Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 20, Number 259, Decatur, Adams County, 3 November 1922 — Page 1

lumeXX. Number 259

LOVE AFFAIR IS THE CAUSE OF SUICIDE

HERNE WAS SCENE OF OLD ||ME POLITICAL MEETING ■ Berne, Ind., Nov. 3.— (By Staff Correspondent.)—Boman canand sky rockets rent the air and signalled to the world that of the greatest and most enthusiastic political meetings ever in this part of the state, and by far the largest meeting of kind held in this place, would take place at the Community last evening and that the audience, conservatively esti*ted at 1.500 people would have the opportunity to hear the issues of the present campaign discussed by otir felcitizen. “Honest” John ' ■"*— :

vn-wv.., democratic candidate for congress, and Hon. L. Ert Bb<k. former I'nited States dis- , Bet marshall. ■At seven o’clock the streets MBre crowded and hundreds of were parked alongof thp different side streets. R-d liglts marked the way to the Corn nullity building. The Berne band. as one of the best musical organizations in nothern Indiana. the crowd with a number of pieces and at about 7:30 o’clock the ®ir. h to the Community building was stsfted and within ten minutes this Mutifiil and spacious building, the pflle of the Berne citizenry and com mmity, was tilled, while a score or mo were seen standing in the ba< k. The balcony was also tilled and be twfen twenty-five and thirty people Wr seated on the stage, in addition td the speakers and < hairmen of the meeting. lend headed the procession in of the Community building and JWed one or two pieces. The I'erne orchestra, a wonderful or mnzation favored the audience with of selections and were en The orchestra then played a of national airs which WBugbt the people to their feet. preliminaries were only a tore of the success of the big meet ■ and after the musical selections W'ltett Sehug, one of the best known yfeig business men of Berne, a fin eQi and very capable speaker intro <®ed John W. Tyndall as the first jjyiker of the evening. Mr. Schug Pff-'l a worthy tribute to Mr. Tyndall’; westy and loyalty to the community said that the nation was in nee< such men as John \V. Tyndall Mr. Tyndall stepped forward h> received a hearty ovation. Mr. Tyn d* stated that it was foolish for hi. inent to be going over the distrii t »ntl talking about war expenuitu: e*the public knew that wars cost but that It was far bettei 1 money be spent than to kill the of American manhood and that public was well aware of the of war. Mr. Tyndall's oppo is charging that graft and waste practiced during the war, but as the republicans, with Attorney Daugherty at the head of the 1 ’ enforcing body „!' the government Kd not prosecuted 01. > of the big proor so called war grafters. Mr. stated that the main issues campaign were tartes, t< revival MH? business and the establishing of markets for tla. far tier, the man be considered in mtlant prosperity the country. If th J farmer is not the country is not prosBfe> "Us and vice-versg, said Mr. TynHe told how the present adwas wrapped and clinched in the hands of the big corporations jnd money interests of the country recited some of the legislation fessed for the benefit of the rich and ,w erful interests, but that when it feme to giving the soldier a few hundollars, they were "slapped in gfe’’ face" by the President. AreaBrattle tariff, one that would raise a revenue for the government is all said the speaker, but the presBn tariff law, taxes most everything is used or eaten and does not BBlp the farmer or laboring man, reRtlng that market prices for the farma produce were lower today with tariff than without it. He conRided his speech by asking for the Botes of all of the people in Adams Bounty and said he would leave it to Hr'** l jtjdgipqnt, that they knew

