SHAW, WELTZE, HICKEY

Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 05:41:37 :

Sausalito News
Saturday, May 26, 1900
Page 3

Dies At His Post of Duty

An open switch on the narrow gauge railroad near Oakland Tuesday evening, caused a wreck in which two lives were lost. The victims were Engineer Frank J. SHAW, and Fireman Henry WELTZE. Frank Shaw was born on the site where Mill Valley now stands. His boyhood days were spent in Sausalito, and he was employed for two or three years as fireman when the North Pacific Coast Railroad first started. Superintendent Shoemaker, in speaking of deceased on Wednesday said: “Frank was one of the best boys we ever had on the road. He was courteous to his superiors, absolutely reliable and always at his post – traits that, I understand, he possessed up to the time of his death.”

The deceased’s father died in Sausalito two years ago. The family lived for years in the house above the depot, now known as the “Fisherman’s House.”

The dead engineer leaves 8 children, the youngest a baby in arms. He had worked on the Oakland local road for 20 years, and had always been very lucky in escaping accidents. Mrs. Shaw was completely prostrated when she heard of her husband’s death. Two years ago Tuesday, her brother, J. H. Hickey, a fireman, was killed on the same road in a similar accident. During the day, she recalled several times the fact that it was the anniversary of her brother’s death, and when the news of her husband’s death was carried to her, she could bear up no longer. Friends remained with her during the night and a physician was called to prescribe for her.