Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 21, Number 71, Decatur, Adams County, 23 March 1923 — Page 1

Volume XXI. Number 71.

testimony of star WITNESS IS ATTACKED

Gffl MEN TRY TO DISCREDIT USMAN'S STORY Defendants Say He Was Preparing to Engage in Blackmail Scheme INTRODUCE EVIDENCE Defendants in Gary Liquor Conspiracy Case Furnish Evidence Today (Cnlteil Press Service> Indianapolis, Mar. 2:>—(Special to Daily Democrat) —Concerted efforts to discredit testimony of Philip I’kman, star government witness, were made b\ the defense in the Gary liquor conspiracy case today. Attorneys for Mayor Roswell Johnson and other defendants «oujjht to prove that Ckman was preparing to engage in a scheme for levying blackmail on liquor law violators. In furtherance of their effort they introduced evidence that Y'kman and Kalpn Stagnaieh. a defendant, and their wives made an automobile trip firm Cary to Evansville for the purpose o,’ raiding places where the scheme could he worked successfully, l iman had denied this. Success of the effort wdiuld. him tier the government’s strong:* w sv'ilmi e presented by Ukman in his testimony that he was beaten ;f".d whipped into unconsciousness by Pro;e cuter Dwight Kinder and other defendant officials in the presence of Mayor Johnson because lie refused to incriminate federal prohibition agents. Stagnaieh was the principal witness to develop this testimony, Chi >f oi Police Wm. A. Forbes of Gary testified also. Forbes told of marking money with which to trap Y'kman in the alleged blackmailing scheme. T Mil,in admitted that the money was found on his person but said it was planted” there after his arrest. On cross examination the government drew forth an admission from Stagnaieh that ho had been denied citizenship because fce had been conwted of v «>lating the prohibition fi'ws- During the examination of ‘tagnaich the register of the Hotel St Joseph at Evansville was introUlml 10 show that I’knian and Stagtiawh and their wives had made the trip. Indianapolis. Mar. 23.-(Special to D.unocrat) Hit by bit. attor- "'. >S for Mayor Roswell Johnson ard ' ~r defendants in tin* Gary l, n „or < "md'iracy , ase sought tortay to pJI ' ,M?I 1,10 <l;,m ngiag evidence of tUp government and refute it in detail. -npiing to carry tlirough th-t j '"'.l'm Irom the beginning of tile r 7 UiM >' vverr interrupted by fedota J„^ R Geiger who questioned • a 'in Potts, a police segeant listed ‘ mi < ’ ,lß l . <,efendants * and dh-w forth '/‘dieting statements and an ad ' si,> n that part of the government ‘Gugeat evidence was trnc. Pol,! '‘‘“‘ossed tliat defendant oHcials of Pi, a- a l l"* et <llstPict had assaulted ' lp 1 kmaa > star government wit- ' •7. and threatened him with death. ■'ldi Stagnaieh, proprietor of the '■ y hetei, resumed the stand at (he ' >'"K 01 court. His testimony’was ' in a lon K rambling story freattora'! “ ltem ' ptpd *>y tile court and sys * or both sides with a ro,i,:'i hC <onf!no ! ’>e Ones Guardian for Mrs. Lucinda Striker ter 1 niUS ,riker filed a petition yesl,. 1 " a Kttadian for LneJnda Strik "«*"•. «» incapable of of inr h ° r own 3ffair » on account er is o! nitl ° S ° f old a?e - Mrs. Strikp . -'ears old. The petition was •out , n , r ° UKh the law fl rm of Fruchte and Litterer. . , V - 'i Ja' i 'V •

