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A
dispatch from Grangeville to the Lewiston Tribune says:
William Hohaus, the well known proprietor of the H & H
hardware store, is dead at his home in this city, having committed
suicide this morning at his place of business. He
took his life by shooting himself through the head with a charge of shot
from a shotgun. A few days
ago Mr. Hohaus purchased the interest of his partner, Walter Hickinson,
in the store, and it is understood that he has been worrying
considerable over financial matters.
A coroner’s jury found his act was due to temporary insanity.
Mrs.
Hohaus states that at 3 o’clock this morning her husband got out o f
bed and was then quite restless. At
6 o’clock he left the house and was then in quite cheerful spirits. He reached the store, it is presumed, about
6:30 and at 7:30 o’clock when Fred Wiskee, a clerk, reached the
store and entered the building he found the dead body of Hohaus lying on
the floor near the stove. Almost
the entire top part of the man’s head had been blown off by the
charge. Near his body on
the floor was a 12-bore single barrel shotgun.
Conditions indicated that Hohaus upon entering the store went
behind the counter, secured the gun and loaded it.
He then braced the gun between his knees, resting the muzzle
between his eyes, and pressed the trigger with a yard stick. The report of a gun was heard by a person on the street, but
the direction from which the noise came could not be determined and as
no outcry was made further attention was not paid to the matter.
The
deceased was 51 years of age and leaves and wife and two daughters.
The daughters are aged respectively 17 and 20 years.
Mr. Hohaus has resided on the prairie for a number of years,
where he was engaged in farming until five years ago when he entered the
store business in this city. He was highly respected and was a member of the Woodmen of
the World lodge and also the circle of that order.
Recently
during morose periods, he had suggested to friends that he was
contemplating suicide. To
one he said “I expect a man would be crazy who would shoot himself.”
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