Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 7, Number 59, Decatur, Adams County, 10 March 1909 — Page 1

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT.

Volume VII. Number 59.

HE GETS A DOLLAR Labor Meibers Gets Judgment in the Horse Case NINETEEN HOURS The Jury Agrees Only on a Compromise Verdict Labor Meibers gets a dollar and a windy horse. It was a hot court contest, and it was not only hot during the progress of the trial, but the spirit of the thing hung to the jury and ■when it came time for them to have an inning they waged a contest that lasted for nineteen hours, and then agreed on a compromise verdict, which gave the plaintiff, J. W. Meibers, judgment in the sum of one dollar. It all was brought about by a horse deal, in which the plaintiff Meibers. purchased from Harry A. Kintz a horse which some time after the purchase was claimed to be windbroken, and otherwise not as represented. As is many times usual in such cases, they can only be settled by the circuit court, and it is not likely that the verdict rendered in this case will prove satisfactory to either the plaintiff or defendant. It was a genuine contest, however, Peterson & Moran having the interests of the plaintiff, and D. E. Smith those of the defendant One day and a half was spent in selecting the jury and the taking of evidence, these being completed yesterday at noon. In the afternoon the arguments were made, the jury Instructed and at four o’clock the jury began their deliberation on a verdict. Finally at eleven o’clock today they agreed to a compromised verdict,which was read In open court and the jury discharged. o—— —— John Zimmerman came home last evening from Remona Lake. Michigan, where he purchased twenty cars of Ice for storage purposes in his houses across the river Zimmerman succeeded in packing the only Ice put up here this winter and he only secured 350 tons. Two weeks ago he left for Michigan and has been looking for suitable Ice since. Even there the quality is poor, so much being frozen slush and snow but after visiting Frankfort, Cadillac, Lake City, Grand Rapids and other points he bought twenty cars of the Romona Lake company.—Bluffton News.

DEPUTY AUDITOR Paul Baumgartner to Go Into the Auditor’s Office GOES IN MONDAY He is Familiar With the Work and Will Make Good Paul Baumgartner is a new deputy auditor, he having ben selected today and if possible he will begin his duties in that office on next Monday. Since corning into office Auditor Michaud has seen the necessity of more help in order that the work of the office might be cared for promptly and on the minute, and to this end has had his eye on a good deputy, and so today selected Mr. Baumgartner. The new deputy is familiar with the work of the public offices at the court house, he having for four years served as deputy in the treasurer's office, following that with four years in the clerk’s office, under the term of David Gerber. He is not only familiar with the duties in these offices, but he is capable and trustworthy in every sense of the term. He will begin his duties there on Monday, and is already arranging his business affairs to that end. He is now living in St, Marys township on a farm purchased not long since, and where he has lived for a year' or more.

SCHMIDT WILL BE A CANDIDATE He Will Seek Nomination for Mayor of Fort Wayne. Following the passage of the amended Thornton bill, which now bars present city officials In Fort Wayne from re-election. City Controller A. M. Schmidt today confirmed well-defined rumors that he was to be a candidate for the mayoralty. Asked if he intended getting into the race now, Mr. Schmidt today said: “I don’t think there’s any doubt of it.” Much interest was aroused in Fort Wayne by the amendment and passage of the Thornton cities and towns bill in the closing hours of the legislative session, which in its revised form prevents present elective ctfficials from being candidates to succeed themselves. The situation was the big topic of conversation in local political circles about town today.—Fort Wayne Sentinel.

MANY LIVES LOST A Tornado Done Deadly Work at Brinkley, Arkansas THIRTY WERE KILLED Damage to Property Will Amount to a Million Dollars Brinkley, Ark., March 10. —Thirty or more lives were snuffed out, sixty people were injured and property estimated to be worth one million dollars was destroyed as a result of the tornado which wrecked this little city. The tornado shrieked above the city a few- minutes, but its work of destruction was complete. The Roman Catholic church, standing directly in the path of the storm, alone escaped damage or destruction, and stands grimly in a scene of desolation. It has been converted into a hospital. Main street and Cypress avenue, the two principal thoroughfares of the town, are now impassable and are piled high with wreckage from end to end. Every business house is in ruins and there is hardly a home that has not at least suffered the loss of a roof or a wndow. The Arlington hotel was totally demolished. Eighty guests were registered there, but all escaped uninjured. The Brinkley hotel, Southern hotel and Kelly hotel were all destroyed, without loss of life however. Relief squads have been at work all day caring for the dead and injured. The Rock Island and Cotton Belt railways have placed cars at the disposal of the local relief committee and many people are leaving Brinkley seeking a temporary refuge at other points nearby. The dead were sent to Helena from which point interment will take place. Governor Honaghey arrived from Little Rock in response to a call from the citizens’ committee. He has the situation well in hand, and says food, clothing and shelter are the things most needful. Hundreds of people are homeless and are wandering about seeking a temporary abode.

