Asleep on Card Table, Man Has Coughing Fit, Dies

Iowa, 1901

DIES ON A CARD TABLE

WILLIAM HANNAH'S DEMISE IN DELMONICO CLUB ROOMS

So Sudden Was His Passing That Those In the Room With Him Knew Nothing of It Until the Man Was In His Death Struggles — Leaves the Text of a Sermon Written In His Note Book

Several men were gathered in the club room over the Delmonico early yesterday morning. One was lying asleep on the table. Several others had just been out for a lunch, and on returning to the room one of them had brought in with him a very large Newfoundland dog, the big shaggy animal making himself at home near the stove. Suddenly a loud coughing or choking was heard, and Osborn Reynolds cried "Put that dog out. This room is too warm for him."

"It's not the dog; it's 'Ditch,' answered one of the men.

"Wake him up, boys," and two or three of them hurried over to the table to do so.

"My God! He's dead," they cried and the limp form was allowed to fall back. The face was of chalky whiteness, and it was not necessary to call a physician to learn that life had fled, though, of course, a physician was speedily, but uselessly called.

Thus, lying on a card table in a saloon club room, William Hannah died. Not the slightest warning had he; probably not a moment of conscious suffering. His heart had filled up with blood and then refused to work. It was all so sudden that the men about the corpse could hardly realize what had happened.

There was considerable difficulty yesterday in identifying the dead man. He was known to several people but only as "Ditch," this peculiar nickname coming from the fact that he worked at laying tile when he worked at all. The remains were taken to the Boies' undertaking parlors and during the forenoon Coroner Fred Lambach conducted an autopsy. In the afternoon the coroner's inquest was held and a verdict was rendered that William Hannah came to his death by cardiac paralysis. The coroner's jury consisted of M. J. Scandrett, William Schwarnweber, and O. K. Wilson.

A Dead Man's Sermon

"There's no fool like an old fool," wrote Hannah in his note book not long ago, and the quotation is the text of a sermon that the dead man is preaching to his fellow creatures. The rest of his sermon is found in the story of his life. It developed at the inquest that not many months ago William Hannah had come into the possession of some money, inherited from an eastern relative. He came to Davenport and spent most of his time about a card table. At first he was successful. He did not play heavily, but he won, and he grew to love the game. Men who knew him say it was a study to watch the face of "Ditch" when he was handling the pasteboards. It often made them forget their own game. But there came a time when "Ditch" didn't win. Every bit of his money was gone. He had been known to the police for the past two weeks as "broke," and when Dr. Lambach examined his stomach at the autopsy yesterday morning it was learned that no food had been eaten in the last 24 hours. It was probably during this period that the text was written in the note book.

System Much Deranged

Though to outward appearance Hannah was a healthy man, the autopsy showed that his system was very much disordered. His stomach was what is known as a "whisky stomach," though there was no testimony to show that he was a hard drinker. His kidneys were in bad shape. His right lung had grown to his side as the result of an attack of pluerisy. His liver gave evidence of a disease from which few men recover, and all tended to weaken his heart.

At the inquest testimony was taken from Captain Fred Hitchcock, Michael Rourke, P. Phelan. Ed Neils, W. H. Costello, John Cahil, Dr. Porter, who was called at the time of Hannah's death, and Os Reynolds, the proprietor of the place where the man died. From the testimony it was learned that Hannah had been in Gallagher's place in the early evening, that he had gone to the Delmonico about 12 o'clock, and had fallen asleep upon the card table, a habit that he had been more or less regular in of late. No one took any particular notice of him until the fatal coughing fit attracted them.

Hannah had previously lived at Williamsburg, Ia., where it is understood he has a sister. He carried photographs of two men, one young and the other old. He had told some of his acquaintances that they were his brother and father, and lived in California. The dead man was about 35 years of age.

—Davenport Daily Republican, Davenport, Iowa, Feb. 17, 1901, p. 7.

Man Sleeping By Tracks Declared Dead

Middletown, New York, 1914

"CHRISTY" WASN'T DEAD

But Everybody Thought He Was, and He Just Missed the Morgue

Christy Fisher, a well known resident of this city, felt tired this afternoon, and lay down alongside the Erie tracks and went to sleep. A little girl saw him and told her mother. The latter investigated and decided the man was dead. She notified police headquarters. Motorcycle Policeman Dopson investigated, and also pronounced the man dead.

Chief of Police McCoach, Coroner Harding, and an undertaker were called and the coroner was about to hold an inquest preparatory to taking the man to the morgue when Fisher opened his eyes and wanted to know "what in thunder was going on." He was informed that he was dead at which he scrambled to his feet and ran down the tracks, narrowly escaping being hit by a train as he got away. — Dispatch to New York Times.

Young Man Dies of Exposure, Farmer Turned Him Out of the House

Stout, Iowa, 1903

FOUND DEAD IN BUGGY SHED

Unknown Man Turned Out of Farmer's Home at Stout Dies of Exposure.

Dike, March 3. — A case of alleged inhuman treatment resulting in the death of a young man and subsequent developments have aroused considerable indignation at Stout, a village seven miles north of here, near where the affair took place.

A young man whose identity is not known appeared in that vicinity and secured employment as a farm hand on the farm of Claus De Vrise. Friday night the farm hand and De Vrise's son went to the town of Stout and the farm hand became intoxicated. It is not known whether the son had been drinking, but the two had some misunderstanding and when they arrived home, it is stated, De Vrise turned the hired man out of the house, he now claims, because of his intoxicated condition.

The young man was attired only in his overalls, shirt and a thin pair of socks. The young man was drunk and wandered to a buggy shed, where he fell asleep in a pool of water. The next morning De Vrise noticed the man lying in the shed and sent to Stout for the constable to arrest him. When the constable arrived, however, the man was dead.

De Vrise by this time had evidently become alarmed and a hurried consultation was held. No official inquest was held, and after the conference the body was carried to town, placed in a binder crate and taken to the depot, where they asked Agent Walker which would be the cheapest way to ship the corpse to Iowa City, by freight or express.

The agent refused to ship the body until he had a physician's certificate as to the cause of death and the body was properly boxed for shipment. It is said that this was done and that the remains have been sent to Des Moines, presumably to a medical college.

Nothing can be learned as to the young man's identity. The case has excited a great deal of talk. The treatment he was accorded by De Vrise and the haste exhibited in trying to get his remains out of the way has aroused the indignation of many and it is probable an investigation will be set on foot.

—Davenport Daily Republican, Davenport, Iowa, March 4, 1903, page 2.


It May Be Manslaughter.

Stout, March 7. — Claude De Vrise, a farmer of this community is likely to have to answer to the charge of manslaughter. De Vrise employed an unknown man as a farm hand. The hand went to town and became intoxicated and when he came home was turned from the house by his employer. In his drunken condition he lay down in his buggy shed in the cold and died. He was found by his employer who placed the body in a binder box and shipped it to Des Moines supposedly to a medical college. The neighbors have asked the coroner to investigate.

—Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, March 7, 1903, page 5.


Inhuman Treatment of a Young Man at Stout.

From the New Hartford Review we glean the following ghastly details of a strange case near the new town of Stout, in the southern part of Butler county. The Review says:

Excitement has been running riot in the little town of Stout since Friday night, over the alleged inhuman treatment of a young man, which resulted in his death. At the hour of going to press the Review is unable to say what the final outcome of the affair will be.

A few days ago a young man, whose identity is not known, appeared in that vicinity and secured employment...

[From there the article repeats the details above, with DeVries' name having this more likely spelling.]

—The Iowa Recorder, Greene, Iowa, March 1, 1903, page 1.