Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 21, Number 277, Decatur, Adams County, 22 November 1923 — Page 1

Volume XXL Number 277.

TRAIN STRIKES BUGGY AT CROSSING

DEEP MYSTERY DEVELOPS IN M’CRAY CASE Governor Unable To Explain $45,000 Item On Income Statement. CLOSELY QUESTIONED Says Notes Are Good Because He Held Life Insurance Policies. Cl'nltecl Press Staff Correspondent) | Indianapolis. Nov. 22 (Special to Daily Democrat) A s 15.000 mystery developed in Hie McCray bankruptcy hearing today. Ihe income statement of Governor McCray as presented in the bankruptcy hearing, showed McCray received this amount from the defunct Sawyers Grain Company of Chicago of which he was an officer. McCray on Ihe witness stand lor the fifth day testified he had never heard of this transaction before three or four days ago when his income statement was made up for him by his bookkeeper. , He said he had never received the I money and that he could throw no light on how it happened to be in his statement. McCray was closely questioned regarding the various notes he held. He asserted some of the notes were good because he held life insurance policies, bills of sale for property, mortgages and other securities for the notes. ' On other notes however he admitted that there might be a shrinkage of from 10 to 40 percent. Upon questioning by Referee Sher idan McCray was unable to tell exactly how he went about measuring the shrinkage on the notes he held but he said he had estimated the values as “carefully as possible." Governor Wins Point. Indiianapolis, Nov. 22.- An attempt to prove that Governor McCray ‘framed" documentary evidence to show that he had given most of his time to farming, failed as the governor took the stand again today in the bankruptcy hearing. W. J. Vesey, attorney for the three Ft. Wayne banks which petitioned to have the governor declared bankrupt, sought to prove that all the notations on a map of the Orchard lake stock farm were made by McCray within the last few days. The map, with many notations in the governors handwriting, was introduced several days ago to show that the governor had devoted a great deal of time to the details of management of his farms. Vesey asked the governor if it was not true that he had made all the notations in the last three or four 'lays. i McCray replied that he had made “a few notations recently," but that the hulk of the notations were made sometime ago. Vesey questioned McCray on his (Continued on Page Eight)

1 ’ "UIUUIX 14 vu I uipm > —«—■» Anybody Want a Pet Bear? Here’s a Chance To Get One For Small Sum

Do you want a big grizzly bear for a pet'i E. Gulick, of Malaga, Wishington will give you one if you are willing to pay tbe express charges on the animal to Adams County. In a letter received by Mayor Hub*r DeVoss from Mr. Gulick, the latter offers to send Jiis pet bear to Decatur if some organization or civic society agrees to care for him and pay the charges to get him here. It has been suggested that the bear might be placed in Bellmont Park and if Col. Reppert is interested, he is invited to write the owner, whose letter to Mayor DeVoss follows: ‘‘Malaga, Wash. ‘‘Nov. 14, 1923 “Mayor of Decatur,

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Chemist Speaks To High School Children Today Alexander Williams, Jr., secretary of the American Chemlca,l| sociffy of New York, spoke to the student' l of the Decatur high school at two o’clock this afternoon. Mr. Williams is making a tour of the state and is speaking before the Rotary clubs ami , high schools. He has a wonderful message and his talk this afternoon was warmly received. He came here from Huntington and this evening will be the guest of the Rotarians at their regular luncheon and will make 1 a talk to them. Tomorrow he speaks at Kendallville and Goshen. WILL OBSERVE ■ EDUCATION WEEK ftrandyberry and Raudenbush Schools Have Program for Friday. A fitting program in observance of ! the American Educational Week will be given by the teachers and pupils of the B.'andyberry and Raudenbush schools in Washington township on Friday afternoon, beginning at one , o’clock. The pupils of the two schools will participate in the urogram and Rev. Harry Thompson, pastor of the Christian church of this city will be I the principal speaker. The program will he opened with the singing of America by the audience. The pro j gram is as follows: Song—-America, audience. Recitation— "A Diligent Student 1 He." Forest Marshand. ! Recitation—“ Sunbeams and Raindrops," Veda Smith. Playlet—“Etty-Ket,” four pupils. I (Dorothy Krick, Ruth Smith, Roy Smith, Genevieve Walters. I Song—“ Thanksgiving Song." room 9 Recitation “The Joy of Thanksgiving." Naomi Walters. Recitation —"Liberty Bells," Ruby Rupert. Recitation —“Just Keep Sweet,” Mildred Strickler. Address— By Rev. Harrp Thompson. “Our own Red. White and Blue,” Margaret Martin. “One Country, One Flag. One Brotherhood." Everett Johnson. Recitation —"A Mortifying Mistake." Evelyn Reber. 1 Recitation —"Always Late," Grace Chilcote. 1 Playlet ? The Mother Club," four girls. (Audrey Ritter, Veda Smith, Vilena Marshand and Gertrude Hawkins.) Song—" Land of Liberty,” Audience. Thousands of Pennsy i Workers To Be Laid Git — Philadelphia, Nov. 22 —Approximate ly 40,000 of the 77.000 men employed in the shops of the Pennsylvania railroad will be laid off for two weeks or longer, effective at once, it was reported today. 1 Orders to close up a number of shops in the four regions of the Pennsylvania system have been sent to vice-presidents in Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis anil Philadelphia. Only a few shops will remain open for actual current repair work.

