The Sun

SUICIDE

Shooting Himself After a Discrepancy Had
Been Discovered In His Accounts.

BATAVIA, N. Y., Feb. 22.—At about 7½ this
morning Phil Weiss, a Central Railroad switch-
man, discovered the body of Horace V. Ferren,
Deputy Postmaster at this place, lying in a pool
of blood in Craft, Combs & Co.'s coal sheds, a
short distance from the Ellicott street railroad
crossing. A large Colt's revolver, carrying a
.42-calibre ball, was found near by with one
chamber empty. Coroner Parmelee was noti-
fied, and, on his arrival, ordered the body car-
ried to Turner's undertaking rooms, where it
was later viewed by a jury and a post mortem
held. The examination showed that the ball
had entered the brain back of the right ear,
and, passing forward, had fractured the bones
of the forehead. It then glanced, and was
found beneath the scalp back of the left ear.
The wounds were evidently self-inflicted.

The news of the suicide created much excite-
ment in the village, as it was rumored that the
deed was committed because a shortage had
been discovered in the accounts of Mr. Ferren.
The facts are that within a few days past some
discrepancies in the accounts of the Post Office
was discovered by the clerks, and Postmaster
Tyrrell was informed of the irregularities. The
Postmaster, without consulting his deputy,
sent for the Government inspectors, and last
evening B. N. Sharroth and Fred N. Field of
New York arrived and immediately went to
work at the books. Mr. Ferren was in the box
office at the opera house, of which his son is
manager, when a messenger was sent for him.
He left the opera house immediately, and re-
mained with the inspectors and Mr. Tyrrell in
the Post Office until about 11 o'clock. Then
he went home and retired as usual. He
arose, as was his custom, at about 5 o'clock,
and it is supposed went directly to the sheds,
which are in the rear of his residence, and took
his life. Some of the members of his family
were awake and saw him, but noticed nothing
peculiar in his actions.

Regarding the amount of the defalcation but
little can be learned from either the Postmaster
or the inspectors, but it is asserted on good
authority that it is not much more than $2,000.
It did not appear last night that the shortage
was over a few hundred dollars, but the inspec-
tors, who have been at work all day, have dis-
covered other discrepancies.

Mr. Ferren was a man of very steady habits,
and lived unostentatiously, and it is not known
what led him to misappropriate the funds of
the Government. He had been Deputy Post-
master under William Tyrrell since 1873, and
until now the inspectors upon their visits had
never discovered anything wrong. The super-
vision of the affairs of the office had devolved
entirely on the deputy, who was trusted im-
plicitly. He had been in the postal service for
years, beginning as driver of a stage route
from Batavia to Lockport in 1844. He was a
member of various mutual benefit associations,
in which he had life insurances for $6,000. He
was born in 1833.