Nogales international., 1930-02-07
FUNERAL OF MRS. V. ]. WAGER
ONE OF LARGEST ATTENDED IN
HISTORY SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
Mr.. Wager, Who Was Injured When
Wife Met Death At Railroad
Crossing, Is Recovering
RAILROAD ABSOLVED OF ALL BLAME


and interment took place in tht
Masonic Cemetery, burial being
made near the graves of William G
Bulge and John N. Wilkie.
The active pallbearers were the
officers of the Elks Lodge while
members of the lodge were honor
ary pallbearers. The husband of
the deceased is secretary of the To-
cal lodge and president of the State
Association of Elks. The funeral was
one of the largest attended in the
history of this county, Mrs. Wager
being we'll known, having spent her
entire life in Santa Cruz County
and numbering her friends by her
acquaintances on account of her
many fine traits of character.
The tragic and untinely death of
this estimable woman threw the en-
tire county into gloom and was on,
of the most severe shocks ever ad-
ministered to this district.
Mr.. Wager, who was driving the
car and who was injured at the
5ime his wife was instantly killed
when the Wager sedan was struck
by the train, was reported yester-
lay as getting along nicely at st.
Josephs HospitaI where he was re-
moved shortly after the accident.
An x-ray was made Wednesday and
according to attending physicians
it showed favorable, indicating
he will recover.
Railroad ExOnerated
A coroner's jury investigating the
accident absolved the railroad COM
pany of all blame in a verdict rem
dered Tuesday afternoon before
Coroner Charles E. Hardy.
The verdict read that, 1--WE find
Mrs. Onorinda Wager died at a
railroad crossing and her death was
a result of an automobile in which |
she was riding, being struck by a
railroad train. The accident was no
fault of the railroad.
Several Testify
Several persons gave testimony
to the jury just prior to the time
they reached their verdict.
The first witness was DR.. E. G.
Houle who told of finding Mrs.
Wager's body covered by a sheet,
and her head hanging down in the
car at the scene of the crash. "There
was ample evidence of extreme vio-
lence sufficient to cause death,
said Dr. Houle.
Charles Karns the next witness,
an eyewitness to the unfortunate
accident, said that he saw the car
hit by the train about 2:15 o'clock
Sunday afternoon and that at the
time he was standing a little to the
back of his ranch house. 'Mr. Wa
ger kept on driving until he drove
in front of the locomotive, said
Mr.. Karns. He said he did not think
the the Wager car stalled on the
railroad track.
H. E. Frederickson of Phoenix,
who also was an eyewitness to the
accident, testified that the auto
mobile got to the first rail of the
track when it was hit by the train.
He said the auto was travelling slow
ly and that he thought all the time
it was going to stop before reach
ing the railroad. He said he be-
lieved that Mr.. Wager was either
looking at big plow or an irriga-
ton pump at the time of the
crash, and that the train had
whistled at a whistling post quite
a ways down the track.
Roy Williams of Tucson, fireman
on the train, was the next witness
and said the train was travelling at
a rate of speed of 35 or 40 miles
an hour, that he noticed the car
when they were about 100 feet
away, and that he yelled at En-
gineer Roy G. Seamans, who imme-
dlately applied the emergency
brakes. The train was brought to
a stop about 300 feet beyond the
scene of the accident, he said.
Engineer On Stand
Engineer Seamans, also a resident
OF Tucson, said the accident was
on the firemans side Of the train
and that the first indication he had
OF car about to be hit was when
the 4ireman yelled, automobile"
THAT was very close to the cross
ing and I applied the air and emer-
gency very quickly. We were only
around 100 feet away when the
fireman yelled, hesaid.
It was brought out at the inquest
that Mrs. Wager was born at Lo-
chiel, Arizona, in this county, on
April 3, 1883, being At years of age
at the time of her death.