Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 15, Number 60, Decatur, Adams County, 12 March 1917 — Page 1

ilume XV. Number 60.

INDIANA RED CROSS AIDS CYCLONE VICTIMS CAMPAIGN FOR ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO AID VICTIMS OF NEWCASTLE TORNADO UNDER WAY —TWENTY-ONE DEAD.

(United Press Service) Indianapolis, Ind . Mar. 12—(Spec- 1 I'll to Daily Democrat) One hundred thousand dollars Is needed for the ini- 1 mediate relief of the eye lone sufferers at New Castle. J. Leb Watkins, mayor, informed Red Cross today. The Red Cross formed a [committee to ■ start raising the funds immediately by popular subscription More will be needed later. 'Watkins stated. The Chicago Red cross society offered aid, but was informed that the Indiana organization could handle the proposition. Governor Goodrich received a telegram from Ernest I’. Bicknell, of the American Red Cross at Washington. I). C.. saying that the organization is sending a representative to New Castle to oiler assistance to the stricken city. C Harry B, Smith, adjutant general, received word from Major Pearl Davis, former quartermaster general, and in charge of the troops at New Castle. that more troops are needed. (United Press Service) r Newcastle, Ind.. March 12 (Special to Daily Denn > rat. I -Ste| -for .the relief <1 victims of the cyi lone which ■truck this city yesterday were well udder way today and all immediate wants of the homeless were cared for. Temporary lodgings were found for all whose homes were destroyed and work of cleaning up the debris and rebuilding was started. B Funds were receiver from many large cities in the state to be applied I to the care of the destitute. |.’Revision of the death list at noon today showed several duplications tn former lists and brought the total number of dead in the city and vicinity to twenty-one. Russel McLean ■ted 8, was the only death re ported today. He succumbed to tn juries. Many are still missing, how ever, and it is believed the death list will grow as the ruins are cleared S-Price of foodstuffs shot up here today making it extremely difficult for the destitute. Gas was <IT all over the City and there was a demand for pre pared foods. When these were e"x hausted it was practically impossible to find anything to eat. Bißananas were selling at BO cents r dozens and" sardines at 2;> c< nts a can -Th.- cold, dismal weather today added to the iscomforts of the stricken people. (United Press Service) ■ Newcastle, Ind., March 12 Special to Daily Democrat.) With twenty Bodies already recovered, search con tinned today for further dead in tin wake of the cyclone which swept thi City and vicinity late yesterday de (bttroying five hundred homes and causing property damage of about one mil lion dollars. | Manufacturing plants were closed while workmen aided three companies of National guardsmen and special police in keeping guard and cleaning iup the debris, strdwn over a district Os two and one-half miles wide and fifteen miles long. Martial law pre vailed in the stricken district and troops were ordered to shoot on sight In case of looting. Relief poured into, the city from every quarter today. A relief committee was formed and appeals wete made for immediate cash Great suffering was reported during the night because of tiie cold. Orders were issued against starting any fires on account of the fear of a conflagration. Homeless women and children spent the night with others more fortunate while the men gal i ered around camp fi'Vs on street corhere and kept guard over the remainder of their property. At the ' hospitals relatives aided nurses and doctors in caiing tot th injured. Ruth Day, 18, who lost three little sisters and a brother and m-