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

e enough about John Tyndall and that . lif the people of the eighth district | should send him to congress he would t "j serve them to the best of his ability , iand that if he could be of service to ( st I anyone, regardless of political affiliasex or creed, that a request would be all that was needed to have 'him do it. Thurman Gottschalk, one 1 I |of the prominent men of Berne and I ‘ I Adams county and the democratic , ’[candidate for representative from . i Wells and Adams Counties then in >, I . I ’ ( . produced Mr. L. Ert Slack, former ? I United States district marshall, at I, Jone time a candidate for the demo L cratic nomination for governor, and,, one of the best and most eloquent ! t talkers in the state. , r Mr. Slack made a wonderful addres- ( touching on state and national issue and refering to John W. Tyndall a ( M "Honest John Tyndall of Adam , County” and urged that every vote, , , in the county vote for their fellow ci ( tizen. f Mr. Slack’s Talk. < I Mr. Slack told what a great gover , nor Samuel Ralston made and that r . during his administration the average | , cost per capita of maintaining the i f state government was only $17.00 pei ’j person, while at present, even during ( the time of deflated values and hard ( times, the cost had mounted to $40.00 c per person on the average. Tin u speaker told of the extravagance in p state and national government and n said that the republican spellbinders .. were trying to tell the people that the last congress lowered the taxes t of the people over five hundred mil v lion dollars, which was true, but that ( of the 110 millions of people, only, Q 11,000 were affected by the revision. (| they being the multi-millionaires ami , big corporations. He said the repub . lican congress, by their do-nothing pol n icy had destroyed the farmer’s mar . kets and then on top of it they passed the Fordney-McCumber tariff which Increases the cost of living without aiding the farmer a bit. , Millions were voted to the railroads t and that it was tried before congress j adjourned to vote hundreds of million*- ~ to the ship owners and that in all probability, as soon as the present ( , congress was called into session by R the president, that the ship subsidy would be passed, giving the million c aire ship owners an annual bonus of , ( a hundred million or two. He told (i( how Albert J. Beveridge, who wanted R to be United States senator so he would have a chance and the oppor- v tunity to cause trouble in the repub-■ lican ranks and in congress, was turn ( ing a summersault in his attempt to , defend the present tariff law. He , said the people voted for a change and got it and that now they wanted a return to old-time prosperity ahd good times. () He said that our own government I had fixed the price of Virginia coal at a $6.00 per ton at the mines, almost one c hundred per cent higher than during the war and that on every hand a h person could see that the present con b gress and administration was favor . () ing the big interests. His talk was an | p excellent discussion of the campaign „ issues and reciting of facts. J Regular Love Feast Following the speeches the crowd , ] was invited to the basement where sandwiches, hot coffee, pop and apples were served to at least 1.500 people men and women, besides the children. t It was stated that 2000 buns had been p purchased and before the last person (1 Was fed the men back of the counter e were busy cutting slices of bread for f the waudwiches. The crowd stayed t (Continued on page five) :1

COOPERATION OF LOCAL PEOPLE HIGHLY PRAISED Fort Wayne Speaker Complimented Decatur People On Their Fine Spirit URGED ORGANIZATION — H. E. Bodine Declared Most Good Is Accomplished Through Organization Speaking at the regular meeting of the Decatur Industrial Association last night, Mr. H. E. Bodine, secretary of the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce. highly commended the local organization for its splendid work in boosting and building up the city of Decatur and community. Only a fair sized crowd attended the meeting on account of political meetings previously scheduled for last night. There is always someone who does not understand cooperation and what it does for a community. Mr. Bodine said, but the only way to succeed was to keep at them until the organization; was sold to them. “We must live as I things are lived today." said the speaker, in advocating modern meth J ods of business and organization. By i getting together and studying the various phases of city building, men in the various branches of business life can work out the.best methods of procedure. It is through organizations that tliei most good can be accomplished, Mr. Bodine said, and the businessmen's organizations must keep on working in spite of all criticism. As examples of possibilities of a Chamber of Commerce or a similar or-1 ganization. Mr. Bodine told of a few of the things which have been aecom-| pitshed by the Fort Wayne Chamber j of Commerce. They care for their j shade trees, hold fire prevention meet-| Ings, and obtain new industries for their city. Recently, through much work on the part of every member in the Chamber of Commerce, a factory 1 of the International Harvester Company was located in Fort Wayne. To thtain that factory, which will be a 1 ’urge concern when completed, it was necessary for fifty men from the Chamber of Commerce to make acer-l tain survey and many other mam i mouth undertakings were accomplished. "Decatur doesn't need to be sold on' the value of organization, however,"! Mr. Bodine said. He lauded the splen- 1 did manner in which the city handled! the big Yeoman Day celebration recently and declared that that was an example of organization. Mr. Bodine said he thought the Delator Industrial Association was wellnamed, hut he said as the city grows 1 it will likely need a Chamber of Commerce with its various departments. 1 The value of truthful advertising 1 was emphasized by Mr. Bodine last night. He said it was the business of 1 'he Chamber of Commerce or similar 1 organizations to follow up advertisements and ascertain if the people 1 were getting articles exactly as ad- 1 vertised. "To build up your own bus- 1 iness you must boost your line of 1 business," Mr. Bodine declared. Three new members were reported a t the meeting of the Industrial Association last night. Mr. Dan M. Nib- ! lick urged the members to continue in their efforts to obtain new members. and membership application blanks were handed out to everyone present. A few short speeches were made by members of the organization ■ I last night. ( Rally Day Exercises At U. B. Church Sunday Rally Day exercises will be held at the United Brethern church during Sunday School and church next Sunday. All members of the school are . expected to be present and every effort is being made to make the attendance larger than ever before. An appropriate program will be used.