DECATUR RALLY DEMOCRAT

. , i Another Sure Sign That Spring Is Here County Commissioner B. F. lirelm r and those who were helping him buss wood on his farm Wednesday aftcrI nro3 are convinced that spring is here, for on the first official day of the season, while in the woods they I saw and killed a two foot garter snake. While tile men were buzzing wood, the snake came creeping along and without hesitancy, one of the men killed it and the remark wits made, 'well spring is here." ILL ONLY TWO DAYS; IS BEAD — I Miss Anna Smith Succumbs to 1 Attack of’Double Pneumonia at 1 P. M. *| The sad news of the sudden death of Miss Anna Smith, a highly esteemed woman of lids city, dniighter I of Mr.- Veronica Smith. f,03 North i Third street at 1 o’clock this at. rI noon < mo as a shock to her hundreds I of friend.: in tills city. Death was duo I to pneumonia which sho had suffevd only two days. Miss Smith was uptown W tl. s- * day and that night took sick with * pleurisy and n slight attack of r.nge- ’ monia affecting her left l ing. Her ' condition was not thought to lie so I or,:, but a phvsi la:* was called • al * medical aid given. Yesterday she vus resting quite easy and it was thought that she would p.i-cs tk tmis saf. y. ‘ E.4-ly* morui ig'hei eOnliitirii A.s- --’ am alarming; doablo paeitnv.) tin had set in and her itfngs filled to quickly that it was impossible to ei’evc li r More physicians re Tailed in an < ,v crt to save her life ’ Alls: Smith had heft enjoying grid 1 health untH Wednesday evening. *e attended church on Wednesday nei.-ii-ing and was p. esent every day of me Woman':-. Mission at the St. Mary’s ’ Catholic cliuri h last week. Miss Smith was born in this c l y. 1 October fith, 1577. Her lath r, Michael Smith, died a number of 1 years ago. She attended ami cc apleted her education ai the St. Joseph Catholic school in this city : d has liv d here ail her life, makl lg her home with her mother and tvo other sistes She was an accompe in fid lady and popular among a wde , circle of friends, all of whom will lie t i grieved to learn of her untimely : death. Resides the bereaved mother, Mri.! Veronica Smith, three sisters, iiie ! Misses Margaret and Cecelia Smi.h.j at home, and Mrs. CharTes Lang, of this <itv, and one brother, Floyd I Smith, of Fort Wayne, survive. Funeral services will be held Tuesday morning at nine o’clock at t!,,*j St. Mary's Catholic church and !> r-i ial will be made in the St .) <* - dj * . cmetery. PLAY WILL BE j given mm\ Interesting Chinese Play t • he Given in High School Auditorium A final full dress rehearsal was, held yesterday evening lty the cast of the play, ‘ The Conversion of the Honorable Mrs. Ling.” to be given: in the high school auditorium this! evening under the auspices of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary society' of the Methodist church. The play j wil begin at S o’clock this evening, j Specialties in the way of vocal mini/ bers wilt be given between acts by I Mrs. Dan Tyndall and the Hauhold children. The play to be given tonight is n i Chinese play. It is the story of the, lives of two missionaries and the dlf- ' Acuities with which they meet in China The Chinese customs and . mode.-i of dross are clearly portrayed i in the play. The proceeds ' derived , from' the play will be used in mis-, slonary work. |

RAINS FLOOD THREE NEW JERSEY TOWNS _A ' ! The bungalow colony at Mountain View, N. J., wrecked by the waters of the Passaic river, which have ai-j ready flooded three Cities. Patterson was in danger from the floods. (l'ncilii and \u.iiili, : I ' l ■■ l - 1 I i . - * ■ . i

