Some Macabre Stories of the Silver Trade

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ED. RAUCHER

Jersey City, New Jersey


Ed. Raucher, employed in the factory of the New York Standard Watch Co., Jersey City, slipped near one of the presses, and while he was trying to regain his balance a forefinger of his right hand fell under a descending press hammer and was smashed to a pulp.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 8th August 1906

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RALPH WADSWORTH

Cincinnati


Drowned. —Chicago, Ill., Aug. 10. —From Mr. Wadsworth, of the Wadsworth Watch Case Co., comes word that his son, Ralph, fell from a sailboat at Charlevoix, Mich., and was drowned. The accident occurred Aug. 8. Mr. Wadsworth and his family had been at Charlevoix for two weeks on their summer outing when they met with their sad bereavement. Their son was 15 years of age and a young man of promise. The water at the place the accident took place was 75 feet deep, and at this writing the body has not been recovered.

Source: The Trader - September 1900

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ANDREW JOHNSON

Chicago


Andrew Johnson, engraver, 419 Indiana St., killed himself Jan. 14, by inhaling hot air from a burning lamp. He was out of work and despondent.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular and Horological Review - 24th January 1894

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M. DINGLER

Zurich


CHOKED TO DEATH BY DIAMONDS

A five-year-old girl, only daughter of M. Dingler, a Zurich dealer in precious stones, died recently after swallowing gems valued at £800. M. Dingler returned home from Paris and entertained his little daughter in the nursery with the display of a number of diamonds, rubies, and sapphires from his cases. He was suddenly called to the telephone, and when he returned to the table he found the child choking. A doctor was hastily summoned, but before he arrived the child was dead.

An examination showed that a diamond had become embedded in the child's throat. An operation was subsequently performed to extract this stone and others which the little girl had swallowed.

Source: The Commonwealth Jeweller & Watchmaker - July 1923

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PETER GUBION

Covington, Ohio


Peter Gubion, a jeweler, of Covington, O., aged 24, was found dead in the cellar of a livery stable in Covington last Monday morning. Gubion was a hard drinker and never staid at home, but was in the habit of sleeping in the stable. He leaves a wife and three children.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 3rd August 1898

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JAMES REID

Glasgow


TWO DEATHS FROM EATING SHELLFISH AT ROTHESAY

Early yesterday morning two boys named John and Frederick Reid, sons of James Reid, silversmith, residing at 109, Napiershall Street, Glasgow, died almost within the same hour. The boys, who were staying here with their grandmother, had, it appears eaten a quantity of shellfish on Saturday evening, and after going home complained of illness. The cases were not considered serious at the time, and medical assistance was not called in till Sunday evening, when spasms had set in. It was too late, however, and the unfortunate boys died yesterday morning, the one at 6.15, and the other at 7.40. They had previously been in the best of health.

Source: The Dundee Courier and Argus - 11th July 1882

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CHARLES JAMES TWYMAN

London


A CYCLIST KILLED IN LONDON

At St. Bartholomew's Hospital on Saturday, Mr. S.F. Langham, the City coroner, held an inquest concerning the death of Charles James Twyman, aged 26, a silversmith, of Mayton-street, Holloway, who met with a fatal accident while cycling in the Goswell-road on Wednesday. The evidence showed on the day in question the deceased was proceeding along the Goswell-road upon his bicycle, when his machine slipped on the account of the wet roadway, and the front wheel caught in the tramway line and threw him to the ground. He was riding at a fast pace, endeavouring to get ahead of an omnibus going in the same direction. As he fell he was caught by the horses of the 'bus and knocked down, the wheels passing over him. He was removed to the hospital, where he died shortly afterwards. The accident occurred on the deceased man's birthday. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death," and exonerated the 'bus driver from blame.

Source: The Huddersfield Daily Chronicle - 16th May 1896

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ALDERMAN DEYKIN

Birmingham


LOCAL NOTES

Birmingham, June 25, 1885

It is with regret that I have to chronicle the untimely death, by drowning, of Alderman Deykin, of the firm of Deykin & Son, who for the past century have carried on the manufacture of plated wares.

Source: The Jeweller and Metalworker - 1st July 1885

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GEORGE PRATT

Harlow, Essex


SUPPOSED SUICIDE

On Saturday morning a jeweller and watchmaker, named George Pratt, residing in High-street, Harlow, was found dead in bed with a bullet-wound in his head and a revolver grasped in his hand. Pratt was a widower, and was shortly to be married. He was organist at the parish church, and much respected in the neighbourhood. The circumstances point to suicide, but no motive can be assigned for the act.

