"Shooting irons, the boys out my way call firearms,"

As to Shooting Irons

   "Shooting irons, the boys out my way call firearms," said Representative Gregg of Texas, "and I never read of a death by this route that I am not reminded of an inscription which can be found on a tombstone in a churchyard in the state of Arkansas. Ii reads:

   "'This stone is sacred to the mem'ry of William Hardy, who came to his death by fooling with a Colt's revolver, one of the old kind, brass mounted, and of such is the kingdom of heaven."

   Representative Johnson of South Carolina, who was a listener, said: "Guess the inscription is all right, but its powerful bad punctuation about as bad as that which makes an inscription read awfully funny on a tombstone in a burial ground in my state, I have never seen it but have been told that it reads:

   "'Erected to the memory of John Dawson, who was accidentally shot as a mark of affection by bis brother.'

   "I told one of my Republican friends about this, and he simply said that we people of South Carolina had peculiar ways of showing our affections."

[Monroe City Democrat, Monroe City, Missouri, Thursday, June 16, 1904. Vol. 17 No. II Pg. 6]