New Britain herald., 1915-09-16
BLOWS OUT BRAINS
 AT HOTEL BRONSON
Suicide Is Believed to Have Been ". D. Lewis of UniontoWn, Pa,
DOPE PEND, SAY POLICE
Body Is Found When Burning Bed Clothes Attract Attention of Em- Located.

A man now believed to have been w. D. Lewis of Uniontown, Pa, shot and killed himself at the Hotel Bron- son shortly before 10 o'clock this morning, firing one shot from a .3S calibre revolver into his brain, caus- ing instant death. The flame from the shot set fire to the bed clothing and two fingers on the mans right hand were burned to a crisp before his lifeless body was discovered by Charles Marene, an employe of the hotel, who traced the oder of smoke to this room.
 Confusion Over Identification.
 The dead man was at first thought to have been Charles Halpern as that was the name assigned to room 33, where the body was found. The night clerk at the hotel states that last evening three men came to the
 hotel and hired three rooms. The names signed to the register were w. D. Lewis, Tom" Palmer and Charles
 Halpern and all were registered from Boston. From jewelry on the dead man and letters found in the two travelling bags by his side it is now thought that his name was Lewis
 despite the fact that it was Halpern who was supposed to have had room
 3S. This variance may be explained in two ways. First. that one man signed all three names to the hotel register and they took their rooms as they happened to and the hotel clerk made a mistake in putting the right number after the right man; or that the dead man went to one of his friends room to take his own life. The first theory is generally believed to be the right one, how ever.
 Seeks Doctor At Hotel.
 Little is known about anyone of the trio, but from papers found in Lewis bags it is thought that they were followers of county fairs and came here to have a booth at the Berlin fair. Mortimer Lyman, night clerk at the hotel, is about the only man who remembers seeing the dead man. He states that at II o'clock last night he came into the bar room and bought a drink of whiskey, then asked if there was doctor in the hotel. He was informed that there were several several nearby but did not express a determination to visit any at that hour. At 11:40 o'clock he returned and bought another drink and took a half pint of whiskey with him. This morning the bottle, half emptied was found on the bureau near the dead body.
 Discovers Gruesome Sight.
 ~ Charle Marene, who was on the thg'd floor, detected the smell of bur<ing cloth and traced it down a side cor ridor to room 8. Marene was com- pelled to force an entrance. Burst ing into the room, it was a most grue- some sight which met his startled gaze. Directly ir front of the door on the bed lay the inert body of d man. Nearby on the floor was a blackened revolver and a thick com fortable near the mans head was burning. Blood covered everything about the bed near the mans head. Investigation showed that Halpern had shot himself behind the right Gar and death must have been in- for the burning powder had set fire to the comfortable and | it had burned his right hand to crisp. The room was fulh of Aense l smoke which reelled with the odor of | burning flesh and cotton. Traffic l Officer Michael J. Cosgrove and De- l tective Sergeant Samuel Bamforth | were summoned and took charge of | the room until Medical Examiner Harry A. Elcock arrived and turned l the body over tc Undertaken M. J. Kenney.
 The man was only partly dressed. He lay with his head at the foot of the bed, pillowed on some bed clothes. He had on his outside shirt, but no collar or tie. His trousers and socks were also on, but his shoes were on the floor. Besides the bed were his two travelling bags and on the bureau across the room was the half emptied bottle of whiskey. On chair near the open window was bath robe and straw hat, indicating hat the man may have sat up for some time during the night before the window.
 Bullet Hits Finger Too.
 Medical Examiner Elcock pro- bounced the case one of plain sui tide. It was apparent that the dead nan, intent upon taking his own fife without alarming the hotel, had | m oth cred the revolver in the com ortable and holding the barrel of l he gun in his light hand had pull d the trigger with the thumb of his l eft hand. This was indicated by the | act that the bullet passed through the mans first finger knuckle on his right land before reaching his head. The lot entered tho head near the ear nd at close range, as shown by the 1 'lackened and burned condition or { he hair and flesh surrounding the s 1odnd. It passed through his head, l {