iROTARIANS PICK NEW DIRECTORS I Eject Officers Next Week; W. A. Klepper Made Fine Talk Last Night The annual election of directors of tV Decatur Rotary club took place last evening and following D. R. Erwin's withdrawal of his name as one of the nominees, the following (five men were unanimously elected director-; of the club: George Krick, John t'armody, Henry Heller, Wilson 'I. :>o and A. H. Holt house. At the call of the president, Clarence Ilell, the now directors will meet within thj next week and elect oificers. -netwrty —a*- president, vicepresident, secretary, treasurer and r argeant tu-srms. The new directors will take office in April at which time Clarence R 11 will retire as president of the club. Htj will, however, remain an ex-officio membership of me beard of directors. Made Cine Talk W. A. Klepper, of the Cloverhaf Creameries, gave an excellent talk on jthe Relationship Between Employer and Employe." stating that if the relationship between these two people were an honest one the! there would not he any strikes or labor ;roubles and misunderstandings between the employe and employer. His talk was i filled with good sound business sense and was greatly appreciated by those I present. Wal Wemhoff announced that the first monthly banquet to be given by i tho Industrial association would be' I hold on April 3rd at tho I\. of R. home, 1 and tlidi every Rotarian was urged m jattc tut. SPRAYINOAND ! PRUNING MEET : : Farmers Instructed in Frooer Meihods of Caring for Orchards A number of farmers gathered at the Fred Buuck orchard, near Friedheim. ia Preble township yesterday,! the occasion being a pruning and aprayit:;; demonstration conducted by jW. J. l'iggott, orchard expert from Purdue University. M*uch interest ' was manifested by those present and indications are that the work will be carried out as recommended, by a r iargo number of those present. Instructions in pruning showed that i more pruning should he done in tho lop of llie tree instead of the bottom, lin order to give the tree the proper 1 shape. Since a tree with a flat shape ■will admit more sunlight to the fruit 'and will enable spraying and picking jof apples with less difficulty. Instate- : lions concerning mixing of sray ilia-1 Iterials for tho different sprays was also given. Various diseases as they appear on tho trees was shown those 1 present. FELT AND TAFFETA Fi it and taffeta is a smart combination in millinery this spring par[ticularjy in the delicate shades of I lavender, mauve, lemon or blue.

Decatur, Indiana, Friday Evening, March 2)1, 1923.

COUNCIL LETS CONTRACT FOR NEW STOKERS — Chicago Firm Clefs Contract for Installing Stokers at City Plant BUY SOOT BLOWERS DeHaven Company, of In dianapolis, Gets Second Contract Here The city council in executive . fusion last evening awarded the con-j tracts for the furnishing of two automotic stokers to he installed in ! connection with the new boilers ati the city light and power plant, to the: VVestinghouse Electric and Manufac! taring company of Chicago, u.#on, their bid of $8,176.00. The stale.-raj will be furnished complete with engine anti fan. The guarantees of I efficiency on the VVestinghouse j stokers were considered the best in the judgment of the counciltnen and I engineer and therefore they were accepted. Stokers are used with the purpose of being able to burn cheap coal, such as nut, pea and slack. By installing the stokers under the boilers, the boilers will be mechanically tired, the <oa! being dumped into hoppers by an electric hoist outside of the building and then fed into the furnace. The coal will he unloaded from the truck into the hoppers. thus meaning a great saving in labor. With the two boilers and the stokers, the capacity of tho City I.ight and Power plant will be n 1 creased about 50 per cent, and the! cost of production will be decreased ; at least fifteen or twenty per cent, j . Purchase Soot Blowers The contract for the soot blowers ( | to be installed in the big boilers was awarded to the DeHaven Engineer-i ing company, of Indianapolis, the same company that secured the contract for the erection of the 150 fool brick* stack at the water and power plant. The blowers, as the name signifies, will blow all sodt from the tubes in the boilers and the soot will be consumed in the fire, thus eliminating much of the smoke nuis'anee at the water works plant. o Musical Program al Pleasant Dale Church A musical program will bo given Lit the Pleasant Dale church in Kirk ! land township Sunday evening at 7:30 o’clock, by the North Manchester College quartet. There will be no admission fee and the public is cordially invited to attend. A Bible institute will start at the Pleasant Dale church this evening and continue on Saturday morning and evening. It will be conducted by R. C. Winger, Bible Institute Instructor at North Manchester College Everyone is welcome to attend this institute. j* WEATHER ♦ ♦ ♦♦ + ♦♦♦ + ♦+ +♦♦♦♦ INDIANA—Fair tonight, colder extreme southeast portion; Saturday probably fair and colder.

