Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-08-05
A BROKEN HEART.
Death of Mrs. Sheridan
Yesterday Morning.
KILLED BY THE SUDDEN SHOCK
Inquests On the Bodies OF Husband
and Wife-TO Be Buried
Together.

The HERALD of yesterday contained an
account of the fatal accident which befeiI
hod-carrier, John Sheridan by name,
on Spring street, near Second, through
his falling under street car. The con-
cluding sentence of the account told how
his wife was informed Of the calamity
which had befallen him, and of her vio-
lent grief. The unexpected and melan-
choly outcome of the affair was the sud-
den death OF the woman yesterday morn
inf from the shock of her dreadful loss.
One of Sheridan's fellow workmen was
detailed to carry the news of the occur
renee to Mrs. Sheridan. A hack was
engaged and the stricken woman was inn
mediately driven to the police station.
The body had been removed to the
morgue. AS the hack drove through
the streets many heard the screams
of the unfortunate woman. She
visited the morgue where she was shown
her husbands body. The trunk was
crushed but the face was as it had been
in life. She was with difficulty persuaded
to leave the body and return to her lone
ly home. A kindly neighbor, Mrs.
Mary Ryan, induced her to come over to
her house to spend the night. Shortly
after midnight she became uncomfortable
in her grief and complained of suffering
much pain. She was put into bed and
as she got no better a physician was
| finally summoned. He arrived too late.
The woman died about daybreak, of the
shock to the heart which the news of her
husbands death had caused. The dead
woman was native of Ireland and q
number of years older than her husband.
She had been good wife to him and was
well regarded by those who knew her.
The Coroner held an inquest yesterday
morning on both of the bodies, John
Sheridan and his wife. Following is the
testimony and the verdict in the case of
John Sheridan:
| w. H. Forester, the driver of the car,
testified as follows; I was going north
with my car about seven o'clock Friday
evening when the deceased approached
to get on. slowed up and he got on
about the middle of the car. He made
his way to the front seat, and as
reached up to ring the bell he fell out
under the wheels. Iapplied the brake,
but the wheels had already struck him.
| r. Campbell, an insurance man, was
on the car at the time Of the occurrence.
He saw the deceased get on the car and
walk to the front seat, carrying dinner
pail and several parcels. Witness no
ticed the deceased reaching for the rail
him fall over the dashboard under the
xrh1 Tho ~ g. -
David B, Ferne, mail clerk, told sub
stantially the same story, as did also
James Daniels and A. L. Burbank.
The jury found a verdict that "John
Sheridan, native of Ireland, aged about
As, came to his death by injuries sus-
tanned by being run over by street car
of the Los Angeles Gable Railroad Conn
pany, and that no blame is attached to
the employees of that company"
| In the case of Mrs. Agnes Sheridan
the testimony was not very extensive.
Mary Ryan the keeper OF boarding
house near to where the Sheridan'a
lived told the following story Friday
evening heard the deceased, Agnes
Sheridan by name, crying. went to her
and she said that her husband had been
killed by street car. persuaded her to
come to my house and tried to comfort
her. About midnight she complained of
pain in her stomach, and to relieve
her gave her little whisky and black
pepper, which she said always
relieved such attacks. Soon
after she was seized with violent
retching and broke out into cold per-
spiration. Two hours later managed
with the assistance of neighbor to get
her to bed. Towards dawn it was evil
dent that she was becoming much worse
and sent for a doctor. Before anyone
came she died at about fifteen minutes
past o'clock.
The physician who made the autopsy
testified that the internal examination
showed the heart to be greatly enlarged
and in state Of fatty degeneration.
Liver and spleen not normal. Cause of
death was the nervous shock at the news
of the death OF her husband. Any great
mental strain might have caused death
under these physiological conditions.
The jury found that "Agnes Sheridan,
married, a native of Ireland, aged about
I60 years, died by heart disease superin-
duced by the shock caused by the sud-
den death of her husband"
The friends of the dead man are rais-
ing money by subscription to pay for his
burial and that of his wife.