Source: The Morning Post - 26th December 1892

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E.H. JONES

London


THE FATAL ROCKET ACCIDENT AT BRIGHTON

A Board of Trade inquiry into the circumstances attending the explosion of one of the rockets used by the Brighton coastguard during the night of last Saturday, which caused the death of Mr. E.H. Jones, manager to Mr. Gas, silversmith, of Regent-street, London, took place at Brighton on Tuesday. The witnesses all agreed that the explosion could only have been caused by a spark, and that for ignition to have been effected the cap of the rocket must either have been removed or accidentally broken by contact with the beach. It is stated that had the rocket taken a slightly different direction some 40 or 50 persons must have been killed. There was an immense crowd, which seriously retarded the efforts of the coastguard, and more than once the officer in charge of the apparatus, as well as the rocket triangle, &c., was pushed over by the throng.

Source: The Morning Post - 11th January 1877

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THADDEUS C. SPENCER

St. Johnsbury, Vermont


Fire last Sunday destroyed the Avenue House, the largest hotel in St. Johnsbury, Vt., and Thaddeus C. Spencer, for a score of years one of the leading jewelers of the place, was so severely burned while making his escape from the building that he died Tuesday morning. He kept the largest store of its kind in Vermont, and was very popular. His age was 48 years.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular and Horological Review - 5th February 1896

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DAVID BERNSTEIN

Borough High Street, London


SUICIDE WHILE AWAITING TRIAL

Rather than face the ordeal of standing in the dock, David Bernstein, 32, watchmaker, of Borough High-street, hanged himself in his house. The facts were related at the inquest, when the jury returned a verdict of "Suicide whilst of unsound mind." The widow stated that her husband had been charged with receiving stolen property, and had been released on bail to await his trial, which was to have taken place at the Central Criminal Court last Wednesday. Detective-sergeant West stated that he saw the man at the Central Criminal Court the day before he was to be tried. He was very much depressed, and said: "I would not mind, but it is going into that dock! I have never been in any dock before." The witness tried to cheer him up. That night Bernstein committed suicide.

Source: Abergavenny Chronicle and Monmouthshire Advertiser - 17th September 1915

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AMELIA KNIGHT

Bowmanville, Ontario


Miss Amelia Knight, employed as a saleswoman in T. N. Rickard’s jewelry store, Bowmanville, Ont., met with a terrible death on Feb. 27. Driving in a carriage near Bowmanville in company with her sister, Miss Helen Knight, and Herbert J. Hallett, of Whitby, the carriage was run into at the Grand Trunk Railway crossing and all three instantly killed. It is not known exactly how the accident occurred. The whistle of the locomotive was blown as usual, but the train was almost upon the carriage before the engineer noticed it.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 6th February 1901

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E.K. SHAW

Anniston, Alabama


E. K. Shaw Kills His Wife and Tries to Kill Himself

Richmond, Ind., Feb. 5.—The news has been received in this city of a tragedy at Anniston, Ala. E. K. Shaw was engaged in the jewelry business in Dublin, Wayne county, until last Spring, when he left with his wife for the south. At Anniston Mr. and Mrs. Shaw were arrested for taking subscriptions for the Ladies’ Home Journal and keeping the money. The night of their arrest they hired a special officer to guard them at the hotel, in order that they might not spend the night in jail. Disgraced, disheartened and with the odium of a criminal charge resting over them. Shaw deliberately cut his wife’s throat and then cut his own. Mrs. Shaw was dead when found, but he will probably recover. Shaw will be tried for murder as soon as he is able to appear in court. A letter written by them jointly and left on a table in the room where the tragedy took place was addressed to the dead woman’s sister, Mrs. J. F. Smith, of Crown Point, Ind. It gave the particulars of their intention to die together and made a disposition of their property.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 13th February 1901

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MORRIS SILVERMAN

New York


The Police Oppose Statement as to the Death of Morris Silverman

Morris Silverman, a jeweler, was discovered lying behind a locked door in his store at 3056 Third Ave., New York, Tuesday night of last week, with a bullet wound in the back of his head. He died the next morning in Fordham Hospital after declaring that he had been shot by burglars who had attempted to rob his store. This statement is supported by Mrs. Silverman, but is opposed by the coroner and the police, who have the opinion that Silverman shot himself in the head and was not attacked by any one, in view of the fact that he was in his store when discovered, behind a locked door.