• ' "Dear Sir: — "Not knowing the parties to writ ■ to. I am writing to you and asking : you to hand this to proper authorities ■ on this matter. I have a sinnumon bear. He is three years old I have had him since a cub. He is ’ gentle and good natured. I want to ’ place him in some park of zoo. You ’ are close to my home town when a ! boy and would like to contribute him to some park or zoo back there and • would they be willing to pay transpor--1 tation charges for the animal. 1 “Please make reply as soon as possible. “E. Gulick "Malaga, Wash., "Box 16."

POSSE AND 4 OFFICERS FIRE ON EACH OTHER Four Men Arc Seriously Wounded In Gun Battle As Result of Mistake. ON BUNT OF ROBBERS Two Groups Met In Dark In Orchard Near Cory; Fifty Shots Fired. ■ H’nlted Press Staff Correspondent) Biazil, Ind., Nov. 22 —(Special to i Daily Democrat).—Four men wore seriously wounded in a gun battle between a citizens' posse ami four Clay county officers wh«n the two groups opened fire on each other by mistake during a bandit hunt near Cory, ten miles southwest of here, early today. The two groups were hunting for an automobile which, it was believed, was driven by bank bandits planning to rob the Cory State bank. The two posses met in the dark in an orchard on the outskiits of Cory. Rifles, revolvers and sawed-off shot guns were used in the battle. The mistake was not discovered until both groups had emptied their guns. Only one of the four men wounded was' brought to a hospital here. The other throe were given medical aid | at Cory. Fifty shots weie exchanged. The sheriff’s posse" was armed with riot guns and automatic revolvers. The citizens' posse was armed with Springfield rifles. "Stick ’em up and do it quick," the citizens’ posse leader called as (he sheriff’s party arrived in front of the home of James Tucker. Instead of complying with the command the officers opened fire. Tucker discoveted the supposed bandits with their auto parked at the side of the road near his home. He called Sheriff Weber here. Weber summoned the Brazil chief of (Continued on page two) 9,BSOTAXPAYERS MAMS COUNTY County Treasurer Hite Has Collected Over $3,000,000 In Taxes. There are approximately 9.650 tax payers in Adams county, the figure being based on the number of tax receipts ordered by the county treasurer. Os the townships. Monroe twp. lias the largest number, 650 receipts being printed for this taxing unit. The largest number of receipts are printed for the city of Decatur, the number being 2 200. Berne is seeoml with 875. These figures, lioweverl are a little high as they take care of those spoiled in making them out and leave enough in reserve in case the receipts are changed from one person to anol iter. County Treasurer Hugh Hite is con eluding his two terms of two years each, and during the four years he has collected the sum of $3,426,052.38 >n taxes. In 1920 the taxes amounted to $592,323.41: in 1921.''5932,472.32; in 1922, $1,001,183.79; and in 1923. th total t?x°s collected were. $900,072 86 Louies Kleine will take office as county treasurer on January Ist. Miss Goidia Gay. who has been deupty county treasurer for the past eight years, will be Mr. Kleines deputy dm ing the first year of his term. The number of tax receipts in the twelve townships and Incorporations in the county are as follows: Union. 375; Root. 550; Preble, 425; Kirkland 375; Washington, 575; St. Mary’), 500; Blue Creek. 400; Monroe, 650; French, 325; Hartford. 550; Wabash 550; Jefferson. 425; Monroe corporation. 225; Berne, 875; Geneva. 6<)(>; Decatur Washington, 200; * Decatur Root. 50. Total, 9,650.

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, November 22, 1923.

