| Notes |
- Auburn NY Citizen - 11/23/1914
Circumstances surrounding the
tragic death Saturday eveiiiug of
Frederick VandenBosch, the 17 year
old son of Mr. and Mrs. John H.Vanden
Bosch of No. 65 Lake Avenue
at the Vanden Bosch home, leave no
¦oom for mystery in the mind of
Coroner A. J. Forman who, after an
inveetigation into the facts yesterday,
was satisfied that the boy met
his death in an accidental manner
and that by the explosion of his own
shotgu, probably by falling or go-
ing off accidentally in the hands of
the young man. Death was almost
instantaneous.
The death of young VandenBosch
was the first of what was destined
to an over-Sunday chapter of
tragic and violent deaths in which
three young Auburnians lost their
lives in a shocking manner through
their love of hunting.
The accident that caused the death
of Vanden Bosch which occurred at
about 6 o'clock . Saturday evening,
was unseen by anyone, but the circumstances
surrounding it point
plainly, so the coroner and members
of the family believe, to the accidental
explosion of the gun in the base-,
ment of the Vanden Bosch home,'
where Ralph Theurer, a friend and
chum of the victim, found him probably
within two minutes after the
death charge had entered the
youth's chest.
Boy Wouldn't Go Hunting.
Early in ttte day Theurer who-resides
with his parents at No. 67
Lake Avenue, went to the VandenBosch
home with his gun and proposed
that he and Vanden Bosch
take advantage of the tracking snow
to go afield in search of rabbits.
^ Fred was suffering from a severe
^ cold and declined to go, saying that
he feared that a trip into the open
through the snow would make his
cold worse. He was the owner of a
rabbit hound and this he loaned to
his friend who started out alone
with the dog.
Frederick remained about the
house most ot the day and after the
evening meal he arose from the ta-
ble, leaving his father and mother
there and went to the basement and
to the boiler room where he kept the
gun.
iJust what young"Vanden Boseh intended
to do with the gun, is, of
course, unknown. He might have intended
to take out the shells as the
gun was evidently loaded. It was a
double-barrel piece and there was
an uneploded shell in the other barrel
when the gun was pieked up
from the floor where it was found.
Discovered by Chum.
Fred had not been in the basement
long When the father up stairs heard
youug Theurer calling to him in an
excited tone of twice. This was the
first that the parents knew of the
accident as they had failed to hear
the report of the gun when it shot.
Theurer, who made the ghastly
discovery, had Just returned from
hunting and walked around to the
back of the house to return the dog.
Fred had lighted the light in the
basement and Theurer, seeing this,
went to the basement door. He
stepped inside and saw the gun lying
on the floor. Another step or two and
just over the threshold of the door
that led to an adjoining room used
'as a laundry, he saw the prostrate
form of his chum. From a huge,
ragged hole in his left chest he saw
a stream of blood soaking through
the clothing and forming a puddle on
the cement floor. He paused but for
a moment and then stepped to the
side of the victim who was gasping
heavily. Theurer thinks that he arrived
juat in time to see the life pass
from the body of his young friend.
Both Parents Answered.
Stunned by the eight that confronted
him, Theurer drew back in
horror hardly knowing which way to
turn, then it occurred to him to call
to the mother. Once he called to Mrs.
Vanden Bosch and then he began to
regain control of himself and the
thought came that the father was the
one to face the ordeal first and he
called up the stairway to him; called
two or three times, and then father
and mother both came. It was too
late for Theurer to tell the mother
to turn back and. the parents came
to the bottom of the stairs where
Theurer could but point to the form
on the floor.
The father was first but he could
not shut out the sight from the
mother. She saw too, nd they both
knew instinctively that something
terrible haad happened. The gun lying
near their feet on the baasement floor,,
the pungent odor of burned powder
in the close furnace room, all told
them of it before they reached the
body of the boy.
Mother Collapsed.
Mrs. Vanden Bosch collapsed and
was sedated upstairs, a hurry up
call for dr. Raymond c. Almy was
sent and he hurried to the home, but
the boy was beyond medical assist-
ance, the physician expressing the
belief that death had come within a
minute or two after the gun had ex-
ploded and the charge had entered
the breast of the lad.
the physician then turned his at-
tention to the mother whose condi-
tion was serious. She has been
prostrated by the shock since the acci-
dent occurred but her condition is
reported to be improved today.
Wilhelmina, a sister of the boy,
was not at home, but was located
later at the Morgan Theatre.
The ushers at the theatre were
unable to locate her In the crowd
and the management flashed a message
on the screen for her, stating
that there was an important mes
sage for her at the box office and in
this way she was informed that she
was wanted quickly at home.
After the fatal shot had entered
the boy's body he must have walked j
or stumbled a distance of six or
seven feet to the floor of the room
adjoining the boiler room. The gun
was found on the floor of the boil"-;
room while the body of the boy lay j
across the threshold some feet
away. The theory that the gun fell
is borne out by the fact there was e
piece of the stock slivered off. If it
fell it must have struck hurt down
and the stock split with the grain o*
the wood. This jar probably exploded
it. Whether it was done in
falling or whether the boy. holding
the barrels well toward the muzzle
jammed the butt down hard on the
floor is not known, of course. It mar
be that the lever that opens the
gun stuck and he jammed the butt
down, thinking to loosen it.
His Survivors.
Besides his parents young Vanden
Bosch is survived by two sisters
Mrs. Robert Broadhead and Miss
Wilhelmina Vanden Bosch, and one
i brother, John »Ht Vanden Bosch Sr.
Private funeral services will be held
at the family home tomorrow afternoon
at 2:30. Burial will be made
in Soule Cemetery.
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Abt 1897 - 1914 (~ 17 years)