Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 11, Number 60, Decatur, Adams County, 11 March 1913 — Page 1

Volume XI. Number 60.

NEW UTILITIES LAW _ 1 Will Soon be in Force in In- ' diana—Much Depends on Commission Members. ’ __ ' 1 — i law IS GOOD one ; t Every Public Utility Com ( pany Must Furnish Adequate Service, Etc. — (United Press Service) Indianapolis, Ind., Mar. io— (Special to Daily Democrat)—On May 1 the 1 state of Indiana will assume the regulation of its public utilities ami the ' way to more extensne municipal ownership of gas, electric, water and street car companies will be opened. Howstrong will be the hand of regulation depends on the character of the two men whom Governor Ralston adds to 1 the present railroad commission, to make up the new public service commission. Whether municipalities will be able 1 to get money to take over utilities, dr- 1 pends in many cases on whether the state constitution is amended to enable the cities and towns to issue bonds for that purpose in excess of their present debt limit. The new law, the chief work of the legislature just ended, is one of the best of its kind in the country, if administered by a strong commission. The commission w-ill have the tremendous power of establishing quality and rates of service for telephone, telegraph, heat, light, water, elevator or warehouse businesses Steam railroads are under the new commission, but the old railroad commission lawstill applies to them and not the new law. Every public ntilities company is required to furnish reasonable adequate service at reasonable rates, and public convenience must bo conserv. 1 at all times. The commission shall value all property of every public ut’’ity “actually used and useful for the convenience of the public and as one of the elements in such valuation the • commisaion shall give weight to the reasonable cost of bringing the prop erty up to its then state of efficient v ' Every company is required to keep and render to the commission in th<* form required by it, uniform account A depreciation account shall be carried by the companies when specif! ly ordered by the commission. The rates shall be such as will provide th" amounts required over and above th expense of maintenance to keep the .property in an efficient state. Upon complaint of ten persons that any rate or practice of a company n unreasonable, discriminatory, or that any service is inadequate of unobta’.iable, the commission shhll invest . t All the company's affairs shall be open to the inspection of the commission or its agents. Rut no order shall lie onI tered by the commission without formal public hearing with ten days' notlce. Whenever the' commission finds it necessary, it shall enter an order fixing the rate or services to take effect within twenty days unless otherwise ordered. If the company is dissatisfied with the order, It may appeal to the circuit or superior court of any county in which the order is operative. No injunction shall Issue suspending any order of the commission except upon application to the circuit court of Marion (Indianapolis) county, notice to the commission and hearing. A utility case in the lower and the supreme courts are to be advanced. The burden of proof is on the side adverse to the commission. No utility company shall Issue stock except for actual money, and no stock shall be sold at a discount or premium without the approval of the commission, and if sold at a discount, the commission shall give such publicity thereto as ft deems proper. No bonds may be sold at less than 75 per cent of their face value. The commission is given genera] authority over stock and bond issues. Every municipal council shall have the authority to by contract, ordinance or otherwise the terms and conditions on which a utility may occupy the streets, and such order shall stand unless set aside by the commission. If the council refuses the company an extension the company may appeal to the commission. Hereafter franchises may be granted only to Indiana corporations or In-

