Newspapers:E.F. Mayer, Accident or Suicide in Celilo, Wasco Co., Oregon ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************ Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Earline Wasser January 2003 ********************************************************************************* Edward Francis Mayer The Dalles Daily Chronicle, Friday, February 4, 1938, Front page Information Sought on Accident Death Minneapolis Man Sends Telegram, Requests Details of Death A telegram from B.B. Gibbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota to Coroner C.R. Callaway today requested further particulars about the Death of the man identified here as Edward Francis Mayer, formerly of Minneapolis. The man was killed a week ago when struck by a Union Pacific freight train near Celilo (Oregon). Gibbs asked particulars of the man's death, whether he had a Buick car, life insurance and money, and the costs of sending the body to Minneapolis. He gave no details about his possible connection with the man. Mr. Callaway said he would dispatch another telegram this afternoon furnishing further information. Announcement of the probable identity of the man was made yesterday by Coroner Callaway and state police. It is understood that Fred Wegener, an employe of the Railway Express agency, furnished the lead which resulted in the man's identification. Wegener took the suitcase and traveling bag for shipment to Spokane (Washington) and associated the incident with the death of the man, it was reported. The Dalles Optimist, February 4, 1938, Front page Story of Dead Man Revealed Facts Indicate that He Leaped Under Train Efforts to Get Help Failed Last Struggle of Former Prosperous Merchant Told Step By Step. Although a well dressed man of past middle age who died this week under a freight train near Celilo (Oregon) had taken pains, according to the police, to destroy everything which might serve to identify him or to trace his origin, painstaking work by Coroner C.R. Callaway and the state police this week revealed not only his identity but the desperate efforts he had made furing his last few hours in The Dalles to raise money upon personal effects with which to carry on the fight which, apparently, he had been making to keep body and soul together. "We can now give you all of the facts, having traced the unfortunate man's actions during the time he was in The Dalles and for some time previous," said Sergeant Frank Grimm of the state police yesterday. "We have found that the man's name was E.F. Mayer and that his home was in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was a prosperous clothing merchant of that city up to the time that his wife died about a year ago. Shortly after that he disposed of his business, took his Buick sedan and took a trip West which included a jaunt through the Yellowstone Park. Finally he reached the Oregon coast and there he disposed of his sedan. Apparently his funds began to shrink and he set about seeking employment, but without success. He had a gold watch, and he sold that in order to get fare to The Dalles. When he reached here he still had the gold chain, which he tried to sell for a dollar to several people, but nobody bought. He also had left a United states 'baby bond' for $25 which he tried to sell to several person for $10, but so far as we have been able to learn, nobody would buy it from him. "He also interviewed officers of the local ELKS lodge, as he had formerly been a member of that order. However, when he fell upon evil days his dues had lapsed and he could no longer prove himself in good standing. "He ate a meal or two at the Salvation Army kitchen while here and stayed at the Obarr hotel. When he arrived in town he had a suitcase and a traveling bag. At noon on Friday he shipped both of these, addressed to himself at Spokane (Washington), by express. Then he took all the papers by which he might be identified and, we believe, destroyed them, including the baby bond and the express receipt for the bags." Members of the train crew saw Mayer's body strike beside the track and hurtle for several yards before coming to rest in a crumpled heap. The train stopped and it was ascertained that the unfortunate man had died instantly. It was at first declared to be accidental, but the facts uncovered by the officials make it look more like the last desperate act of a disheartened man. Although the police had sent fingerprints of Mayer to all the usual sources of information, not a single one reported that Mayer had at any time been in the hands of the police. END Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, Oregon