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT * 4

i jureil lu-rself, sal at the bedside of her mother through the long night hoping I to save the one other member of the family still alive. The mother has little chance for recovery. J. Leli Watkins lost everything but his clothes. His home was destroyed and a pocketbook containing $205 was idown away. The loss will be excessively heat y because few places carried cyclone insurance. The storm broke without warning and was over witli a flash, lasting from twenty seconds to a minute, according to various estimates. It was a typical Kansas twister with a big funnel shaped cloud coming from the northeast. It struck the in diana rolling mills first, leveling the plant as if if had been raked with a dozen forty-two centimeter guns. The resident districts of the city was next to be hit. Houses costing as high as $50,000 were a mass of ruins in an instant. Miraculous escapes from deatii were reported when families huddled in basements and whole houses were swept over their heads. Houses were turned one against another and in one) case a garage and automobiles were l set down in the middle of a home. The storm continued througli the| city striking the homes of the workingmen where most of the deaths were caused. A district of half a mile by a ; mile square was swept clean. Not a house was leftfctanding. That there were not more dead was attributed to the fact that up until; the time the storm broke the day was! pleasant and mpny families were I downtown or out walking. After leaving the city the storm destroyed many farms for a twelvetnile stretch. Two farm hands lo~D their lives when a barn was idown down. Two small sons of Ernest Gary, a farmer, were killed. Ore Smith was painting a barn door when it was blown off. He was carried along with the door about two hundred yards and landed in a pond. He cannot recover. Following the sweep of the storm a terrific rain poured down for haif an hour. Several fires started but the rain aided volunteer workers in extin fuishing the blaze. Rescue work ] •darted immediately. Many were save 1. after they had been carried under the debris or half an hour or more. Searchers were- attracted by their screams for aid. Wild scenes followed in the wake of the disaster. One man with an ear torn off and with only a sheet wrapped about him ran through th" city fighting- off any one who attempted to hold him. At last he was caught and taken to a hospital where he was quieted. William Lowry was burned to death when he was caught in the wreck at "his home and was unable to escape Mien the ruins caught fire. A rescue party had nothing with which to fight the flames and not knowing a mt n was buried in the wreckage, watched it burn. They soon smelled the burning flesh and his charred body was found. When the storm broke,, a sister of Ellwood Lawson raw she would be unable to reach a house so she 1 grabbed a tree and hung on while the storm passed. It was the only tree 1 in the block which was not torn down ‘ and she was not injured. ATTEND CONVENTION. ’ E. C. Bierie of Berne, accompanied 1 by Fred Rohrer and Sam Nussbaum, 1 came this afternoon to attend a meet- ’ ing of the Anti-Saloon league here this afternoon relative to determining delegates to the constitutional convention. I Mrs. Clarence Baughman went to ' Hammond on account of the illness of ’ her mother. Mrs. Wertzberger who is • ill of pneumonia.

Decatur, Indiana, Monday Evening, March 12, 1917.

A* PIONEER HERE l Mrs. Leocadie Townsend, I Mother of Col. Dick Townsend, Dies •AT LOCKE, ARKANSAS ■ Lived Here Many Years and J Was Well Known by all the Older Citizens. — A telegram was received at noon today by J. H. Heller of this office from | Colonel Dick Tawnsentl, manager of; Ito- Great Northern hotel at Chicago. 1 ; announcing the deatii of his mother. The messnge v read: “Mother passed’ away Sunday night, eleven-thirty.” Mrs. Townsend had been making , I her home witli her daughter. Mis. t .(Maggie Jeffries and Aunt Main Butt A at Locke, Ark., where her deatii occurred. presumably from infirmities as she was past four score years of age. Her name was Leocadie S. Townsend and she was a pioneer ot Decatur, residing here with* her Ims- ’ band and later with her son Dick for fifty years, during which time they were in charge of the Burt house. She left here about ten years ago going to Huntington with her daughter and ! later to Arkansas. She Whs been totally blind for several years and in poor health, but it was not known here ' that her condition was seisms. A letter from Mrs. Jeffries last week said that. Miss Burt was very low as the , result of a stroke of paralysis, but no ! mention was made of Mrs.,Townsend ( ( being ill. The death is therefore sup-, ; posed to have been quite sudden. PAGEANT GIVEN “The King’s Highway” Splendid Presentation of Missionary Society — AT REFORMED CHURCH I — Annual Thank Offering Service — Appreciation Expressed in Offering. The Missionary societies of the Re- ; formed church rendered a splendid program last evening at their annual i ' Thank Offering” service. The pageant, “The King's Highway,” was a special feature of the program. It wa4 ’ composed of. nine scenes. The first! 1 scene was “The Search for Rest,”por-1 ■ trayed by an "angel” and “traveler."! i Tiie second scene, “The Prophecy oi l ] the Highway.” Scene three, fThe j 1 Builders of the King’s Highway.; ■ Scenes four, five, six. seven and eight i ' portrayed, respectively, Egypt, India,! China Korea and Japan, those partici | t pating wearing the -costumes of the ' country they represented. The elos- - ing scene was the climax, adding to ' the countries already mentioned, As - rica South America, Europe And North America. The hymn, “Cpming, Yes > They (All Nations) Are,” was used a>- ’ a processional, while assembled on th■; t. rostrum th eangel gave his message,! which was followed by our national j ‘ hymn, the audience rising to their ‘ feet joining the Pilgrims in this song , and the "Coronation" hymn. Our flag, 1 surrounded by the flags of the other I nations, was unfurled and suspended • during the singing. This was fol- > lowed by a short prayer after which the Pilgrims forlned a recessional f singing “Abide With Mo.’ Mrs. Edgar “ Gerber assisted at the piano. • The j ' audience was an appreciative one ’ which they expressed in the offering ’ they gave at the close of the service, ‘amounting to $56.95, and, as some thank offering boxes are still out this amount will be increased. ! MEE tTnUaND - ELECT ION. All ladies interested in civic im- - provethent, all the officers and chair-! ? men of the Woman’s Civic Improve-] ■ ment Lqague, are invited to attend | . the meeting of the league at the i home of Mrs. John W. Tyndall at 2:30 o’clock Tuesday afternoon. The 1 meeting is for the reorganization and f election of officers and all organizas tions connected with tho league are urged to send repreesntatives.