becatur daily democrat

diana cities. Such franchise shall ave the effect, of an indetermlnte permit subject to the provisions' of the ‘ lw and may be revoked by the com- ! mission for cause or that the municipality may purchase the property, pay- . Ing therefor the then value of such property as determined by the com-1 mission. The privately owned com- 1 Piny must sell to the municipality at : the commission's terms and order, Any ' 'ty is given the power by this law to construct and operate a utility. The bill goes into minute detail for : the procedure by which' a city takes 1 over a utility and how the company shall appeal to the courts or the commission to prevent an abuse of this 1 power. Political contributions by utility comPanies and politics of all kinds are ' barred under the new law. Rebates ■ are outlawed. Strict penalties are proi ided. Full and quick reports of accidents are required. The commission may draw up to 175,000 a year to enforce the law. Each of the five commissioners will receive >6,000 a year. blank Tare here Postmaster Receives Official I Information Concerning New Building. i" ■ I WILL BUY 'A SITE I Any Person May Offer Property by Complying With the Requirements. Do you want to sell your property to the government for a site for the new federal building’ The recent congress appropriated Ilii.OOO for a site in this city, and iTrumaster Ix>wer today received the ■ preliminary instructions to those who i wish to offer a proposed site. The postmaster is ordered to secure or prepare a map, the cost of which is not to exceed"one dollar, on i which he is to mark in red, the pres- > ent postoffice site, the business cen- > ter of town, the center of population, » the center of the district covered by - carriers and outline the district cov- ' ered by each carrier, indicate the raili road stations, shade with red the pav>ed streets and show the business . blocks. The order ts signed by O. ■ Menderoth, supervising architect, • showing that the matter has already > been referred to him . ■ In due time official notice will be • published asking for proposals sos the > sale or donation of lands. At no place can we find the exact dimensions nect essary but the original orders say t that the building must have forty feet 1 clear, including streets and alleys. At - other places the lots are about 132 . feet square. After the official advert tisement has been run, a government t agent will come here to look over the ■ proposed properties and give his opin- • ion as to the price. It might be well - to state that there will be no fancy price paid for any property and the t prices quoted will have much to do ■ with locating the building, provided t several properties are ordered near the > center of the district desired. If no - satisfactory offers are made the gov- > eminent may condemn a suitable site, r The party who sells the site should re- • serve the buildings and they must be ■ removed within sixty days. Complete i information may be secured at the t postoffice where blanks may be obtained by any party desiring to offer . a site. > Postmaster Lower some time ago sent In specifications on three sites ■ the John Niblick lot, corner Court and Third streets; the Weber lot, Third . and Monroe streets, and the James : Niblick lot, Jackson and Second, but i any who so desired may . offer a site. ~ —.— ■ -—■ —• REV. dunkelberger here. 1 _Z ’ J. B. Dunkelberger of Gas City, a t Christian minister, was here over night the guest of G. T. Budty elder of the Christian church. Mr. Dunkoli berger comes as a candidate for the . pastorate of the local Christian church. , He left here this morning for Fort Wayne. — o ■> STILL UNIDENTIFIED. The aged man at the county infirmary who was found helpless from paralysis several weeks ago, is still in a helpless condition, and unable to tell who he is.

“DECATUR CZVJM AIMO WILL”

Decatur, Indiana. Tuesday Evening, March 11, 1913.

DIED IN OKLAHOMA I’John G. Wiseley, Father of Mrs. Marion Andrews, ’ I Called to Reward. ( — WAS KNOWN HERE ' — Lived in County Six Years and Has Numerous Relatives and Friends. Mrs. Marion Andrews has received the sad news of the death of her father, John G. Wiseley, at the home of his son, Ferdinand, near Chandler, Okla. His death occurred Saturday morning and was due to a complication of ail.ments including dropsy and stomach trouble. Mr. Wisely lived in this , county some years and is known by many people. He was bom in Linking county, Ohio in 1840, but when .very young moved with his parents to Auglaize countuy, where he was reared to manhood and where he enlisted in the army when the civil war broke out. He served through the rebellion, and his patriotism, real and genuine, is shown from the fact that though his time had expired and he could have been mustered out, he voluntarily .fought in the battle of Vicksburg. Shortly after the war closed he was married to Miss Millie Parr, a sister of John Parr of this city, at Belleffintaine, Ohio. To them were born five children: Mrs. Andrews, of this coun.ty; Cora, now Mrs. Frank Pinkerton, of Arkansas City, Kansas; Ferdinand, of Chandler, and Will and Rosa, who ‘ have preceded the father in death. Mr.! Wisely came to this county in 18781 and located on the farm now owned' by Marion Andrews. Mrs. Wiseley died in 1882. Some time afterward Mr. Wiseley married Lucinda Clem of this county. To them were born three children, all of whom survive, the second Mrs. Wisely having died some , years ago. Mr. Wiseley left here in 1884, going to Ohio, and from there to Oklahoma, where he has lived a number of years. While here he was a member of the United Brethren ' church, butu since living in the south- ■ west has been a member and worker in the Methodist church. He was a; splendid citizen and the news of his ueath causes sorrow to many. i TO WED IN TEXAS — ' Miss Opal Harruff to be Married to Mr. Downey Marshall at Fort Worth. t LEAVES TOMORROW :l — ' i With Miss Charlotte Mar- ' shall, Sister of Groom, from /remont, Mich. J ’ Miss Opal Harruff of Fremont, Mich., . daughter of the late ex-County Record- - er Harvey Harruff, formerly of this > city, will leave Decatur tomorrow s morning on a long journey for the s southland. On her arrival at Fort - Worth, Texas, she will be claimed as r a bride by Charles Downey Marshall, a well known young man, formerly from > Fremont, son of the late Rev. Char'es j Marshall, a former Methodist minis--1 ter of Fremont. Mr. Marshall is now I connected with the Stockyards’ Nai tional bank at Fort Worth, Texas, and t' the couple will make that city their r home. | Miss Harruff arrived here last FriIday from Fremont, Mich., where the lHarruffs have made their home for a iyear or so. She is now visiting here i with her brother, Orval Harruff, and r her sister, Miss Della Harruff. Mons day evening the sister of her affianced, - Miss Charlotte Marshall, arrived and 3 will accompany Miss Harruff to Fort . Worth to be present at the wedding. II Miss Harruff is known to all her DeIcatur friends as a sweet and lovable I young lady, being a young woman of unusually pleasing personality. She is la former student of the Decatur high i- school and until going to Fremont a ,- short time ago had lived here since a coming to this city from Berne when 1 a mere babe. Her friends join In extending very best wishes.

