Supposed to Have Been Knocked Overboard by the Beam – No Traces of His Sail Boat – Inquest to Be Held Tomorrow – A gruesome looking object floating in the bay and rising and falling on the gentle swell of the incoming tide attracted the attention of a fisherman yesterday morning as he was passing the Spreckels Wharf. Heading his boat in the direction of the object, about 100-yards off the wharf, he ran alongside and was horrified to see the dead body of a man floating face downward, surrounded by a few strands of kelp. He at once gave an alarm and taking the tug ‘Santa Fe’, John Murray, engineer at the bunkers, brought the body to the wharf and notified Deputy Coroner Stetson. The body was removed to the rooms of the San Diego Undertaking Company and was identified later that same day as that of Mr. JOE THOMS (sp? The Portuguese surnames of ‘Tomás‘ or ‘Tomé are known in Portugal, but I know of no surname with the spelling as ‘Thoms‘. Nor was I able to definitively identify a José Tomás/Tomé born circa 1852 – ed.), a Portuguese fisherman residing at La Playa. There were two or three suspicious looking holes about half an inch in diameter penetrating the skull, and this together with the fact that the body was floating and bled quite freely when taken from the water, caused the Officers to at once begin an investigation. The results so far may be summarized as follows:
The deceased was an unmarried man, about 40 years of age, lived at La Playa, was a fisherman by trade, and owned a sailboat. Tuesday morning he started in company with three others, each in separate boats for the Coronado Islands. They met with indifferent success and started to return Thursday morning. Thoms’ boat was the slowest of the four and was soon left behind, but the occupants of the others say that he was in sight all the time until near Point Loma. There they lost sight of him under Ballast Point. They were greatly surprised at his non-arrival, and waiting until yesterday morning; two of his acquaintances started for the islands thinking that perhaps he had become frightened at the high winds and rough sea and had put about (i.e. turned around – ed.) for the islands? As yet, they have not returned, but a powerful glass (i.e. telescope for seeing long distances – ed.) fails to show any sign of his boat. His companions say he was not a good sailor, and being blind in one eye, they are of the opinion that his boat was caught in a sudden squall and the boom swinging around struck him in the head, killing him instantly and capsizing the boat. The inquest will be held this afternoon at 2:00 o’clock.”
(*Source: San Diego UNION & Daily Bee newspaper – Saturday, June 11, 1892 – Pg. 5)
Editorial Notes: The next day, June 12, 1892, the San Diego UNION newspaper revealed the result of the aforementioned Inquest, detailing that: “ …Several fishermen from La Playa testified as to Thoms’ habits and character, saying that he was temperate and industrious, and had had no trouble whatever in the colony… ~ Dr. Burnham testified that no one could tell the cause of Thoms’ death, but that the blow on the head were caused by some blunt instrument… ~ Taking all the facts into consideration…, the jury brought in a verdict of accidental drowning.” ~ *Also, the official Death Record for this unfortunate fisherman in San Diego, lists his name as : JOSE RODRIGUES THOME. But again, no definitive person by that name and approximate birth year has (yet) been found by me.