PUBLICLY INTOXICATED. i Geneva Man Will Spend 18 Days In Jail—Was Caught Drunk. I Marshal John Burris, of Geneva, ' i came down today bringing William Butcher who will spend eighteen dujs in jail instead of paying his $5 fine apd costs imposed upon him on conviction of public intoxication He , was heard in Justice Dicker on’s • I court. W. C. T. U. INSTITUTE. Tiie Adams county Woman's Christian Temperance semi-annual institute will be held in the Methrtdlst church in .this city March 27 and 28. Mrs. Mary Eley, of thin city, is eopniy president. The program will be announced later. There are three union ; in the 'county, being at Geneva, Deca- ! tur and Berne. - JDDGES__NAMED For Discussion Oratorical Contest to be Held in the Local High School TUESDAY AFTERNOON Discussion Will he on Compulsory Military Service —Public Invited. The discussion oratorical contest to be held in the local High school Tuesday, lieginning at 1:15 p. m„ promises to be one of the best of its kind ever] held in the city. ! Seven pupils will discuss the ques ] j tion "Should the United States adopt a plan of compulsory military service.; similar in essentials to the Swiss I plan?” Each pupil will select his own! phase of the question and speak for minutes in constructive and] three minutes in rebuttal speeches. The judges for the contest will be ] Clark Lutz. Rev. Thornburg and C. A. | Dugan. The public is urgently invited to .it j tend the contest. Admission free. MILLION DOLLAR CAMPAIGN. Indianapolis, March 12. —Member-I ] of the three Indiana conferences of the I Methodist Episcopal church are pre paring for the campaign to raise $1,000,000 so rretired ministers of the state and it is expected the actual work of raising the money will start early in April. .A commission con sisting of representatives of tiie three conferences has been appointed to work out the details of the campaign. Members of the commission hope to have made sufficient progress toward raising the fund by the end of the i year .so that its success will be :c - | stired. GLOCK IS SOLD — L. A. Graham Purchases • Business Block from the Barthol Heirs. t ON SECOND STREET The Building is Occupied by the Rex Theater and . Ben Hur Lodge. - Another business deal of importance] i nreal estate circles took place when 1 L. A, Graham purchased the brick ] business block on Second street, owned by the Barthol heirs, tiie consideration being a good one. The building is occupied by the Rex! theater on the first floor and by the! Ben Hur lodge on the second. At present there will be no change. in the building or in the oceuptincy; thereof. CHICAGO HOUSEWIVEs" SAVE. I Chicago, March 10. —Under a plan,; which has been tried in Austin, a sec tion on the west side of the city and | which will be adopted by grocers next | Monday housewives who go to market, | pay cash for their purchases and carry them home, will save six cents. The grocers have decided on a fixed charge -of five cents for delivery of purchases and one cent for charging them.