CLERKS' FEE LAW. By not attaching his signature or vetoing the county clerk's bill in the constitutional three days, Governor Ralston has allowed the measure to ‘ become a law. The bill has to do with certain fees .which, under the law as interpreted by the attorney general, county clerks had to turn over to the county. Part of the fees collected are for the making of transcripts when a case is appealed from the local court to a higher court and are paid by the attorney or litigant who takes the appeal. In this way counties are not as- , fected In any way except that the money is not turned over to them. J. Frank Hanly vetoed such a measure and Governor Marshall allowed it to become a law without his signature. The courts held the Marshall law unconstitutional. o » WREN LADY DEAD Mrs. Sarah Standiford of Wren, O„ Passed Away Last Night OLD AGE INFIRMITIES Funeral Arrangements Held Until Word is Received From A Son Mrs. Sarah Standiford, aged sixtynine years, a highly esteemed lady of Wren, Ohio, wife of George W. StandiIford, passed away last evening at 8:10 i o’clock at the family home. Mrs. j Standiford would have been seventy I years of age, next August 20, and had (been ill some time with a complication j of diseases, attending old age. Mrs. Standiford’s maiden name was , Sarah Elizabeth Douglass, and she was , born August 20, 1843, in Coshocton i county, O. For the past five and a half i years the family lived at Hola, Hardin county, Ohio. Besides her husband, Mrs. Standiford leaves two soils and i one daughter by a former mirriage; I and four step-sons and two step-daugh- 1 tecs. Charles Standiford of the Schlickman feed yard of this city is a- , step son. One of her sons resides in . California, and no funeral arrangements will be made until he can be heard from. If he can come to attend, ! the funeral will probably not be held I until the first of the week. If he cannot come, the services will probably |be held Thursday. The Rev. Hamilton will officiate. HAVE NO CONSCIENCE. Chicago, 111., March 11—(Special to Daily Democrat)- —Millionaire employers of young girls testified before the Illinois senate white-slaw’ investigating committee that they see no connection between the low wages and prostitution, either have exceedingly-eias-tic consciences or no consciences atall. Lieut. Governor O’Hara, head of the probers made this comment, after the committee had taken an adjournment for a few days, the reconvenment of the state legislature made it inconvenient to meet today. “That starvation wages coined enormous profits for the employers has proved conclusive”, said O’Hara, “Deny it they • may but they cannot convince the pub- ’ lie that low wages are not the crime > factor in the ruin of young girls. • o i MANY BILLS TO SIGN. L —_ i Indianapolis, Ind., March 11—(Spec- • lai to Daily Democrat.) —Governor Ral- ■ ston has a busy five days work before ’ him. 177 bills lie on his desk today ■ awaiting his-approval or his declining I to approve. If he fails to sign a bill ' now it will not become a law. He does not have to sign bills passed during the • last two days of the session. Today > he signed the tax levy bill increasing i the state tax levy 7% cents. > 0 I TRUSTEE ELECTION. . On the evening of March 21, at 7:30 I p. m., there will be held in the Salem t Evangelical church, two and one-half miles east of city, a meeting for the • purpose of electing three trustees for ’ the said church. Ail those interested I are requested to be present at the ’ above meeting. Let there be a good 1 attendance as this is an important 1 meeting. E. B. JONES, Pastor. 3 o , 1 W. F. Neeson arrived from St. Louis, - Mich., last evening and is staying with the William Fledderjohann family.

