Newspaper Clippings

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Morning Oregonian Newspaper File    |    Miscellaneous Newspaper File


Killed a Man for 75 Cents
Coquille, Or., Sept. 11.-A. Webster, proprietor of the Ocean House, shot and killed George Fales, a waiter, during a quarrel about 75 cents which Fales claimed was due him. Threats of lynching Webster are heard.
Aberdeen Daily News, Sept. 11, 1891



Amusement for the Baby
Myrtle Point, Or., - Mr. Waldrige [Waldridge] surprised his baby Sunday night. He didn't intend to surprise it; he intended to amuse. He had been to church, and on reaching home drew his revolver from his pocket to put it away. Baby reached for the weapon. If baby wanted it, baby must have it, so papa took out the cartridges - every one of them - and then to show baby how to operate the toy, he pulled the trigger. That was where the baby was surprised! It would surprise any baby to see its papa shoot the cook stove on a quiet Sunday night with an unloaded revolver, when the cook stove was quietly pursuing its vocation and digesting hard wood at the rate of an armful an hour.
Myrtle Point West Oregonian, Dec. 9, 1891



Life Savers Drowned
Coquille City, Ore., April 13 - While the life saving crew at Bandon was practicing yesterday afternoon the boat capsized and Captain Nelson and three of the crew were drowned.
Idaho Daily Statesman, April 14, 1892



Daring Robbery
Two masked robbers extorted $180 from Levi Grant, who lives near Myrtle Point, Coos county, by holding him in a blazing fire till he disclosed its hiding place.
The Mountain Democrat, Placerville California, February 26, 1898



Farm Employee Killed and Robbed of His Earnings Near Coquille City
    MARSHFIELD, Or.- May 23.—News has reached here of the discovery near Coquille City of the body of E. E. Daly, who evidently had been murdered for his money. Jesse McQuigg while walking on the railroad at Cedar Point saw a man digging in the "brush, and an investigation later resulted in the discovery of Daly's body, buried just below the surface. There was a bullet hole in the back of the head. Daly came from Blackwell, Oklahoma, and had been working several months for a Coos River farmer. He was paid on Thursday, receiving $170. No money, was found on the body.
The San Francisco Call, San Francisco, May 26, 1901



EXPELLED FROM COMMUNITY
Oregon People Have No Patience With Anarchist Sympathizers
    Marshfield, Ore., Sept. 18-John Peterson, a foreigner, who claims to be a Norwegian, was run out of Marshfield today on account of utterances derogatory of the late President McKinley. A party led by business men visited Peterson's residence last night with the intention of administering a coat of tar and feathers but he refused to come out and the attempt was abandoned. This morning he came down town and was immediately taken into custody by a committee of citizens.
    Tar and feathers were in readiness in a warehouse but the committee finally gave him one minute to make his choice between tar and feathers of leave the country within five hours. He chose the latter. Two men living on Coos river, are reported to have expressed satisfaction at President McKinley's assassination. A party has been formed to visit them tomorrow.
Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise City Idaho, September 19, 1901



CAPTAIN OF THE SCHOONER ADVANCE DROWNED ON COQUILLE RIVER BAR
J. Jorgensen Is Washed From the Deck of Tugboat and After a Gallant Struggle for Life in the Boiling Waters is Picked Up by a Lifeboat Crew Only to Collapse Later and Die in the Arms of His Rescuers
    WORD was received yesterday of the death by drowning of Captain J. Jorgensen, commander of the big schooner Advance and one of the best known skippers on this coast. The fatality occurred October 12, on the Coquille River. Captain Jorgensen was washed overboard from a tug which was assisting the steam schooner Chico over the bar. A powerful man and a strong swimmer, Jorgensen made a gallant battle tor life, but when picked up by the life boat dispatched to his rescue he was terribly exhausted and apparently in a dying condition. He lest consciousness soon after being taken out of the water and in spite of heroic efforts made to revive him collapsed and died. His home was at Bandon, Ore., where he leaves a wife and four children. He had been for more than ten years in the employ of C. F. Doe, in whose esteem the dead sailor stood high. Jorgensen was about 40 years of age.
The San Francisco Call, San Francisco, October 15, 1903



SPARK SETS MINE ON FIRE
Serious Blaze in Coal Workings at Coquille City, Oregon
Coquille City, Oregon, Oct. 8 - Miners just arrived from the Beaver Hill coal mine say that an electric spark from a motor on the sixth level caused an explosion which seriously burned the motorman and another man and set fire to the entire mine.
   The Beaver Hill mine is one of the richest coal properties in this State, and if the conflagration is as serious as reported the damage will run in the millions.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 9, 1904