Mrs. Silverman says that her husband had the door connected by an electric wire with a wheel by which he could lock it in a moment without moving from behind the counter, in order to be able to secure the door to prevent the escape of any one who might attempt to steal jewelry. It is claimed that Silverman was robbed of a diamond ring, a year ago, by a young man who took it from a tray of rings he was examining and escaped through the door. The locking device was then adjusted to prevent a similar robbery in future.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 13th February 1901


A reward of $1,000 has been offered for the arrest and conviction of the murderer or murderers of Morris Silverman, the jeweler who was found dying in his store, at 3056 Third Ave., Manhattan, Feb. 5, as told in The Circular-Weekly last week. The reward is offered by Mrs. Silverman, who refuses to accept the police theory that her husband committed suicide. She says he had a good business and no reason to kill himself. Silverman, in a few moments of consciousness after he was found, just before he died, claimed to have been hit by burglars who attempted to rob his store.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 20th February 1901

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WILLIAM GREAVES EDWARDES

London


TRAGEDY IN BIRMINGHAM

A FATHER THROWS HIS CHILD IN FRONT OF A TRAIN

A shocking tragedy took place at Birmingham on Wednesday night, as the 10.15 train was coming into New-street Station, a man named William Greaves Edwardes, who described himself as a masonic jeweller and diamond mounter, of London, took up his child and threw her in front of the engine. He was immediately arrested. Both of the girl's arms and one leg were cut off. The prisoner, who came to Birmingham on Wednesday, met the child, who lived with her mother at Birmingham, as she was coming from Mass, where they were seen half an hour before the occurrence. In reply to the charge prisoner first said, "I don't know what made me do it," but he subsequently said he was afraid she would come to the same end as his wife, from whom he was living apart and who was leading an immoral life. In his pocket a new table knife was found. The child is nine years of age. The three limbs have been amputated. Prisoner is charged with attempted murder. If the child dies, as is expected, before morning, the graver charge will be preferred.

Source: Evening Express - 7th April 1898

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THEODORE M. WILLIS

Montclair, New Jersey


Theodore M. Willis, one of the oldest jewelers in Montclair, N. J., is at the point of death at the Mountain Side Hospital where he is suffering from concussion of the brain, resulting from a fall on the ice Monday, while on his way to his home.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 12th February 1908

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FREDERICK H. MOONEY

ANTHONY HEIDT

Providence, Rhode Island


Providence Jewelers Among the Victims Killed in the Sinking of the Steamer “Larchmont.”

Providence, R. I., Feb. 18.—In the great disaster off Watch Hill, in which the steamer Larchmont, of the Joy Line, sank after collision with the schooner Harry M. Knowlton and over 100 lives were lost, two Providence jewelers also perished. They were Frederick H. Mooney, whose home
was at 88 Summit St., East Providence, and Anthony Heidt, 91 Daboll St., Providence. Mr. Mooney’s body has not yet been recovered, and it is regarded as doubtful if it ever will be. That of Mr. Heidt has been identified among the 73 brought to this city from Block Island, and the funeral was held the first of this week.

Mr. Mooney was born in Lowell, Mass., 37 years ago, but came to this city when he was but three years of age, and had been here ever since. He was at one time in business for himself at 113 Point St., but some little time ago went to work for O. C. Devereaux Co., 224 Eddy St. For the past two weeks, however, he had been in the employ of a concern at 234 Chestnut St. as traveling salesman. He was starting on a trip at the time of the disaster.

Mr. Mooney is survived by a widow and three children, as well as by a mother and one sister and one brother. He was prominent in Masonic circles, being connected with Calvary Commandery, the Mystic Shrine and the Order of the Eastern Star. He was also a member of the Falstaff Club and of the Metacomet Club.

Mr. Heidt was foreman for E. S. McLaughlin & Co., jewelers, at 157 Orange St., and had been in their employ for some time. He had previously been foreman for the S. & B. Lederer Co. for over 10 years. He was on his way to New York to attend the wedding of one of his relatives at the time of the accident. Mr. Heidt’s body was ultimately recovered, although it was at first reported that he had escaped and was among the survivors. He was married and leaves a widow, but no children.

Among others who were lost was Morris A. Schlenker, of New York, a toolmaker.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 20th February 1907

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UNKNOWN

Gateshead, Newcastle-on-Tyne


At Gateshead on Thursday, the 27th nit., a tramcar ran off the lines and dashed into a jeweller's shop, doing considerable damage, and so seriously injuring one of the assistants, that his leg had to be amputated.

Source: The Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith - 2nd December 1889

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CHARLES E. CANNADAY

Schoharie, New York


Wayne Cannaday, son of Charles E. Cannaday, a retail jeweler of Schoharie, N. Y., was arraigned in that village, about a week ago, on a charge of murder. He pleaded not guilty. It was alleged that the defendant, during a quarrel, a short time ago, shot and killed Mrs. J. Manchester.

Source: The Jewelers' Circular- 9th May 1906

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