HUNDREDS OF RATS I I Are Eating Crops on How- i ard Lammiman Farm in Washington Township. — ! CRAWLED IN WAGON ‘ And Were Having a Big Feast on Corn When i First Seen. _____ i We’ve often beard a number of , good “fish stories,’’ but here is a rat story that is not a bit of fiction, written for the entertainment of some people to wonder over, but the authentic truth, told by Howard Lammiman, a prominent farmer of Washington township to a friend, and from which gentleman the writer got the following story: The events of this rat story happened on Mr. Lammlman's farm, and therefore can be taken as the gospel truth. Mr. Lammiman hauled a wagon load of corn to his farm and left it stand near the corn crib, with the horses hitched to it, while he went to the house and had dinner. After satisfying his hunger with a big spread he went outside and was going to unload the wagon of corn into the crib. The sight that met his eyes on nearing the spot was almost startling. About 150 rats were helping themselves to a bountiful meal of the sweet, juicy corn and were climbing around on the wagon, and most every place that they could get a place to hold on to He watched them for a few minutes and then ran into the house after his shot gun, and then started to clean them up the best he !could. They were so thick that in one ! shot he killed twelve of the pesky I little critters. It looked to him as if 'they were going to eat up the whole place, and the way he told the story ito his friend, if the horses had not i been hitched to the wagon, they would [ have pulled the wagon away and emp-, | tied the contents in one of the many [holes which they have for th§ir homes. They are causing a great deal of damage to Mr. Lammiman’s farm and he states that there are about 300 of the little thieves under an old barn on his farm, and they have been eating everything that comes their way. o THE OIL BOOM Reopening of Oil Fields in Geneva Vicinity is Proving Well Worth it. OIL IS QUOTED AT $1.32 Homer Pontius, Oil Well Supply Dealer, Enthusiastic Over Prospects. Homer Pontius, of Geneva, was one of the attendants at the Hutton-Ton-nelier trial here today, being a witi ness in the case. Mr. Pontius has an oil well supply store in Geneva and remarks on the great boom which the oil fields are taking on there. With oil returning to the high rate of $1.32 ■ per barrel, it well pays the drilling of ■ the oil field to drain the precious fluid ' t othe last drop. Many new wells are being driven and are quite produc- ' tive. When the Geneva oil field was at its greatest, several years ago, oil 1 went as high as $1.35 a barrel. When 1 it dropped to 77 and 80 cents it was no longer conducive to an operation ! of the wells. When the price again soared there was an incentive to reopen the fields and the results are well worth it. — o 1 A LITTLE GREEN. Washington, D. C., March fl—(Spec--1 ial to Daily Democrat) —Vice-president ' Marshall today told a correspondent of the United Press that he was'nt sure | whether he liked his job after two weeks experience or not but that he • had hopes. “I hope to like it after I get onto the ropes,” said the former governor of Indiana. “I know I’m a litl tie green yet and I know others know it too but I really think I’ll like the job after I get onto the rules.”

BREAKS HER FINGER. Miss Bertha Deam ,an employee of the Waring glove factory, returned to her home in Root township this morning. While In a frolicsome scuffle with • some companions at the factory she had the second finger of her left hand broken. This causes her so much Inconvenience that she cannot operate the machine as she should, and she decided to take a vacation until the injury heals. NEW CANDY CASE. 'The fine new plate glass candy cases for the Steele & Weaver store have arrived and are certainly “the candy kid.” The cases are in two sections, and are glass from the very floor up to the second story. The cases are divided into thirty-eight compartments for the candy, separated by plate glass partitions, and there is also a glass shelf in each “upper story” for the penny goods. The cases will be a great convenience. THE SIGMA CHI Will Entertain Decatur Basket Ball Team at Bloomington This Week. EVERYTHING READY Visiting Teams Will be Well Entertained by State University Boosters. Bloomington, Ind., Mar. 11—The 1 Boosters’ Club of Indiana university, l which is in charge of the state high , school basket ball tournament, has 1 completed the distribution of the com- j peting teams among the various or-1 ganizations of the university. The | following orgainzations will entertain j [the teams whose names follow: Beta! [Theta Pi, Manual Training high school | of Indianapolis; Phi Kappa Psi, Anderson; Delta Tau Delta, Salem and Orleans; Phi Delta Theta, Lafayette; Phi Gamma Delta, Newcastle; Kappa Sigma, Rochester; Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Marion; Sigma Nu, Lebanon; Sigma Chi, Shelbyville and Decatur; Indiana Club, Shortridge high school of Indianapolis; Emanon, Crawfordsville; Wrangler club, Vincennes; Independent club, South Bend; Phi Beta Pi, Bedford; Delphian club, Brazil. The Sullivan, Culver, Gary, Oaklandon and Seymour teams will be cared for by an organization of young men of the university. The Bloomington high school team will entertain the Shoals team. Special rooms have* been secured by the Boosters’ club for the Cutler,, Carthage, Centerville, Clinton, Linden, I Marco, Nappanee, Swayzee, Thorn- i town, Wingate, Whiting, Petroleum, Rockville and Fairmount academy teams. The Fairmount academy team is the one addition to the list of entries which j closed Saturday. The Boosters’ club [ has spared no effort in securing ac- 1 commodations for the thirty-eight teams entered in the tournament, it has been found impossible to use the Blooming armory and Mitchell ball of the university for the tournament, so three floors will be used, the univer- [. sity gymnasium, the auditorium of the student building and the girls’ gymnasium. The schedule of the remaining games will be so arranged that no team will have the advantage of the i floor, the winning teams in the 8 , o’clock section playing the winning teams of the 9 o’clock section on different floors from the first games. The finals of the tournament will be played on the university gymnasium floor as the curtain raiser for the PurdueIndiana game, March 15. Practically all of the teams will arrive In Bloomington Thursday evening. o , BIRTH OF GIRL. The stork visited the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Bollman of 1324 Elm street, Fort Wayne, Tuesday morning, leaving a fine girl. Mother and babe are doing well. Mrs. Bollman was formerly Miss Sarah Carrier of this city. —- ■ — o > NEW CHIEF ENGINEER. I N. Williams, of Hartford City, who for two months has served as chief engineer for the Decatur interurban, resigned Monday evening, and i this morning was succeeded by Cecil Duke of Rushville.