Man is Cut in Two by Train
Coquille, Or., Feb. 4. - As he was about to board the train to Marshfield to meet his wife from San Francisco, J.O. Christie was run over and instantly killed at the depot at 11 o'clock this morning. Christie was superintendent of the Coquille Coal and Lumber Company and came here from San Francisco. Mrs. Christie was due at Marshfield tomorrow on the steamer Breakwater.
   Standing on the track as the train was backing down to the depot, Christie gave no sign of hearing the ringing of the engine bell. He did not move until the rear car was upon him, when he tried to leap to safety, but was knocked down and his body cut in two by the car wheels.
The Evening News, San Francisco, California, February 4, 1905



Our townsman, Bird E. Nosler, Friday received the sad news of the death of his father, J.H. Nosler, at his home in Coquille, Oregon, on the 4th of this month. The deceased had been a resident of Coquille since the year 1870. He was elected county judge of Coos county in 1874, was re-elected in 1878 and held office for eight years, and was an honored citizen of his state.
Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, California, Saturday, May 11, 1907



DEATH OF CLARENCE M. AYERS-COQUILLE, ORE.
Had been well know resident of this county for 38 years.
   Clarence Mortimer Ayers, who has been for the past 38 years a resident of San Jose, and for almost that entire period engaged in active business, passed away Tuesday, September 29, at the home of his sister, Mrs. H.W. Young, of Coquille Ore.
   Mrs. Ayers will return with the remains on the earliest possible steamer, and the funeral services will be held at Oakland on her arrival.
   Mr. Ayers had been for over 20 years in the employment of the Pacific Manufacturing company of Santa Clara; but four months ago his health failed, and since then he has been for the most part confined to his room. Still he recovered sufficiently to do some work in the office in July, and again early in September, when it was thought sea voyage and change of climate might benefit him he went to Oregon.
   The ailment which proved fatal was organic disease fo the heart.
   Mr. Ayers was born in Henry county, IL? [illegible], March 26, 1850 and was therefore in the 65th year of his age at the time of his demise.
   January 11, 1872 he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Todd, who survives him. Of the union there were born five children, of whom three are living.
   In 1873 he became a master mason, and in December 1876 he removed to San Jose, where his wife's father, V.B.? Todd [illegible] was then living. His children are Harlow J. Ayers, of Santa Clara; [illegible] Marian Ayers, of Oakland; Clarence L. Ayers, of San Jose. He is also survived by a brother and three sisters, A.J. Ayers of Nevada, Mo.; Mrs. C.H. Whitman, of Campbell [Cal.]; Mrs. H.W. Young of Coquille, Ore.; and Mrs. J.F. Boyd of Neligh, Neb. Another brother was the late Allen D. Ayers, of Campbell, Cal. There are also two grandchildren, Harlow V. and Rollin H., sons of Harlow J.
San Jose Mercury Herald, October 5, 1914



Looked to Stars in Murder Scene
    Marshfield, Ore. Oct. 13 - Plans for the deliberate slaying of prominent residents of Coos County with their families were laid by Arthur Covell, 47, a cripple famed as an astrologer, according to his reported confession to authorities here.
       With his 16 year old nephew, Alton Covell, he is held in the county jail after indictment  on a murder charge in connection with the death of Mrs. Fred Covell, Sept. 2, last.
       The nephew, it is said by the authorities, has confessed that he killed his stepmother while under the influence of his crippled uncle. The confession, it is declared, tells how the youth, hypnotized by the bed-ridden man, crept up behind his stepmother the morning of Sept. 2, while she was at work in her kitchen, and clamping an ammonia-soaked cloth over her face, smothered her to death.
       The astrologer, according to his purported admissions and to the confession of the nephew, based his schemes for the killing of Mrs. Covell and for wiping out at least a dozen persons of Coos county, upon the stars.
Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, Fitchburg Massachusetts, October 13, 1923



Oregon District Fears Fire, Flood in Wake of Storm
    Portland, Ore.- Road-plows and milder temperatures gave the Pacific northwest partial surcease from traffic-halting snow today but danger of fire and growing fears of flood hung over the storm-battered populace.
       At least six persons have lost their lives in winter's latest assault on the northwest.
       Nine inches of rain fell at Marshfield on Coos bay. Scores of lowland ranchers were driven from their homes. Streets were turned into rivers throughout the area.
       At Bandon, 36 miles southeast of Marshfield, a 3 month old baby was found alive caught on a tree branch near the roof of the home from which flood waters forced a family two hours previously. Water had swept the child out a second story window.
       Floods swept down on Bandon as it was still recovering from the ravages of a forest fire which virtually destroyed the little lumber town last summer.
    In many communities only main highways were passable.
Appleton Post Crescent, Appleton Wisconsin, February 2, 1937



Woman Marches On
Marshfield, Ore., Mar. 22 - Out dated proponents of a masculine world will shudder at this one- a woman has been elected president of the Coos and Curry county bar association. At their annual session in North Bend, Ore., the lawyers chose Mrs. Mable McIntuff of Marshfield as their 1944 chief. The new president has been secretary of the Oregon American Legion auxiliary for many years.
The Daily Courier, Connellsville Pennsylvania, March 22, 1944



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