River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-03-30
HIS CAREER ENDS.
sudden Death of Col. Elliott r. shepard,
Editor of the New York Mail and Ex-
press-Iie Expires While Under the In
fiGenee of Ether-short Sketch of IA.


sudden Death of Col. Elliott r. shepard,
Editor OF the New York Mail and Ex-
press-He Expires While Under the IN
nEenee of Ether-short Sketch of IA.
life.
NEW YORK, March 25.-Col. Elliott
Fitch Shepard, editor and proprietor
of the Mail and Express, one of the
sons-iu-law of the late William ii. Van
bilt, died suddenly and tragically
Friday afternoon. His death was the
result of what might be termed
q medical accident" 1t Is
announced at the house, No.
2 West Fifty-second street, that
he was undergoing difficult medical
examination which made the use OF
ether necessary. His heart showed
symptoms of failure with the first in
halation and the ether was with
drawn. lie rallied under oxygen treat.
ment for a short time, but soon began
to sink and passed peacefully away.
/ He died at twenty minutes past 4
I O'Clock.
1 Col. Shepard had been in good health,
/ but nearly a month ago lie noticed
symptoms that led him TO believe that
/ he was afflicted with stone in the blad-
/ der. He let il go aud did not consult a
/ physician until week ago, when he
went to DIR. McLane and told him
of his suspicious. The doctor con-
/ firmed them and advised him TO at
1 least submit to an examination, and to
undergo an operation should it be
/ deemed necessary The colonel agreed
\ - 4hsc nj ~ lEns1aI %.
/ the examination.
1 Up to Friday morning Col. Shepard
had attended to his business in tie
usual way. He was at his Office every
day. No one knew of the eontem.
/ plated operation when he went home
4 Thuraday evening. He merely told his
/ manager, A. T. Defreece, that he prob
1 ably would not be down on Friday,
I but that he would be there on Saturday
/ afternoon. Friday morning about 9
| o'clock, before the arrival of the
/ doctor, he complained of severe pains
/ and said he thought he would go to
bed. But first he went to the tcf
ephone, called up the Office of the Mail
I and Express and gave a number of in
/ structions about the future conduct of
/ the newspaper in case anything should
happen him.
/ About / o'clock Col. Shepard said
/ that he was ready for the surgeons and
/ they, with the nurses, began the work
| of putting him under ether. lie had
/ inhaled the drug but two or three times
when the physician detected dangerous
/ symptoms and stopped the inhalation.
1 Col. Shepard sank rapidly and for
/ time it was feared that he could
not be rallied. Powerful restora-
/ tives were administered. AT the end
/ of an hours work with oxygen he was
restored to partial consciousness and
he continued apparently to rally until
o'clock. Then without warning and
/ for no apparent reason he began rapid
| ly to sink. The oxygen treatment was
res umed but it was of no avail; at 4:20
/ o'clock he died. lie was unconscious
and his death was peaceful. The cause
of the death given by the physicians
was oedema of the lungs.
Brief sketch of His Lite.
Elliott Fitch Shepard was born in James.
I town, Chautauqua county. n. Y, July Is, 1888
/ He was educated at the university OF the city
/ Of New York admitted to the bar in 1858 and
\ for many years practiced in New York city.
IN 1861 and 1852 he was aid-de-c camp on the
/ STAFF OF Gov Edwin ID. Morgan, was in
/ command of the depot Of volunteers ut
/ Elmira n. Y, and aided in organizing and
\ equipping ana forwarding to the field nearly
/ $1,000 troops He was instrumental in raising
/ the Fifty-hrst New York regiment which
4 was named for him the Shepard rifles He
\ was the founder of the New York State Bar
I association in 1876. which has formed the model
/ for the organization Of similar associations in
I other states. Re continued TO be an active
member OF the bar until 1884 During all this
/ time he was an active republican, and in 1881
/ was nominated by President Garfield 10 sue
/ coed Stewart L. Woodford as United States
/ district attorney, but the nomination was not
\ confirmed.
4 He Travelled extensively from 1891 until 1897
/ in Alaska and Europe and when he returned
1 he purchased the Mail and Express from the
I late cyrus w. Field Il was here that the
colonel came more eonspieuously before
/ the public than ever. Newspapers all over
/ the country teened with stories Of the
/ eccentricites OF the son-in-aw Of the Wander
/ bits as an editor He adopted The custom OF
I printing n seriptural tex each day at the head
/ Of his editorial page He adopted rules pro
/ hibiting profanity in the business or edi-
I torial and composing rooms. He declared
/ IL 10 be his intention 10 publish newspaper
/ for Christian gentlemen and ladies'. The
/ people protested that the custom OF printing
I daily text was treating the Blblc uippautly
/ he said Il was printed as news because
/ most of them we're strangers to the
! Bible He each day ventured the opinion that
/ Sunday school papers we're the work OF the
/ devil TO defeat the good design OF Proyi-
/ dence in establishing good papers The
! colonels eccentricities were not confined 70
! small matters lie insisted on having Rome
I spelled Roma" in his paper. So. too, he in
/ sis led that Sunday should be spelled "Sonday,
/ because il was the dav of the Son Of God.
4 He was q member of the Union league, the
! New York Yacht club the Republican club and
the Federal club When the Federal club was
/ opened he created sensation by nominating
/ Chaunccy NJ. Depew for president This IS
/ what started the Depew boom in 1855
Besides buying the Mail and Express at a
ost OF $500 900 to make il power in support OF
/ his religious purposes Mr.. Shepard bought the
I Fifth Avenue Stage company, not because IL is
a good investment, but simply to stop the run
ming of vehicles on sundays He paid S2SlOO0
| for his Sabbath-day quiet.
Col Shepard married Miss Marguerite Louise
Vanderbilt tie Oldest daughter OF William H.
| Vanderbilt lie leaves five children, hrs.
William Jay Scheiffclin. Edith, Alice. Elliott
1 f. Jr, and Marguerite. He was married
/ twenty-five years ago and the silver wedding
was celebrated with a large gathering at the
/ house about a month ago. Tue fortune left
4 by william H. Vanderbilt in trust for Mrs.
I shepard was about Sl2000.000 yielding an an
nual revenue estimated at s2500J1
Col Shepard was a Presbyterian and mem
/ Der of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian church
IL was president OF the American Sabbath
union and a vice president OF St Pauls insti-