The Mena weekly star., 1919-01-30
.NENA PHYSICIAN
A VICTIM OF WAR
E. Holt, Recently Returned
- service With Army Medical
ems Succumbed to Impulse Of
Troubled Lind.

=
-. found dead at his home on South
pa;rs street, about 10 o'clock Thurs
,.v morning. A gunshot wound just
s.iou the heart and a double-barrel
..o.cun with one empty shell was
.hv;ous evidence of the cause of
ssa+b The eoroner's jury found that
n Holt came to his death by his own
hand
discovery of DR.. Hollis body was
-aae bv Master Tom Holt, the six
vsar-old SON Of the deceased. The
.bild informed his grandfather, John
Riblet who quickly made examina-
ton and then called a physician.
There is no doubt but that DR.. Holt
,s4 instant death, as the heavy
aharge of No. 6 shot reached the
& heart
Mrs. Holt, wife of the deceased, was
n Fort Smith, at the time of the
shooting. She left Mena Wednesday
Afternoon to look after business mat
tors DR.. Charles Holt, brother,
.as reached by telephone and with
his wife and Mrs. Will Routh, a sis
Tor accompanied the bereaved wife
Il Mena, all arriving on the afternoon
4 train.
y News of the tragic occurrence at
The Holt home reached the downtown
district when a phone message sum-
moued DR.. j. G. Hilton and Chief Of
4 Police Duncan to the residence on
\ RENE street.
DR.. Hollis body was found lying on
the second floor of the home and was
fully clothed, save for coat and vest.
4 The physician lay upon his back and
there was no evidence Of struggle.
8 In front of the body stood tall book
1 case at the bottom of which were two
drawers. One Of these drawers was
4 partially opened in a way to support
: in almost horizontal position double
barrel shotgun
or. Hilton testified before the jury
that the weapon was in the same posi-
ton as it was when he first reached
Z the room. He stated that he had
caused the weapon to be examined
and found one loaded and one empty
& she'll in it.
A large sized toasting fork was
3 found on the floor near the gun. This
probably was used to touch the trig-
ger Of the gun.
Little SON Made Discovery.
Mr. Riblet made the statement that
he was Mrs Hollis father, and that
he and Master Tom were the only
ones at home this morning, Mrs.
Holt having gone to Fort Smith the
j day before to look after business. He
stated that he was hard of hearing
and ii was possible a shotgun could
have been fired in the house and he
. not hear il at the barn, where he was
at the time. The first he knew of the
tragedy was when the boy, Tom, came
to him, while at the barn and said:
Grandfather, I've found some
thing"
When questioned as to what he had
found, the little chap said he had
found father lying on the foor.'
Led by the lad, Mr. Riblet went into
the house and upstairs, where in the
spare room he saw the body of RI.
Holt lying upon the floor. He felt of
the pulse and found it still, tho the
body was yet warm. Hurrying down
stairs to the telephone, he summoned
a physician.
Captain in Army Medical Corps.
DR.. Holt saw service with the Army
Medical Corps, joining the colors last
April, receiving commission as cap
tam, and returned to Mena the last
Of December He was at Camp Jack
son, Columbia, S. c., while away from
hena, save for six weeks spent in hos
pital work at New Haven, Conn. He
was slated to go to France when the
armistice was signed, but on reaching
nome il was plain to all his friends
mat his health was badly shattered
by ms experiences and labors in the
service.
After returning to Mena DIR. Holt
went to Fort Smith to visit his broth
sf Dr. Charles Holt, and discuss the
possibilities Of entering practice in
saat city. While in Fort Smith DIR.
NOT was taken down with influenza,
ana was seriously i'll, being in semi
conscious condition for about ten
uays He returned to Mena last Sat-
arday, but had not fully recovered
IRON his sickness, and was in a
greatly depressed condition of mind,
him.
On Monday of this week DR.. Holt
arranged for the sale Of his fine sub
uroan property to w. w. Townsend.
ne and Mrs. Holt desired a smaller
pace and were intending to find one
tnat suited them in Mena il they
eouil. An interesting fact is that
within a half hour of death he was
SEEKING, by phone, to reach the owner
~ property he said he had decided
8 purchase as home. In the con-
ssrsatlon there was no inkling OF inn
pending tragedy.
Masonic Burial Service.
Funeral services were held Satur-
sas morning, at the residence, 1l13I
i'siae street, the Rev. F. F. Harrell,
sass9r Of the First NJ. E. church,
soush' OF which DR.. and Mrs. Holt
were mem hare <sso;.4s r~4.-w.., go