Will BANQUET NEXT TUESDAY Industrial Association to Have Banquet in Pythian Home Wal Wemhoff, chairman of the committee appointed at the last meeting of the Decatur Industrial asso ia tion to arrange the program for the next three months, announces hat the fist event will he a banquet to he held at the Knights of Pythias 1 me Tuesday evening, April 3rd. It will be a real get-together affair and a dozen of those meetings dir. ing ! the next year should bring firth ; mmil "giicid* Tickets will cost one ! dollar oac h. all < f the money t > be j spent in furnishing thine who attend. a happy and pleasant evening:. There will ho music and spe ia! features and a ia!k by Hon. Cha. 's ;V. N'iozer, president <a the Far, Wi.yre Chamber of Commerce 'Aid j The First National bank, and a hading lawyer. \!r. Neizer was to live | given a talk here a month ago but I was unable to come on account of illness. He will be here this t unsure he says, and will help to make the opener of the banqufet meeting a real one. It is hoped that every member will attend and that everyone will assist in nutting the proper degree of spirit into the organ nation. Mr. Wemhoff and his as: istants will do their part to provide the program and tho Pythian Sisters will see that the guests are feasted —the rest is tip to you. Let’s put it over big. ERST Aged Inmate of Wells Count} Infirmary Dies Yesterday Afternoon Rluffion, Mar. 23.- Robert Dick, Tidied at the county hospital at 3:45 o’clock yesterday afternoon from pneumonia. His death occurred three weeks alter he was severely wounded by kn.te cuts across the abdomen, inflected by John Mahoney. Tfi, another inmate at the county infirmary with whom he quarreled. Mahoney lias been in jail since the i fight and Prosecutor George Ixutden said this afternoon the nature of the charge against Mahoney is not determined. It cannot be worse than manslaughter and since death resulted from pneumonia, the case is further complicated. Dick developed pneumonia Wednesday night. While he had been growing weaker as a result of gangrene of the bowel, his death was evidently hastened by the complication. Dick has no near relatives, according to those who know him. He spent most of his life in Lancaster township. His tight with Mahoney occurred | March 1 at the county infirmary, when the two quarreled over the elpsing of a door. It is claimed by Mahoney that Dick got him down and lie wielded a knil’o in self defense.

YOUNG SCHOOL GIRLS ATTACKED BY A MAN

i Wells County Farmer Missing Since Tuesday Bluffton, Mar. 23.—Emm Bennett, Chester township farmer, who disappeared from liis home Tuesday afternoon, was still missing late today. A frit tut told today that lie had seers him passing through Hartford t'ily lute Tuesday afternoon in Ills Ford touring car. Bennett is believed to be suffering from temporary insanity caused by a recent illness. SHUREIi WILL RE CONFIRMED Confirmation Exercises at Several Churches in County Sunday A number of children will be eon- 1 firmed in tin* Reformed and Lutheran churches in Decatur and Adams county r.ext Sunday, which is known as I aim Sunday. There will lie five in the class at the Reformed church here but the Zion Lutheran church will not hold confirmation exercises until later. A (lass of nine will be con firmed at the St. Luke Reformed church in Honduras, eight at the Freidlieim Lutheran church, four at the l’reble Lutheran church, and nine at the Preble Reformed church. These annual confirmation exercises are very oppressive. Following are the names of the children who will be confirmed at the different churches next Sunday: Decatur Reformed Church Mildied Worthman, Juanita Baumgartner. Helen Gerber, Walter Kipqs. and Roller! Kies;. St. Luke’s Reformed Church Lunik* Beavers Ironta Shnaf, Francos Roth. Catherine Zimmerman. Clara Repport. Jay Vost, Lewis Dob It, Harold Carson, and Dallas Carson. Freidheim Lutheran Church Meta Buuck. Edna Buitck, Emma Reil'steeW. Harold Gallmeief, T.awrenco Fuhrman. Fred Buuck, Henry Buuck and Fred Gallmeier. Preble Lutheran Church Wilma Ewell, Wilma Wefel, Gelinrd Gaiser. and Elmer Hartman. Preble Reformed Church Esther Dettinger, Alla Kruetzmnn. Alma Si berry, Edna. Borne, Beniamin 'Krentzman, Walter Peck. Daniel Jaberg, Athniil Engelmann, and Sara Engelmann. Keeps Flowers Fresh Hothouse flowers will stay fresh for a longer time than usual if you will put a few thin slices of white soap into the water in fhicli they stand. ANOTHER STORY BY mi PORTER “The White Flag” Is Story of the Early Life of Gene Sfratton-Porter Adams county residents will lx,* interested in a story of their home state written by Gene St rat ton-Bor ter, as she knew it when she lived here as a girl and young woman. While most people associate Mrs. Porftr with California, she was horn on a farm in Wabash county near Lagro and spent a part of her life in Adams county at Geneva “The White Flag,” the first installment of which appears in the April number of Good Housekeeping, is a story of home folks —many of them still living in this part of the state. The names are different, necessarily, hut as one reads through the story, it isn't ditfirult to* recognize many of the characters. , Gene Stratton-Porter wished to save this story for her last, but she has been persuaded to write it now. Written in her own powerful style, it is by far, the greatest, book that ’ she has produced, many critics say.