Price, Twe Gent®.

ARRIVE TONIGHT Body of Fred Scheimann Will Arrive Over G. R. & I. at 1:27 Tonight. A PAULDING (O.) MAN Who Saw Accident Tells of Details—Funeral to be Held Thursday. A telegram was received at noon today by Oscar Lankenau, from Mr. Butler, stating that the funeral cortege would arrive here at 1:27 o'clock tonight over the G. R. & I. railroad. It Is thought the remains of the late Fred Scheimann, who was Instantly killed by a passenger train in the Cincinnati & Northern and the Big Four stock yards in Cincinnati, Ohio, Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock, cannot arrive here before 2 o’clock tonight. His brother, John Scheimann, and his partner in the stock shipping business, William Butler, left this morning for Cincinnati, to take charge Os the body and to accompany it here. Their train, which is due to leave here at 2 o’clock, was two hours late, hence they did not get out of Decatur until 4 o'clock this morning. Had it been on time they would probably have been able to return here at 3 o’clock this afternoon. This, with a lot of red-tape business in Cincinnati, before the body will be allowed to leave, will make the delay lin reaching here, a long one. Mr. Butper called Mr. Gibson, the commission man at Cincinnati, Monday night, and at that time the coroner had not yet finished his inquest. The fixing of the i blame, relative to the railroad, and ■ any claim that might result therefrom, | will also have to be attended to before [the body can be brought here. I On arrival here the remains will be ,taken to the family home at 519 Mercer avenueu, where it will lie in state until Thursday afternoon, when the funeral will be held. Services will he conducted at the house at 1:30 o’clock and at 2 o’clock from the Zion’s Lutheran church on West Monroe street, the pastor, the Rev. H. Wehmeyer, officiating. Story of Eye-witness. Perhaps the most vivid and true story of the accident that can be gotten was that given by J. Steiner, a well known stockman of Paulding, 0., who was one of the seven with Mr. Scheimann at the time of the accident. Mr. Steiner arrived at his home this morning and at 10 o’clock this morning telephoned the details to Mrs. William Butler. Mr. Steiner states that he was one of seven of the stockmen who were crossing diagonally the two railroad tracks, going from the stock yards on one side to those on the other side of the road. A freight train in some ■ way struck one of the seven stock men, and in the shock the man was thrown against Mr. Scheimann. In so doing, Mr. Scheimann was thrown directly in the way of the passenger train. His body was cut through twice. His legs were cut off and he was also cut through the chest. His pace was badly disfigured and he was horribly mangled. The man who was struck by a freight, and who was thrown against Mr. Scheimann, thus being the indirect cause of his death, was badly hurt, his clothing being nearly torn from his body. He resides in Cincinnati. Mr. Steiner says the af[fair was a terrible one, and he wts greatly shocked. Prominent Business Man. Frederick Conrad Scheimann, son of Frederick and Caroline Scheimann, was born in Preble township, this county, August 8, 1874, and had he lived until next August would have been thirty-nine years of age. He grew to young manhood on the old homestead, receiving his education in the Lutheran parochial schools at Friedheim. When he was twenty-two years of age he came to this city and began a business career, that made him one of the . best known business men, not only . of this city, but of many counties and states. He took up the stock business, and for several years was associated with his brothers in this. Ijiter ha became associated with William Bur- , ler in stock buying and shipping, and 3 had been associated with Mr. Butler -for the past ten years. Mr. Scheimann 1 was also engaged in the retail selling 1 of meat in this city. He opened the (Continued on Page 2)