Las Vegas Age, December 20, 2003 Copyright Gerry Perry This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************ LAS VEGAS AGE 8/9/1913 DEATH CALLS J. J. COUGHLIN BODY OF ROAD MASTER OF L.V. & T. ROAD GROUND UNDER WHEELS The following account of the death of Joseph J. COUGHLIN is taken from the Goldfield Tribune of Thursday evening, August 7: "A body lying on the track just below the summit on the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railway was espied by the engineer of the southbound train just as the train started down the grade this morning and too late to stop. The body was run over and parts of it were carried an eighth of a mile before the engine could be stopped. "'It's COUGHLIN,' was the first exclamation the trainmen made when they found the part of the corpse that clung to the engine. COUGHLIN was road master of the railway. The identification was made certain a moment later and the train telephone was rigged up and the office notified. Sheriff INGALS and Judge BARNES, acting as coroner, immediately went to the scene. "Joseph J. COUGHLIN, one of the best known railway men of Nevada, road master on the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railway, came to Goldfield yesterday and left early this morning on a motor railway tricycle for Bonnie Clare, intending to examine the tracks as he went along and take the regular train at Bonnie Clare for his home in Las Vegas, which he expected to reach tonight. That was the last seen of him alive. "The road from Goldfield sweeps around in a great curve and up to what is known as the summit at mile No. 191 on the road, just below the Gold Bar mine: When the train gets started on that grade it is almost impossible to stop it. That is what happened this morning. "Engineer George BROCKMAN and Fireman C.E.M. BEALL, Jr., both saw the body on the track at the same moment, but the engine was almost upon it then. As they told Judge BARNES in formal statements, the head appeared to be lying on the rail. The engine caught the body and carried it under the wheels fully an eighth of a mile. There were no indications as to how the body happened to be on the track. "The remains were placed upon a flat car and sent to Columbia, whence they were obtained and brought to Goldfield by Thomas F. DUNN. "COUGHLIN was well known and popular in Goldfield. He lived at Las Vegas, where he was prominent in public affairs. His wife and four children survive him, one of whom, a son, is connected with the Las Vegas road here in the telegraph department." ------------------ The coroner's inquest, held at Goldfield this morning, returned a verdict that Joseph COUGHLIN came to his death by a fall from a railroad motor car or speeder. This indicates beyond a doubt that he was already dead at the time the train struck the body. The reamins, in charge of C.E.M. BEALL, will arrive in Las Vegas this evening and will be transferred to number 19, and be accompanied to Los Angeles by the family. The funeral services will be held at St. Mary's Church, Boyle Heights, Monday morning, and interment will be at Calvary Cemetery. Mayor W. E. HAWKINS has appointed a guard of honor, representing the city, to meet the remains at the depot at 8:10 and make the transfer to number 19. Those appointed are Ed. W. CLARK, Ed. VON TOBEL, W. J. STEWART, Chas. C. CORKHILL, Chas. P. SQUIRES, Harley A. HARMON, Chas. M. MC GOVERN, John S. PARK and Dan J. O'LEARY. The body will be conveyed to the home of the deceased where it will remain until the train leaves for Los Angeles. Mrs. C. M. MC GOVERN and Mr. W. J. WILCOX will accompany the family to Los Angeles, where they will be met by Superintendent Frank M. GRACE. ===================================LAS VEGAS AGE 8/16/1913 LAST SAD RITES The remains of Joseph John COUGHLIN were brought to Las Vegas from Goldfield by the train arriving here at 8:10 last Saturday evening. At Indian Springs the train was met by a number of close friends of the deceased who with loving hands laid upon the casket a pall completely covering it from sight, shrouding it in the beautiful greenery of the desert the dead man had so long known and loved. In the center of the pall was a cross, an emblem of immortality, woven from the spotless white of the desert holly, a very beautiful and fitting mark of love and sympathy. It was prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Ira MAC FARLAND, Mrs. Frank WENGERT, Miss Louella WENGERT, Mr. and Mrs. Paul B. JAMES, Mr. PUTNEY and Mrs. C. P. SQUIRES. Upon arrival in this city the remains were taken in charge by the pall bearers Messrs. W. J. WILCOX, C. M. MC GOVERN, Harley A. HARMON, W. E. HAWKINS, W. R. BRACKEN and Mr. ALEXANDER and escorted to the home by a guard of honor, appointed by Mayor HAWKINS to represent the city, composed of Ed. W. CLARK, Chas. C. CORKHILL, Chas. M. MC GOVERN, C. P. SQUIRES, Ed. VON TOBEL, W. J. STEWART, John S. PARK, Dan J. O'LEARY and Harley A. HARMON. At the house of mourning a large number of friends and neighbors waited with their heads bowed in sorrow while the casket was bourne for the last time into the home the deceased had loved so well. Father REYNOLDS here read a service over the dead also the memorial which had been prepared and signed by the citizens, expressing their sorrow at the untimely death, after which the remains were again taken to the depot and placed aboard the train for Los Angeles The funeral party, in charge of Mr. W. J. WILCOX, and accompanied by Mesdames C. M. MC GOVERN and Chas. IRELAND, arrived in Los Angeles Sunday morning at ten o'clock. The remains were taken to the undertaking parlors of Cunningham & O'Connor, where they rested until the funeral, when they were conveyed to St. Mary's Church, where solemn high mass was celebrated at nine o'clock Monday morning. The interment was in Calvary Cemetery. The pall bearers were all old friends who had for years been associated with the deceased, being Frank M. GRACE, W. J. WILCOX, Patrick HOBAN, T. H. BELL and Conductor SPARKS. The floral offerings were many and very beautiful. Mrs. George BURNS of Santa Barbara, a sister of Mrs. COUGHLIN, and her husband were among the relatives present. Joseph John COUGHLIN was a native of Ireland, coming to America at an early age. His railroad life was begun on the Northern Pacific road at Dickinson, North Dakota, where he remained for twenty-three years. In 1905 he began work in the West with the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake road on construction work. In 1906 he transferred to the Las Vegas and Tonopah road, where he has since remained in the position of road master. He built a handsome home in this city and has ever enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his fellow men. Upon incorporation of the city he was chosen one of the first board of city commissioners, the $40,000 sewer system being constructed under his supervision. He married in 1890 Miss Anna Cecelia MC DONOUGH, who survives him. The married life has been a very happy one, the home life of the family being unusually intimate. Four children are left, Rose, aged 18; Joseph, 16; Frank, 14 and Ellis, 12.