Contributed by klstacy_home
Description: Jack Hughes Drowned - Inquest by Jury
Date: October 2 1909Newspaper published in: Bay Saint Louis, MS
Source: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
Page/Column: Page 4, Column 3
Jack Hughes, aged 23 years, was drowned off the Henderson Point end of the Bay St. Louis bridge while working on the structure Saturday night, and his body was recovered by his fellow workmen Sunday. An inquest was held at Pass Christian by a jury composed of posed of J. H. Lang, J. H. Spence, Joseph Wittmann, L. P. Sperier, S. P. Daniel and T. E. Schoor, summoned by Sheriff Patenotte to appear before Ex-Officio Coroner E. J. Adam. The jury’s verdict gave accidental drowning as the cause of death. Hughes was in the employ of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad bridge construction force, and was working on the night shift. He had worked in this capacity for the railroad for about a year. The company had his body embalmed and prepared for shipment to McWilliam, Wilcox County, Ala., which was his home and where his parents reside. He was unmarried. The men who were working in the same section with Hughes state that he must have lost his balance in driving spikes with a heavy maul and fell from the end of the trestle. His body showed no signs of bruise.