"The Pilot" office as usual, taking thought, in the midst of his work and care, for arrangements that all his employes might have good places for a view of the Grand Army of the Republic procession on Tuesday. He was apparently well, but evidently tired. He took an early boat to his summer residence in Hull. He had been suffering for several nights from insomnia, and on Saturday night walked a long way with his brother-in-law, Mr. John R. Murphy, who had been spending the evening with him, in the hope that physical fatigue would induce the needed sleep. Next morning, Sunday, August 10, the city and country were shocked by the news of his sudden death.
The sad tidings caused national grief and consternation, for the death of John Boyle O'Reilly in the fulness of his powers and usefulness is one of those rare calamities against which the most moderate pen sets with full advertence the weighty word—irreparable.