HAS ENGAGED DETECTIVES Wife of Missing Minister Fears He Has Met With Foul Play. Warsaw, Ind., March 9. —Believing that her husband has become temporarily deranged, or has met with foul play, Mrs. Minnie Rand, wife of the Rev. Mr. Rand, has employed the Pinkerton detective agency to send a man here to make an effort to find the missing man, who went south last Thursday morning on the Big Four railroad. Rand was traced as far as Wabash. Mrs. Rand is wealthy and al! the property is in her name. They came here about three years ago from Chrisman, 111., where he had a charge. o By a deal which was consummated yesterday H. L. Miller and J. W. Lester have purchased the interest of Arnold Ashbaucher in the Bluffton Business college. By the deal Arnold gets the property of Lester on south Johnson street. Ashbaucher retires from the college. The membership of the school this winter as been greater than ever before. None of the students have been able to graduate, owing to the fact that several of them have had to go out of the school to take positions before completing their studies.—Bluffton Banner.

IS LAW REPEALED What Has Become of the Three-Mile Gravel Road Law IMPORTANT HERE People of this County Would Regret It’s Repeal The piece of legislation that perhaps is of more concern to the people of Adams county than any other, is the three-mile gravel road law, and just now it is an even bet as to whether the law was repealed or whether it was not Contradictory stories have daily been printed in the metropolitan press, and just which is which, is the question. The bill was introduced by E. J. Mendenhall of Hamilton county, and it went through in the rush of the last day, without being printed. A representative of this paper asked Mr. Mendenhall what was in his bill, and his reply was characteristic of a legislator. He said that he really did not know what the provisions of the bill were. The conflicting stories about this bill, are first that it repeals the three-mile grave! road law, and second that if it does not repeal it makes a remonstrance good where the remonstrance is signed by more people than the petition. An effort is being made to have the proposed law copied that its contents may be known, and as soon as it is possible to get a line on the correctness of this legislation, the provisions of the law will be printed in the columns of the Democrat, that our readers may know what has happened to them, in regard to this important road improvement. The threemile law has been of more benefit and service to the people of Adams county than any other law ever enacted by a general assembly of the state of Indiana. It’s repeal would be a blow to the genuine improvement of the highways of the county. Every township in the county will suffer, as a part of the roads have been macadamized under this law and the whole people of the township have paid for the improvement. The repeal of the law would mean that those people who have no roads will now have to dig down in their jeans and pay for their roads, while they have willingly and gladly paid on all the roads in the township. _ —» i r* ■

IN CIRCUIT COURT The Eley Divorce Case Was Dismissed and Costs Paid an Allowance Mary Knavel to Get Fifteen Dollars for Expense Account Julus Haugk vs. James W. Place et al, motion by defendants, Katharine Place and H. L. Confer overruled. Separate motions in arrest of judgment filed. The divorce case of Bertha R. Eley vs. Joseph Eley, was dismissed and, costs paid, such action being asked for by the plaintiff. In the case of Mary Knavel vs. Edward Knavel, the plaintiff asked for an allowance, and this was granted, the court ordering the defendant to pay fifteen dollars to the clerk of the court for this purpose. Two warranty deeds were recorded today, they being Louisa Magley to Josephine Magley. Simmons & Dailey were represented by the senior member of the firm in the case of Frank M. Johnston vs. The Philmont Oil Co., default of defendants, judgment on findings and decree for order of sale, inventory (Continue don page 4.)

Decatur, Indiana, Wednesday Evening, March 10, 1909.

WERE ARRESTED AT FT. WAYNE Howard Johnson, of Bluffton, is in Trouble. Howard Johnson, who was implicated in the Ella LaPoint murder trial here, is under arrest at Fort Wayne on the charge of running away with another man’s wife from Coldwater, Mich., he and the woman both being under arrest. When Sheriff Lipkey was in Fort Wayne yesterday afternoon Johnson and his paramour were being taken to the police court for their trial. The prosecutor was unable to hold the case yesterday and as a result it was continued until later. The woman with whom Johnson ran away had four children, it is claimed. These children were deserted by their mother. The couple was located Friday in Fort Wayne and placed under arrest. Ella LaPoint and Florence Besancon, the woman who was murdered, were both jealous of Johnson here, it is claimed, and it was owing to his intimacy with the two women that he was held as a witness. —Bluffton Banner.