A RURAL CARRIER Homer 11. Knodle of This Office Appointed Carrier for Route Eight. » BEGINS APRIL 2ND Ray Smith of Route Eight Goes to Nine, Succeeding Martin .laberg. Homer H. Knodle, telegraph edltm at tills’office, was today notified iron the postoffice department, that he ha been appointed rural carrier for rou - eight out of this city, to assume h duties Monday, April 2, salary sl.2<i'i bond tojie furnished in the meantime for SSOO. Ray Smith, who is now on (roulo eight will go to route nine, and ! Mr. Knodle will look after route I eight. Martin Jalterg, who formerly | was carrier on route nine, resign* d ‘ to assume a |K>sition as deputy countv I county auditor, and Mrs. Jaberg as ! substitute carrier has been driving the l route since. Forty-one candidates for . the place took tiie examination here ! several weeks ago, a Mr. Snyder of | Geneva making the highest grade witli : Mr. Knodle second, the appointment | going to the latter because Mr. Snyder I lived outside tiie territory of tiie Decatur office. Mr. Knodle has been with ] this office two years and is recognize 1 las one of the most rapid and efficient telephone operators in the United Press service. He is a (lever newsI paper writer and has had experience in a number of fields of newspaper ! work. VIEW OF SCIENCE Scientific Temperance Will be Studied by the W. C. T. U. Tuesday AT SCHAFER HOME — Mrs. S. I). Beavers Will Lead in Good Program —Other Papers. “Scientific Temperance” will be discussed by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union Tuesday afternoon at. 2:30 o’clock at the home of Mrs. Fred Schafer, under the leadership of Mrs. S. I). Beavers who has done considerable study on the subject. Mrs. Dan Beery will be an associate hostess. The program follows: Opening Song—By the’ union. Devotionals —Led by Mrs. F. C. Rogers. Paper—" The Effect of Alcohol c:t -the Brain and Cell Life of the Body"— Mrs. S. D. Beavers. "Effect of Alcohol on the Heart and Circulation” —Mrs. W. E. Smith. "Effect, of Alcohol on the Liver and : Kidneys” Mrs. John Schug. Vocal Solo—Mrs. C. E. Bell. Reading, “Obediah and His Pa”— | Miss Beulah Kenna. Round Table dicussion, 1 Temper- . ance Truths” —Mrs. S. D. Beavers. BLUFFTON WINS IN FINAL. Bluffton defeated Hartford City in the final game of the district tournament Saturday night and will represent this district in the state tournaI ment to be held at Bloomington Friday and Saturday of this week. Twenty teams will take part' in the ; state event, the district winners being: Martinsville, Emerson (Gary). Richmond. Rockville, Kendalvill". Washington, Vincennes, Bloomington, Bluffton. South Bend. Muncie, Leb ! anon, Columbus, Kokomo. Trafalgar, j Lizton, Pendleton, Wingate, Jefferson ] (Lafayette). Rochester. o REGULAR WEEKLY MEETING. i Os the Yeoman lodge will be held at i the hall at 7:30 this evening. All ] members are requested to be present. Something doing. —o MARTIN MILLER THANKFUL. I am grateful to those who voted - tor me at the Tuesday primary and wish thus to publicly express that feeling to the voters of the Second ward. MARTIN MILDER.

j TO ARDMORE, OKLA. I J. ('. church tiie siui nmn and uri Ist, will leave tonight for Ardmore ! Okla., where he has accepted a posl $ ] tion with the Ardmore Chntnbei ot Comm<“rce and will assist thaf body in ! advertising their city. Mr. ('hurcli ' him been in Decatur the past few ] mom lis and during his stay has bright I ••tied up the city with new signs and j jdacards Mrs Church will uccom patty him nnd they intend to make | Ardmore their home. * ROYAL NEIGHBORS’ NOTICE. There will lie an important business meeting of the Royal Neighbors’ lodg ■ Tuesday evening, March 13. After Hie business session there will be a ir social session and refreshments will n be served Every member is requested ,s' to lie present. AN ARMED GUARD n 1 American Merchantmen BeI • y ing Armed With Naval Guns and Gunners. MUNITION SHIPS, TOO e I •■■ - ' Are to Have Protection—it I State Department Issues r Statement. a; ■ (United )*iess Service) t Washington, March 12.— (Special to ' Daily Democrat.) —"An armed guard” for tiie protection of vessels and lives 8 | of persons aboard will be placed on r I all-American merchant ships sailing througli Germany’s barred zoft the B state ’department today notified all , foreign diplomats in tills city. The "armed guard” will be American navy gunners, 1 The <yffi<ia! statement shows, too,i that ir is tiie intention of the govetr.nienl io arm not only passenger steam-' ; ers but also provide guns and navy! gunners for munition ships. The statement cleared up definitely] , the question of whether navy gunners I would be used. Tiie state department holds that the! | presence of these men aboard will not give the vessel a status of warships. I The vessel becomes a warship only’ when used definitely for that.purpose, ( the state department ruled. New York, March 12. —Special to ] Daily Democrat.)—An announcement today by tiie International Mercantile. | Marine stated that the American line I I passenger and freight vessels will r ■ ' ] suute sailings. No date for tiie r j - ! sumption of business was given. Four I ' 3 passenger are fitted for the mounting I of guns. (By William Phillip Simms.) With the British Armies Afield.! | March 12. — (Special to Daily Demoi!crat.) —Capture of Iries by British! [forces brings England’s fighting men] ( to the main German defense. II This latest victory was cited today ! as an illustration of the fighting cn I the Somme which has entered a brand new phase. Iries sat almost at the top of a slop”. There were quarries east and north of j the villages and sunken, roads on ail ■ fcides. London, March 12. — (Special io Daily Democrat.) —British troops have achieved a brilliant victory at Baa 1 dad, according to further details of the taking of the ancient city, was announced in the house of commons toj day by Bonar Law. He said he under 1 j stood that two-thirds of the enemy’s ' ],■artillery had either been captured or e i’-hpd been thrown into the Tigris riv-; s ker bv the retreating Turks. >,| ABOUT THE SICK 'J Deputy Surveyor R. L Longshore is ’ : confined to his home on account of| '! pneumonia. u i Mrs. Dan Linn, aged 70, of South Eleventh street, is near deatii from 'illness resulting from infirmities of t old age. 1 Miss Tillie Melbers of the Gass X- >• j Meibers store is ill at hPr home on , West Monroe street. DR. MILLER THANKS VOTERS. >] Dr. J. M Miller wishes to thank the! 1: voters of the city of Decatur for their, t ! support in last week’s primary. Dr.! I - Miller is at present a councilman and j is very grateful for the renominatioo I

