Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-04
Herbert WiI|ett, is, Son of
English Instructor in Same
Building, Takes His Life.
FIRES BULLET AS GONG
RINGS FOR FIRST CLASS
Friend Sees Him Fall After Shot
From Revolver With Single
Cartridge-Dies Instantly.

building of the school this morning.
He died almost instantly.
| Just as the last bell for the first
class was ringing, at 9:10 o'clock. VIII
| lett stopped at the drinking fountain
| in the northeast corner, near the room
where he had his first class. Dorrance
Kelly, a schoolnate, who was behind
! him. asked Willett:
(Which way are you going.
HerbertS
"T'm going to hell, / guess" said
| Willett, and he pulled the pistol from
his hip pocket and shot himself
! through the right temple. lie fell to
| the floor.
Holds Crowd Back.
Before Kelly could do anything to
| help him, he was surrounded by a
crowd. With presence of mind he
held them back until Alvin W. Miller,
principal of the school, and several
teachers arrived. Robert Louis. who
heard the shot from down the corridor
and saw Willett fall, assisted him.
Mr.. Miller sent Louis for doctor
and tried to give some assistance to
WilIett, but he died without regaining
| CONSCIOUSNESS. DIR. Francis X. Nc
Govern of Garfield Hospital. who was
summoned, pronounced him dead.
Willett's mother, a teacher in the
English department of Central, was
! told Of the tragedy there. and his
father, Allan f. NVillett, director OF
| the Bureau OF Coal Economics of the
National Coal Association, was sum-
moned from his office In the Southern
! Building.
The family lives at o910 Brandywine
street. Chevy Chase.
Mrs. WilIett refused to believe that
| her son had intended to kill himself.
She said she had accompanied him to
school earlier in the morning and
that he seemed In his usual good
spirits. She said there was nothing
unusual In his having a weapon with
him, as he liked firearms and had in
tended to enter d revolver match next
week.
Weapon Very Unreliable.
Mrs. Willett believes that her son
either did not know the revolver was
| loaded or did not believe 1t would fire.
She explained that the weapon was
very unreliable and often failed to go
| off. She said Herbert had often
loaded 1t In the house over her protest,
and only recently a bullet had stuck
| in the chamber and her son had been
unable to make it fire.
She said he took the revolver down
| from the mantelpiece, where 1t was
kept, this morning, saying he was 60
! ing to practice with 1t after school.
| She had given her permission she
sad, as she had done on previous
occasions. She did not know whether
Herbert knew then that the weapon
| was loaded, but believed that IL he
did. he did not think 1t would shoot.
Mrs. Willett said there had been no
unpleaSfntness in the household. Her
son ate a hearty breakfast, she said,
and had asked If he might bring some
ice cream home for dinner. When
she left him at the school, he told
her he was going to practice with the
revolver and then get the ice cream.
At 11:30 all classes had been dis
| missed. None of the students was
allowed to re-enter the building
Blames Suicide Epidemic.
No reason could be assigned for viii.
let's act. His teachers and parents
/ said he was of an unusually carefree
disposition. No change in his atti-
tude had been noticed lately. He
studied hard, and last year was a
member of the cadet corps of the
school He was III the fifth semester
and would have been graduated next
/ yCtat IoO"ItS WAS HIS only alHlGllG
activity
Principal Miller blamed tho death
on the epidemic of student suicides
that has been sweeping the country.
lie declared the publicity given these
affairs had put the idea of suicide in
students heads. About 90 college
and high school students have ended
! their lives since the beginning of the
year, and the result is that a sudden
whim may cause a boy to kill him
| self, he said
w. F. Clark, head of the print shop
at the school, who knew Willett prob
ably better than any of the other
teachers, suggested that overwork
| might have caused the boy to take
his life. He was unusually bright,
! Mr.. Clark said, read great deal and
| had a remarkable command Of the
| English language. He was popular
with the other boys, he said. but was
| not intimate with any of them.
Had a Mans Brains.
| He had mans brains" Mr.. Clark
| said. He had q strong character
| for boy, but was not overbearing
! He associated with the better type
/ of boys and didn't seem to be inter-
! ested in girls" His chief interest
was work." he said.
| l.. G. Gilbert, Willetts mathe-
| mates teacher, said the boy had
| seemed more carefree than the av-
| erage. Last year, Mr.. Gilbert said,
he was often engaged in pranks. al
| though they We're of an innocent
| nature. This year. he said, he seemed
! to have become more serious about
| his work. but was not at all morose
or moody. He was, good student
/ he said
! Principal Miller said Willett's work
| had always been satisfactory. he
! was a good student" he said. "and
always did his work we'll"
| Several students who knew Wiliett
| slightly were unable to give any rea-
| son for his act. They said he was
| quiet and did not associate great
| deal with the other boys, but al
| ways was cheerful and apparently
| happy.
| The theory that the tragedy was the
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