WILL HAVE BUYERS City Bonds Will Have No Trouble Finding Owners SALE TUESDAY Will Be Attended by Reprensentatives of Many Firms There are positive evidences that the bonds for the new city building will find ready buyers next Tuesday, when the sale is held in the council chambers for there have already been many inquiries in regard to same. An Indianapolis firm has made it known that they will assume all the bonds in the event that no one overbids them. These -onds, it will be remembered are to be twelve in number and for one thousand dollars each, one of which is to fall due each year. There have been more than twenty inquiries in regard to the sale of the bends, and it is anticipated that there will be many bdders present. The bends wll bear four and one-half per cent interest. Immediately after the sale of the bonds the city clerk will be authorized to advertise for bids for the construction of the magnificent building and the letting of the contract will occur either April the sixth or one week later. The work will then commence at once and will be rushed to completion. The new city building will be an institution whch we can well be proud of. With its many conveniences and beautiful design it will be a credit to its promoters. It will also add to the dignity of the city as a corporation, and will cause the reduction of insurance rates subsequent to the installation of an efficient fire protection system.

A BUSINESS CHANGE By a deal closed last evening Messrs. J. J. Foughty, C. K. Foughty and L. Hopengartner have come into possession of the coal yard which has been owned and conducted by Messrs. John Scheiman and Robert Perkins for some time. The new firm has organized under the name of the City Trucking company, with J. J. Foughty as its manager, and beside dealing in coal and other material of that nature, they will operate the dray line from the building which is located on Monroe street. Possession was surrendered to the new firm this morning.

BOUGHT SIXTY-FIVE HEAD HersheH Beavers Does the Thing Up Right. Hershell Beavers, of Prospect, Ohio, who is one of the largest buyers and by the w r ay, one of the best, landed sixty-five head at the last Decatur horse sale. They were all beauties, showing that Mr. Hershell knows the best when he sees them. It is the largest single purchase yet made from the local company, and as sixty-five head is some horses, he is entitled to the ribbon. Every one in Decatur takes their hat off to Mr. Beavers.

A NEW DIRECTORY The Citizens’ Getting Out a New Telephone Book IS OUT OF DATE The Company Still Growing and Expanding AL a very early day a bright new' telephone book will be laid on the table or desk of every patron of the Citizens' Telephone company. Such a book is now in the process of manufacture, and it will not be a great length of time until it will be ready for delivery. They have long needed the directory, as they have grown until now the old book is actually a back number. And this reminds us that the Citizens’ company cover their field and cover it well with good service to any place at any time. Even during the late unpleasantness they recovered their service long before other and larger companies did, all of which shows that the local company are some pumpkins in the telephone field. The last blow that killed father, has put out of commission many companies who, before, were making a decent pretense of fulfilling the mission of telephone service. It all shows that every one must know their business and must have equipment and the standing to face any crisis. The business of the Decatur plant is managed with this in view and as a consequence it costs lots of money to keep up with the times and to keep doing those things that have to be done to insure to the public that which they pay for, good service. Nearly every farm line that was put under cover during the turmoil and trouble that came to every telegraph and telephone line in the country, has been redeemed and is now doing duty as of old. As they have country lines scattered all over the northern part of the county it meant much labor, time and expense to replace service on all of them. This has now been done and everything is lovely. Their toll service to Fort Wayne is better now than it ever was in the history ot tne company. This is one of the busiest lines they have, and it is seldom idle during the many hours of the day, and is even used at night not a little.

THEY GET PINCHED Conductors and Motormen Have Been Arrested PAPERS ARE SERVED They Are Charged With Operating Cars Too Fast The marshal filed affidavits against Conductors Amos Prover and Henry Gerke and Motormen James Drague and Henry Kruel of the Fort Wayne and Springfield interurban last night charging that the cars of which they had charge were operated in the city limits last Sunday evening at a rate of speed which exceeds the limit provided for by a city ordinance. City Attorney L. C. DeVoss prepared the affidavits yesterday afternoon, and they were served last evening. The defendants were instructed to appear before Mayor France this morning for trial, which they did, but the case was (postponed until tomorrow morning, on account of the illness of L. C. DeVoss, who will prosecute the case. The speed limit as fixed by the council is six miles per hour in the city limits and it is charged that this rate was exceeded by the interurban employes. The trial will be held tomorrow morning before the mayor. The case which was last week in(Continue don page 4.)

WILL SPEND THE TIME IN ITALY Family of Theodore Roosevelt Will Go to Italy. Oyster Bay, N. Y., March 10.—According to ex-President Roosevelt his family, with the exception of Theodore Jr., will spend most of the time in Italy while Mr. Roosevelt is away. They will be the guests of Mrs. Roosevelt’s sister, Miss Carew, at her villa near Rome. It has been planned to have Mrs Rosevelt leave Italy early in March, 1910, and journey across the Mediterranean to Alexandria and thence by boat and rail up the Nile to Phartoum. Here Mr. Roosevelt, with his expedition, will arrive about April 1 and will be met by Mrs. Roosevelt. They will make visits to points of interest in Egypt on the way down the Nile and will then proceed to Europe, where Mr. Roosevelt has made several engagements for the early summer.