Price, Two Cents

A GREAT RECORD i Charles A. Greathouse in h ! Six Years Established Indiana Schools d i AS NATION'S BEST Ably Assisted by O'Brien and Vollmer, Who Paid the State Debts. 1 1 ”! 11 (By Willis S. Thompson.) 1; Indiiinapolis, March 12.—With the ] retirement ot Vharles A. Greathouse I from tiie office of state superintendent (of public instruction, his term expiring March 14, lie will have terminated six years ot he greatest aeconiidisni ment: in this department in the his‘itory of the state. Mr. Greathouse was ‘first elected I superintendent at the elections of ! 1910, along with William H. O'Brien, who was chosen auditor of state, and with William H. Vollmer who became treasurer of state These were thr”O of the most competent men who ever (entered the state house in any capac- ; ity. No three men ever were elected 1 Ito tiie three important offices who did 1 better service, The people never ! profited more directly than from their work. Never in the one hundred years oi ( i statehood had the state of Indiana . been in worse shape financially and 'it 'other particulars than when these three men assumed control of the 1 three respective offices. As lias fre- ; quently been published, the day wilt n . Auditor O'Brien and Treasurer VollI mer stepped into office, their first conference with Governor Marshall was . to survey an empty treasury and con- ’ front a mountain of delit inherited J from their republican predecessors. TltoTP was (Sicily *9.463.91 cash in J the treasury with which to tackle the .j job of keeping the state government I moving. If there had been no state ! debts, it might not have been so bad, I but republicans had accumulated i ' state debt of $2,609463.12, this ini eluding many current bills pressing ' tor payment. O'Brien and. Vollmer | set to work to pay these debts. At | the same time they were planning to pay all the debt, they were devising away for properly sustaining all the. state institutions, including those for educational purposes. They put :m end to the niggardly treatment of the higher educational institutions and those of benevolent and correctional character in which are cared for the state’s unfortunates. The financial end of the state gov- ' ernment was put upon a business j basis. The net result is the condition ! in which business of the state stands’ I today. Due to the work of O'Brien ! and Vollmer is the fact that when tiie j democrats retired the other day. the'y ] turned over to Governor Goodrich and ; his republican official associates, $5,699,331.94, with not one penny of debt. It is the first time in eighty-five years that the state has not owed one penny of debt. The state treasury ] had just $8,299,031.15 more cash on | hand the day Governor Goodrich as- , I ruined office than was turned over to O'Brien, Greathouse and Vollmer six ' years ago. If that record, due to tiie work of ■! two mon is remarkable, it is hardly «o -.much so as has been the service of • sft Greathouse in the educational d paitment for the six years. He has made a record which is without pr"--i cedent in any state in tiie union in ; | development of the state educational ■ department and institutions. Vocational education was new to the j schools. * The vocational law was passed by the legislature of 1913, in (accord with the ideas of Mr. GreatI house. Under his direction the development of the industrial education has attracted the interest and attention of every statue tljat looks for progressive ideas that have established and demonstrated their worth. The industrial educational classes have been established in city and rural schools, in day and night ] classes, for a boys and girls and tor j their fathers and mothers, educating for trades, instructing tn increase effi- : ciency of men and women already en- ] ployed as well as the teaching of the first principle of the trades. Mi n land women, hoys and girls, fatlieis | and mothers, employed or not during (Continued ou Pagz 2.)