protection of self or of
the public good9 These questions are
brought home pretty hard to the peo-
pie who watched the little funeral pro-
cession today.
The prudent man rarely has anything
| to do with firearms. He has no desire
to take human life and for the most
part he lives his life so as not to ex-
pect that any other man will seek to
take it. He shuns the revolver as he
w !. shun the rattlesnake. True some
men must carry revolvers. The police
officers who are daily in touch with the
criminal classes must 60 armed for their
own protection and for the protection
Of society. This, if any, is the legiti-
mate use of the revolver. Yet in the
past year all the ammunition that has
been used by the police force of Keno
sha in the carrying out of it's protective
duty could have been bought for
dollar bill. Police officers records show
| that an average of two shots year
are fired by them. Many police officer
has served for years without ever draw
ing revolver.
| A thousand times as many deaths
have been caused in Kenosha by the
careless handling of "guns" as have
been caused by the legitimate use Of
firearms. Even the burglar who in
vades your house does not want to muir
der. He wants to steal and if he can
steal and get away with it he is salts
fed. The great majority Of them would
abandon their booty rather than stain
their hands with blood.
The great majority Of the "guns"
owned in Kenosha are owned by men
who have no reason for owning them.
| The police department. of the city is
sufficient to protect the life of every
man. If you fear burglars it is cheap
er to buy burglar insurance than to
! take the chance of owning revolver.
| The revolver is constant menace to
the safety of your boys and girls. The
presence of it in the house opens my
stery to the childish mind and instills
in him the desire to "carry a gun. -
The victims Of the "Didn It know it
was loaded accidents out number the
men lost by the army of the United
States in the war with Spain many
times. The keeping of revolvers is the
cause of it all. If it were possible to
limit the right Of people under the con-
stitution the right to bear arms should
be removed by the state.
The population of Kenosha is COM
pick and the indiscriminate owning and
carrying Of revolvers has brought more
sorrow to homes, more tragedies to the
police department and more expensive
trials in court than hardly any other
agent. The uselessness of all these
| tragedies must appeal to the thinking
| person. The fear of the revolver and
the absolute lack of necessity for own
ing and carrying it should be preached
to the children in the schools and to
those who refuse to hear the teachings
there should be laws which would make
it impossible.
There is nothing that can bring back
the life of the young man who was bur-
led today but perhaps in his death the
young men of Kenosha can see the
real lesson of the usefulness Of it all,
Shun the revolver as you shun the
poison ivy or the rattlesnake.
|