VON SCHARNWEBER

Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Friday, October 03, 2014 at 07:23:56 :

The Marin Journal
Thursday, January 20, 1910
Page 6

Suicide Found Near San Rafael

The body of Gaspar Von Scharnweber was found in a grove of eucalyptus trees near this city on Thursday morning last about 9 o’clock by Frank Vera, a sheepherder at Happy Valley. The man was a chef employed by A. H. Herbert of San Francisco in his saloon and restaurant.

On Wednesday December 29, he told his employer he was going to Petaluma to see about buying out a restaurant, but instead he bought a round trip ticket to San Rafael.

He was not seen by anybody in this city and it is thought that when he was coming here he grew despondent and immediately went to the grove of trees on the Golf Tract, where he took his life by shooting himself through the head with a .38 caliber pistol.

As soon as Vera found the body lying in the grove of trees, he notified Roberts, owner of the property, who in turn notified the Coroner, F. E. Sawyer, who brought the man to this city.

On the dead man’s person was found a cheap watch, $18.35 in money, a knife, eye glasses and a few minor articles, a card showing that he was a member in good standing of the German Benevolent Society of San Francisco.

One of the strange things about the suicide was that he was frozen stiff. On account of this fact, Coroner Sawyer is positive that the man must have been dead since the 29th, as it will be remembered that at that time the weather was very cold for a week or more. Owing to the cold weather, the body remained frozen and when found was in perfect condition.

One of the reasons, the proprietor of the place where Scharnweber worked gave, for the committing of the act, was that since moving to their present location at Powell and O’Farrell streets, the business had increased to such an extent that Scharnweber thought he could not hold the job. This preyed on his mind and made him discouraged. Although he was a powerful man, weighing close to 300 pounds, and not more than 50 years of age, he was a sufferer from varicose veins of the legs, which bothered him a great deal and prevented him doing justice to himself. His picture was printed on the menu at the place where he worked and everybody who knew him liked him.

He had often told people around the restaurant that he was married and that his wife was in Germany, but among his effects nothing but a marriage certificate could be found. There were no letters that would prove that his wife is still alive.

The fact that the fellow had removed his coat and hat and made a pillow on which to lay his head was one of the points that influenced the jury in rendering the verdict on Friday night to the effect that Gaspar Scharnweber had come to his death by his own hands. When the body was found, the pistol was still clutched in the right hand and was rusted there.

Saturday morning the body was taken to San Francisco where it was cremated. The expenses of the funeral were defrayed by his employers and his fellow workmen in the restaurant. The $18.35 found upon the suicide also went toward the cremating expenses.