Decatur, Indiana, Friday Evening, November 3, 1922

< A THE ELECTION RETURNS Arrangements have been made | for receiving the election returns Tuesday night at this office. Returns from the state and nation will bo received over oAr special United Press wire, a call coming in every hour. Results of Hie sen L atorial race and the state offices 1 will be received. H. F. Ehinger, manager of the Citizens Telephone company has also arranged for a special service over the eighth dis trict and results of the emigres I sional race will be received. Open telephone service will be enjoy tl over the county and the results of the county races will be received at this office as soon as the clerks have the votes tabulated and the Inspector can telephone them to us. Bulletins will also be posted in our windows and the public is invited to call the Decatur Daily j Democrat for the election returns. An extra telephone line will be in- ' stalled in order to accomodate all I calls. RETIRED FARMER EXPIRED TODAY August Koeneman, Os Near Hoagland, Died At 8:45 O'clock This Morning August Koeneman, 72 years old prominent retired farmer, died at his home northeast of Hoagland in Allen county at 8:45 o'clock this morning. ■ following an illness of nearly two . years with a growth in his stomach. j Mr. Koeneman was born in Preble township, Adams county, April 5, 1850. His wife. Sophia, has been an invalid for the last 22 years and has not been on her feet during that time. The | following children survive: Louis Koeneman, residing near Hoagland; | | .John and Lizzie Koeneman, at home; I Mrs. John Werling, Preble township; j Mrs. Christ Koehlinger and Mrs William Salfrank, of Fort Wayne. Two brothers. William who made I his home with August, and John, of 1 Fort Wayne, also survive. There are eleven grandchildren. Funeral services will be held from ' the Flat Rock Lutheran church at 1 ; o’clock Sunday afternoon. Short ser vices will be held from the home at i 1:30 o’clock. COURT VACATES FORMER ORDER Vacates Divorce Decree and Sets Date For New Trial Os The Case A judgment rendered in the divorce ease of Robert Fernwait against Edna Fernwait on June 27, 1922, was vacated by Judge John Moran yesterday afternoon and the case was set for a hearing on December 6. The case was venued to this county from the Allen superior court. According to the judgment rendered on June 27, a divorce was granted to the plaintiff. The care and custody of a minor child was given to the .defendant. The plaintiff was ordered to pay to the defendant for the support of the child, the sum of $lO each month. The defendant was not present at the trial held on June 27. Neither was her attorney. It seems that there was a misunderstanding regarding the date of the trial. Following the trial, on July 8, the, defendant filed a motion to set aside the judgment. Yesterday the court ordered th e plaintiff to pay for the use of the defendant in procuring the attendance of witnesses the sum of $25. In the matter of fixing the inheritance tax in the estate of Alatha G. Flanders, the report of William Frazier. inheritance tax appraiser, was filed. The report showed that the amount inherited by George 0. Flanders, the only heir, was $3,619.41. An exemption of $2,000 was allewed, making a total of $16.19 due as inheritance. Mr. George G. Flanders Is the executor of the estate. f