PRINTING THE LAWS They Will Likely Be Published Early Next Month THE NEW LAWS But One Bill is Passed Without the Governor’s Signature Indianapolis, March 10. —The acts passed by the general assembly will be published the latter part of the month or early next month, according to announcement made. The first forms, containing 64 pages of the acts, has gone to press, and Frank I. Grubbs assistant secretary of state, is at work arranging the other acts for publication. One hundred and seventy-nine er rolled acts have been turned over to him, only one of which (the Sunday baseball bill) does not bear the signature of the governor. Governor Marshall passed on all of the bills placed before him, unaided, in about five days’ time. He vetoed seven bills that were not enacted into law. He has cleared his desk and is about ready to look into the question of appointing state officials. He received and accepted every enrolled act passed by each house. The house handled 638 bills during the session. The senate handled 449- The senate journal force has completed its work, but the house force will be at work on the records of the house for at least ten days. Assistant Secretary of State Grubbs said he could not predict just when the acts would be published. The acts of 1907 were published April 10 of that year. “The laws are not so many,” said Speaker Honan, “but they are good laws. More vicious legislation was killed at this session than at any session of which I have been a member of the house. If the school book bill and the telephone bill had become law in their original form the effect would have been disastrous. The cities and towns difficulty has been ironed out, the law clarified and the objectionable features eliminated. If the Thornton bill had passed in its original form it would have caused endless conflict with the existing laws. The metropolitan police law has been repealed and that in itself is of big importance.’’

ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH. The undersigned wishes to announce herewith that the third Lenten services will be held at our church tomorrow, Thursday evening, at 7:15 o'clock standard time. All German speaking friends are most cordially invited to attend. Rev. Klausing, Pastor. — -. 0.,.., — HOBSON VISITS HUNTINGTON Merrimac Hero Entertained by Children of Revolution Before Address. Huntington, Ind., March 9. —Captain Richmond Pearson Hobson, hero of the Merrimac (of Spanish-American war fame, was given a reception by the Children of the American Revolution this afternoon. Oapt. Hobson came to give a lecture in the evening and was the guest of the little people and 300 friends in the relic room of the court house.

Price Two Cents

CANNON’S RESCUED The President Comes to His Aid and Will Save Him TO BE MILLER He Will Be Appointed to Succeed J. B. Kealing Washington, March 10. —Ever since Taft has come to the aid of Speaker Cannon, whose domination of the house of representatives is threatened by The president stands for the re-election of Cannon as speaker and also for the maintenance of the system of doing business in the house, although he would like to see some modifications in the rules adopted. By getting behind Cannon the president probably has saved Uncle Joe’s official scalp, but even with the president’s support of the existing order of things in the house it is still a question whether the coalition of Democrats and insurgents will not be strong enough to deprive the speaker of his power by taking from him the privilege of appointing the standing committees, including the committee on rules. There was great rejoicing among Cannon friends when President Taft put the machinery of the presidential office in motion to extricate Uncle Joe from the hole where the insurgents had hoped to bottle him up for good. Washington. March 10. —Senator Beveridge called on President Taft in regard to the district atorneyship at Indianapolis, and in a brief interview the president authorized the statement that Charles W. Miller would be appointed. His name probably will be sent to the senate soon after the special session convenes next week. Earlier in the afternoon representatives from Indiana called on the president and indorsed James E. Watson for the district attorneyship. Mr. Taft told them that he would be governed by Senator Beveridge’s wishes. According to current rumor, the president will offer an important post to former Representative Watson. Senator Beveridge is heartily in accord with this program and will indorse Mr. Watson for any place the president selects for him. In announcing Mr. Miller's appointment Mr. Beveridge said that no other vacancies of any importance in state or federal offices now occupied by Indianians will fall due until next year.

THEHATCAMEBACK Miss Anna Boesse Secures Unpaid-for Property WENT TO ROANOKE Yesterday and Found Miss Bertha Nicodemus Miss Anna Boesse returned last evening from Roanoke bringing with her the fifteen dollar hat which was bought, but not paid for, by Miss Bertha Nicodemus, also the guitar case belonging to Mrs. L. A. Holthouse which the musician forgot to return before her sudden departure from the city Monday evening. Miss Boesse went to Fort Wayne yesterday morning and after satisfying herself that Miss Nicodemus was not there she proceeded to Roanoke, where she found the girl at her home. Miss Nicodemus saw the approach of the milliner and met her at the door. She tried to explain her mysterious departure with the statement that her mother was sick and she was asked to hasten home, having not time to inform those to whom she was obligated. However, the mother seemed to be in the best of health when seen by Miss Boesse. Miss Nicodemus volntarily produced the hat and asked Miss Boesse if she would not deliver to the owner the guitar case she took (Continued on page 4.)