The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-07-22
Charles EpsIng, Father Ct the l.,
fortunate Man leaving no Stone,
Unturned in Finding
out
BOUGHT KEoKUK TIcKl
His Destination Was Davenport
sI0net Ring Was Bent and
Wallet Was Mis-
Sing.

A Muscatine dispatch In speaking .,
the drowning OF John v. Epsing ths
man who was drowned off the steam.
er Quincy on the 4th Of this month
has the following to say:
Charles Epsing. father Of the unfor
tunate young man who was drowned
off tn steamer Quincy on the 4th in.
slant. near this city, is leaving no
stone unturned to ascertain the details
Of the tragic fate of his son, and is de.
voting both time and effort to unrayel
the mystery. Mr., Epsing is now in
Muscatine to learn what he can con.
corning his sons fate.
It was learned by him that the wal.
let carried by his son and the money
He also learned at st. Louis that his
from the effects which were turned
over to him by the coroner who Sc.
cured them from the cook OF the boat,
He also learned at st. Louis that his
son had bought transportation for
Keokuk, Ia, and he regarded 1t singu-
lar that he should have a ticket for
Davenport in his pocket when the body
was found. A number of incidents OF
this character leads him to believe that
his son was victim of foul play ratf-
er than accident or suicide. The gold
fsignet ring Is bent and dented and the
father thinks it was thus bent in a
fierce contest or struggle that may
have occurred before the son fell over
board. The wallet in which he carried
his money was of the same size and
description as one his father shows
and is in the habit of carrying He is
of the opinion that II he met with foul
| play that some OF the deck hands may
have thought it contained larger
sum than he actually carried and was
worth going after,
AS soon as he learned Of his SON s
death by drowning Mr.. Epsing left his
home at $3.50 South Maplewood ave-
nue., Chicago, and went to st. Louis.
| He found that his son had gone from
that place to Auburn, III where he
spent week with his cousin and then
returned to st. Louis. At the boat of.
| flee In st. Louis he learned that his son
had hired out as farm hand and TAX.
en- passage for Keokuk. la. Two Others
did likewise. they being NJ. Miller and
B. Cowdry. At the same time mum.
Der of others took passage for points
north, they being Il. L. Uttley. M. Day.
export. A. Sanders, I. Lucas, w Gibbs
and A. Tolson. whose destination was
st. Paul. He thinks that perhaps some
Of these fellow passengers might be
abe to shed some light ON the mys
Itery. Mr. Epsing says that he had a
good witness to the fact that his son
bought ticket at st. Louis fof Keo.
kuk and one for Davenport. 's
While in the city Mr. Ersing made
arrangements with an undertaken. and
the officials for the disinterment Of
the body Of his son and It's shipment to
have the young mans body buried be
side that of his mother. Mr.. Epsing
1 Sr.. has been great traveller In his
day and has visited nearly every coun
/ try in the world except China. He Wis
4 tied the European countries half doz
en- times, going there from Sweden
his home country, before locating in
America He has been In Chicago for
/ a quarter Of century, where he holds
I the position of general foreman for the
4 Chicago Terminal Transfer Railway
company. His son, John ". Epsing
was in his employ as head timekeepei
on buildings and bridges and had filled
! that position for the past three years
getting salary of $40 . month. His
friends thought he was foolish to re
sign such a lucrative position fol
young man of 81 years, but hequit Of
his own accord. The father declared
that the young man often said he want
! ed to see the country and see the world
and would follow in his fathers foot
steps to that end. It r',e his mania tc
see the country that caused him tc
quit his position. His aim was te
work his way west and eventually see
the Alaska-Yukon exposition
4 The father says the young man was
active, intelligent and sociable. He
was Of a cheerful nature and quick to
make friends. Everywhere people
spoke of him highly and he learned
of nothing at any point along the jour-
ney to indicate that tire young man
was respondent In the slightest de
gree and Is firmly of t. e opinion thai
his untimely end was due to accident
or foul play. His surviving relatives
are his father and three sisters. Lil
liam, Mabel and Mildred of Chicago
and a brother, Edward Epsing Of en-
cago, Ind. He was member of thu
knights and Ladies of Honor for tn
past wo years