Big G. E. Dance On Thanksgiving Eve November 28 there will be a big I dance given by the girls of the Gen | era! Electric Company at the Mall sonic Hall. During the evening a big [i turkey will be raffled off at ten cents a chance, ami anyone will have a : chance to get the turkey whether you I attend the dance or not by buying a i ti< ket from one of the girls. The mu ‘ sie will be furnished by Billy’s Syncoi pators. Persons having attended G. I E. affairs before know that a good 11 time is in store for them. Everybody invited. ;I • o WOLF HUNT IS BEING PLANNED — Big Hunt To Be Held Near Bryant Thanksgiving; Several Wolves Seen. i -• Residents in the vicinity of Geneva and Bryant are planning a big ’ wofe hunt for Thanksgiving Day on ’ the farm of Mrs. Joseph Glendening. five miles northwest of Bryant. Residents of that vicinity have reported ’ that that are real honesi-to-goodaess wolves tunning at large there and I are killing sheep and other livestock and the farmers are fearful that their I children may he attacked by the ani . main. Four or five wolves, one gre.. j color, are said to have been seen many times by the farmers since early , last spring and it is thought that the t wolves are on the Glendening farm. 4 The animals have been very elu- ! sive and all attempts to kill them have failed. It is said Jhat Rober- ’ LaFavour succeeded in injuring on « them during the summer. Hhe f shot the animal through the jaw. but lit escaped. Uist August the farm--1 ers of that vicinity had a hunt but only thirty men participated and they 1 did not meet with any success. This ’ time Hie farmers have organized am they are asking for 1,000 men io assi . ■ them. Men from Decatur, Bern. f Munroe, Geneva Bryant and Portland and all parts of Adams and Jay Conn ties are urged to take part in Hi hunt on Thanksgiving Day. C. in are to be left at home, dogs and clubI being the weapons decided upon. _ —4 .Mrs. C. W. Shoaf, of Root townshi was a visitor in the city this after noon. BEET HARVEST NEARLY FINISHED All Sugar Beets Will Be Out of Ground By End of This Week. By the end of this week all the I sugar beets will be out of the ground and in transit to the big mill of the ' Holland-St. Louis Sugar company in this city. Manager John Carmody [ stated this morning. Beet workers are completing the task of digging the beets this week. It is estimated that the total amount of beets raised for tlie Holland St. Louis company 1 this year will reach 72,000 tons. In ' 1920 the tonnage amounted to about ’ 87.000 tons, but it will be reriiemberI ed that many of the. beets spoiled 1 that year. The mill will be in operation until after the first of the year, t was stated. - 11 7 r ." 1 Z.' - T Weather Generally fair in north; probably rain in south portion late tonight or ■ Friday; somewhat warmer Friday. 1 fShop Early

LARGE CROWD HEARS ADDRESS BY MISSIONARY Miss Esther Sellemeyer Delivers Interesting Address Last Night. CHURCH IS FILLED Presbyterian Church Filled To Capacity By Interested Audience. Speaking before an audience which I tilled the Presbyterian church to caI parity here last night. Miss Esther, | Sellemeyer, daughter of Mr. and j Mrs. A. H. Sellemeyer, delivered a stitring message on the conditions in! China, where she has been for the| past few years as a missionary. Miss. Sellemeyer at present is enjoying a furlough from her work. She chose 1 as her subject last night. "The Missionary as Pertaining to Himself.” Her talk in part is as follows: "Tonight I have chosen to speak on a subject not generally treated in books: "The Missionary as Pertain-, ng to Himself." “Tlie first thing which confronts the missionary the minute he gets his feet on foreign soil, is his own humanity. That he has traveled 11,000 or 12.1)00 miles from home ami placed the Pacific ocean between himself and his native land, hasn’t changed the fact that he is a human being, and therefore, subject to all human frailties. "There was a time when every missionary was supposed to be garbed in black and crowned with a halo. I Accordingly, many of these souls felt compelled to behave as 'heir constituencies encouraged them I to do And so. they donned a long face, a far-away look, a voice like a sepulchre, and became as narrow an i string. But with all their piety and ingelic mien, their narrowness proved that they were human. The mis-' (Continued on Page Eight) o ALL-CONFERENCE ELEVEN PICKED Three Decatur Players Named On Selection of Logansport Coach. Three members of the Decatur high school football team were given berths on the all-conference team selected by Coach Clifford Wells, of Ixtgansport. They are White, fullback; Holmes, right guard, and Frisinger. right end. Each coach in the conference is to select an all-conference team not naming any of his own players, and send his selection to “Pete" Gibson, manager of Logansport athletics, who will choose an all-confer-ence eleven, using the players who were named most in tlie selections of the coaches. In case of a tie. position will lie given to the player o' the most ability in Hie estimation of Mr. Gibson. Four players from South Side team of Fort Wayne, three from Decatur, two from Peru and two from Huntington were named by Coach Wells. His selection is as follows: Sullivan, Fern, left end; Jones, Peru, left tackle; Frost, Huntington, left guard’ Rahe. Fort Wayne, right tackle: Frisinger, Decatur right guard; Fromutb, Ft. Wayne, quarterback; Aldrich, Ft. Wayne, left halfback. Bucher. Huntington, right halfback; and White Decatur fullback; Norris. Fl. Wayne, center; Holmes. Decatur, right end. White, Frisinger and Holmes are all seniors and will be lost to tlie Yellow Jacket squad through graduation next spring. This is Holmes' first year in football and he lias made rapid strides in the game. Frisinger and White are veterans and have been mainstays in the lineup this season.