Price: 2 Cents.

TWO MONMOUTH SCHOOL GIRLS ARE VICTIMS Stranger Commits Shameful Attack on Daughters of Harry Fuhrman FRIGHTENED AWAY Makes Escape; Occured in Morning; Not Learned Until Evening The story of how a roughlooking man, driving an automobile. shamefully attacked j two Monmouth schools giris, one 9 years old and the other 111, as they were on their way to school yesterday morning, was related bv the little girls to their parents when the> returned home from school yesterday evening. The children are the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Fuhrman, residing one and one-half miles nort’ieast of Monmouth. ( The identity of the man has not been learned but it is thought that he did not live in this community. According to the story told by the giris. Asms and Myrtle, when they reached home yesterday evening, the man apparently was engaged in repairing his automobile at the irossrbiiiV. one-half mile east of the .school house, wnen they reached that point. The man naked the girls to git into the car and ride to the school house, hut they refused. They < onI tinned on their way toward the school house, but before they had proceeded much farther the man had started Ills car and overtaken them. The stranger stopped his car and forceably made the girl** climb into the automobile. The little girls Raid that the man handled them roughly and then stood by the (nr and made immoral exposin' *s, at the same time talking in vulgar and immoral language. Was Frightened Av/ay Luckily for the little girls, another automobile, driven by Harry Johnson, turned the corner to the rear and came toward them. The stranger saw the car coming and immediately lumped into his own car and drove toward the school house before Mr. Johnson caught up with them The little girls pleaded with the rutin to let them out of (lie car at the school school building. The man stopped his car and let the girls out. He qui lily drove away and has not been seen since. Girls D d Not Tell Story The girls did not tell their teacher, Mrs. Robert At-, of their experience, except that they said the man forced them to ride with him. They I JPls’n.'fid to bo greatly .'righto.ted land i ril'd some, but their teacher i was. unable to get any further in- ! formation from them. It is said, j however, that they did tell other j girls of the affair, hut that those ! girls did not t*-iI the teacher either. When they reached home yesterday evening tile little girls sobbed out their story to their mother. Sheriff John Baker was notified and lie made a trip to die Fuhrman home and Monmouth. Desci iption of Man The little girls* described the man as being of medium build, dark complected. about forty years of age. and wearing a black beard: He al so wore a large fur overcoat and bad a very rough appearance. The girls were unable to tel; the make of the automobile driven by their assailant. They said it was an old one and was not a Ford. Mr. Johnson, who followed the car from the place where i( was stopped as far as the school building, said ho believed (he license plate was »»•;-» «\y* The Michigan license plates aro green. Owing to the meager description (Continued on page six)