CLAWSON, Philander
Source: Kingman Star Friday, April 17, 1908
The coroner’s inquest over the body of PHILANDER CLAWSON, the Rob Roy farmer who was killed near the Standard Oil Co’s tanks just south of Attica Saturday evening by the south bound passenger, was held Sunday and Monday. The evidence before the coroner’s jury tended to show that he was intoxicated at the time he was walking on the track, he fell and was lying on the tracks when the train struck him. Mr. Clawson went to Portland Saturday morning to pay his taxes and returned to Attica at 1 o’clock. He seems to have been under the influence of liquor then. At 3 o’clock Marshal Beamer saw him and told him that he must get off the streets or go home. Clawson said, “All right,” and started from Ziegler’s corner down Main street toward the railroad. Testimony at the inquest also showed that he brought 50 cents worth of whiskey somewhere while in Attica. He was next seen by the station agent at the C. & E. I. station at 3:45 o’clock. He was also seen there by Marshall Beamer, who said that he saw that Clawson was too drunk to take care of himself, and that he would have taken care of him but for the fact that he had another drunk man on his hands to look after, and he could not take care of both of them at the same time. S. E. Doster, of the National Car Coupler company works, saw a man stagger past the office of the works ten or fifteen minutes before the passenger was due, he saw him reeling from side to side of the track, and lost sight of him when he got to the oil tanks. The company’s surgeon, Dr. C. J. Finney and their attorney, Fred S. Purnell, proceeded also to the scene of the accident. They found the body terrible mangled. The head was crushed and brains scattered along the track, one foot was cut off at the ankle, and the other just below the knee. One arm and hand was carried a hundred feet further than the rest of the body. The clothing was stripped from the shoulders down and rolled together around the hips. His watch, a heavy silver one, was found in the remains of the trunk, it had stopped at 4:36. Coffing Brothers were called to take charge of the remains, and they were kept in Attica over night and taken to the dead man’s home at Rob Roy Sunday afternoon. The coroner’s inquest was begun on Sunday afternoon and ended today. A number of witnesses testified in accordance with facts stated above. The deceased leaves a wife and four small children, and a widowed and invalid mother to morn his death. A short funeral service took place at the residence at Rob Roy Monday at 11 o’clock a.m. -s