TRAIN ROBBERS MEET DEATH IN DARING HOLDUP Robbers Shot Dead As They Leap From 'Frisco Train With Loot OFFICERS IN WAITING Federal Officers Acting On Tip Were In Readiness For Holdup < l iilteil I’reMH Mrrviee,? Wittenberg. Mo., Nov. 3. — (Special | to Daily Democrat I— Two daring trait robbers lit- dead here today following a thrilling but unsuccessful attempt t< hold up 'Frisco train No. 805, fast St i Louis-Memphis train, at 1:15 a. nt itere today. The bandits were identified as Juel , Kennedy. 55, of Memphis and Harvey Logan. 21, address unknown. Kenneth had served a sentence in Missouri state penitentiary. Botli were shot dead as they leapet I from the flying locomotive with th< ' plunder by eleven officers, inchtdin. i six postal operatives, lying in waii I for them. Tin* robbers boarded the tender o the engine at Seventy-Six. Mo., a flat station. 90 miles south of St. Loub At the point of revolvers they force, the train crew to uncouple the cars leaving the main train standing at Seventy Six. With the locomotive, baggage am mail cars, the daring men compellet I the engineer to proceed toward Wit tenberg at 10 miles south of Seventy Six. The mail car was looted between the two stations and just as the train pulled into Wittenberg the bandit? cut loose the baggage and mail car; ! and themselves drove the locomotive Federal operatives, acting on a tij received three weeks ago were ir readiness together with county offi I cers. A fussilade of shots greeted then- ■ as they leaped from the engine with ! | their loot. Both fell dead. CJ.LUTZSPOKE TO ROTARY CLUB Local Attorney Points Out Municipal Needs Os City Os Decatur One of the most enthusiastic meetings ever held by the Rotarians was t enjoyed last evening, the November committee being in charge. A chick- , en dinner was served and the table . was decorated in Hallowe'en colors and favors of pumpkins witli a light- ( ed candle In them graced each plate. , C. J. Lutz, well known attorney of this city, was the speaker of the eve- ( ning and his subject was municipal , improvements and what Decatur need- ( ed in the way of public improvements, ] stating that an ornamental lighting system would be a great improvement to the city, that, in his opinion more lights should be erected at the en- , trances to the city and that the land ( north of the old grist mill should be ( cleared and used for a park or camping grounds. He had a number of good suggestions and his talk was | greatly appreciated. A. E. Martin, of . Goshen, inspector of school books. ( was also a guest and made a few remarks. James Elberson also intro- ( duc.ed his father, of Portland, who has been his guest for a few days. f —___ —.—«. t Small Fire At Springer Home On First Street The fire department was called to > the home of Walter Springer, 229 I North First street, at.. 2 o'clock this s afternoon, to extinguish a fire which t started around the base of the kitchen i chimney. The fire was extinguished t by the use ot chemicals before much damage was done, but the timely dis- t covery of the blaze, by Mrs. Springer < the house from destruction. I

OHIO YOUNG MAN ENDED LIFE HERE LAST NIGHT Within a few minutes after he had handed his former sweetheart a letter of explanation. Oscar S. Becker, age 21 years, of ; Chattanooga. Ohio, seventeen miles southeast of this city, shot himself through the heart with a shotgun in front of the Enoch Carpenter home, at 1516 West Madison street, this city, at 6:30 ! o’clock yesterday evening. His death was instantaneous. Becker came to Decatur yesterday evening and called upon Miss Celia Tucker, who is employed at the General Electric sac-

tory in this city and rooms at the Carpenter home. Mr. Becker and Miss Tucker had kept company for the past two or three years, until recently when they had a disagreement, it is said. When Becker came to Decatur yesterday evening he called at the. Carpenter home and Miss Tucker came to the front porch. Becker; handed a letter to her and told her he was not going to stay long last night, but was going to leave right away. He told her that if she did not ; hear his automobile start within a | short time for her to come out and see what was the matter, Miss Tucker told Sheriff Sephus Melchi. who investigated the ease. Residents Heard Shot. Shortly after Becker left the Carpenter house, the occupants heard a , shotgun report. They did not go outside the house, it is said. Waler Sudduth, who lives at 1613 West Madison street, heard the shot and immediately called Sheriff Melchi. Sudduth had not made an investigation, hint self, before the sheriff arrived, and the two men found Becker's body laying at the side of his automobile in front of the Carpenter home. Life was extinct. A single barrel shotgun was laying in the car with the barrel pointing out the door. Evidently Becker had placed the butt of the gun against the front seat of the car and barrel against his breast before he pulled the trigger. The flesh was not burned by the shot. The shot did not penetrate the ; man's body, but lodged in his back. All efforts to communicate with Dr. L. L. Mattox, of Geneva, county coroner, last night, were to no avail and the body was removed to the Gay-, Zwick & Myers morgue. Gave Letter To Girl. Following is a copy of the letter j which Becker handed to Miss Tucker last night: Rockford. ()., Nov. 2. 1922. Dear Celia: Just a few lines to tell you that 1 forgive you as you don't love me and it is my fault that 1 am doing this, tor I can't stanil it since you told me I 1 you did not love me and we quit. Please don't worry and keep on enjoying yourself, hut be careful. Please call Doyle Bebout on the Will- ' shire line at Chattanooga and tell 1 them to let my folks know. I wish you good luck, Celia, and 1 hope every- , thing goes well with you as it will with me now. Your friend—Good-bye, O. S. Becker. The above part of the letter was ; written in ink. but the remainder, evi- ,1 dently written shortly before lie called upon Miss Tucker, was written with : a peficil: • I am taking my life in front of the < house so you will see that I am not . joking, as last night I got too drunk i to do anything. : I will die unhappy, but God knows J that I letved you. I told the truth to you, but you did 1 the opposite to me, so 1 am ending it all. Please don't worry as 1 have. With love for you, I am doing this. My reason for doing this is: I wanted to apoligize for last night and I wanted to end my trouble where it started. My mind is unbalanced from worrying about you so please don’t worry as 1 would not be bore if I had not been drunk last night. A drunkard’s life is awful, that is the reason I aui doing this tor I have drank much in the past three weeks. Please forget and forgive me as I

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have,you.—O. S. B. Please don’t keep this Celia as I am getting out of your path and I don't want you to ever think of me. Witli love for the last time. Good-By Left Notes at Home. Beckers mother and sister, with whom he lived, found two notes on his dresser at home. The notes were said to contain practically the sama information which was contained in the letter which Hecker gave to Miss Tucker. One had been written on Wednesday night and the other on ! Thursday. A picture of Miss Tucker hud been placed on top of the notes. About a week ago Becker figured in an automobile accident and received several injuries about his head, and he was recuperating from those injuries. Miss Tucker is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs? Asa Tucker, who live in Adams county between Decatur and Willshire. Recently she came to this city and accepted employment at the local factory of the General Electric company. Miss Tucker said today that Becker had the shotgun and three shells with him when he called to see her on Wednesday night. One shell was found in his pocket by Sheriff Melchi last night. Relatives of the young man said they never knew of him drinking. Miss Tucker also said today that she never knew he drank until last Wednesday night when he called on her. ! Several residents of Chattanooga said ! they did not know he drank. Coroner Mattax made an investigation this morning and made a state- ; ment that death was due to suicide. The shotgun, with which Becker killed himself belonged to a'brother-in-law. Samuel J. Baumgartner, cd' . Chattanooga. Oscar S. Becker was born in Mercer county, Ohio, Decent her 1. 1900, the son of Jacob and Mary Becker. His father is deceased. For some time Becker has been living .with his mother and sister. Ida. both of whom have been in ill health, lie worked at various places at a day laborer. The mother and eight brothI ers and sisters survive. He was the youngest child. The brothers and sisters are: John Becker, of near Geneva; Mrs. Minnie Wilson, of Willshire. Ohio; Edward Becker, of near Celina, i Ohio; Ida Becker, at home; Mrs. Iva | Baumgartner, of Chattanooga; Mrs. Ella Reef, of near Berne; Janies Becker of Berne; and Raymond Becker, of near Geneva. The body was removed to the home' in Chattanooga this forenoon. Funeral services will be held from the Lu theran church in that town sometime' Sunday. ———•— ■ ++«+++++ + + + + + * + + WEATHER ♦ + + ♦ + + + + + + ++ + ♦♦♦ INDIANA —Mostly cloudy tonight and Saturday; not much change in temperature. —o High School Football Team At Marion Today Accompanied by Coach Tommy Moore, Principal Paul W. Linton, and a good delegation of rooters, the Decatur high school Yellow Jaukets left this morning for Marion where they are playing tbo Marion high school football team this afternoon. Tim trip was made In automobiles. A burd game was expected but the ‘‘dope" favored Deeatur to win the game. The result of the game may be obtained by calling this Office after 5:30 o'clock.