Slopped To Aid Stranded Motorists; Is Robbed Greensburg. Ind., Nov. 22. —F. C. Me- j Cone of Muncie, is through offering aid to stranded motorists. Driving along a lonely road east of Greensiburg. lie stopped at the signa) of two autoists with a punctured tire. As I he turned to hand the strangers a pate h for an inner tube, he was slugged on the head. Eight hours later he came to consciousness and found lie had been rob I lied of sll2 and his gold watch. The bandits had even drained the' gas from his car. VOTE FINANCIAL I AID TO HIGHWAY I Industrial Association To Assist In Marking Harding Highway. I A. I). Stone, field secretary of the Harding Highway, left here at noon ■ for Canton. Ohio, where he will attend lan important meeting of the direc' ors to be held there tomorrow morning. i At a meeting of the directors ol 'the Decatur Industrial association this morning it was unanimously deluded that this community furnish $330 at thia time for the marking of the highway and an assessment to ( cover this amount ami an additional I sum for tlie marking of other roads leading to Decatur will be made. Cal , E. Peterson was made chairman ot | the Harding Highway committee he-p and he will name tlie other members of liis committee who will attend 'o | the duties necessary to assure th" proper marking of the road and giving information to the secretary. I It was also decided that some ae tion towards a tourist camp which wi" attract attention of visitors here an 1 , travelers on the main highways should l ed chairman of a committee for tha ed chairma nos a committee for tha' purpose and it was arranged that : special meeting be held on the even ing of December 4th to plan for same. Mr. Stone will return foi that occasion and will assist the local committee in any way he can. Mr. Stone visited Huntington and Markle last evening and in each place was given a real welcome ami each of those places arranged for the finan: • ing of the work of marking the road 1 It is practically assured that thiroute will he accepted as the east am. west state road for this section and will be paved within a few years. The state ami federal government will <•<• operate in making the road one ol the best. It's a splendid progressivi step, perhaps more important than ‘l seems to most of you just now. John Edwards Drove Car Which Struck Lady Charles Baber, of Auburn, husband of the woman who was struck by a Ford sedan in this city Monday afternoon. and who suffered a broken ' shoulder bone in tlie accident, was here today and stated that John Edwards, well known painter of tills city, was driving Ihe car which struck i Mrs. Baber. Mr. Edwards regrets | tlie accident very much and as far as known it was unavoidable. A settle.l nient between Mr. Baber and Mr. Ed wards was affected satisfactory to i both parties concerned. Mr. Ed- . | wards agreeing to pay Ihe doctor bills. •i Mrs. Baber is suffering very much ; from the broken shoulder and Mr. j Baber stated that it would be nrt) es- . sary to perform an operation and . wire the shoulder bone. 0 Catholic Community Fund Near Goal 1 Fort Wayne, Ind.. Nov. 22 —The ' Catholic Community fund was only 1 $17,687 short of its goal of $575,000 1 last n'ght and the executive comniltI tee announced that the drive would I continue until the last dollar is sub- • 'scribed. The actual figures last night 1 were $557,313.

Price: 2 Cents.

FOUR CHILDREN MIRACULOUSLY ESCAPE DEATH G. R. & I. Train Crashes Into Buggy; Children of Mrs. Mary Koenig. BOY BADLY INJURED Unable To See Through Steamed Glasses In Bugy; All Will Live. Four children miraculously escaped death about 7:30 o'clock this morning when the northbound Grand Rapids and Indiana passenger train, due into this city nt 7:20 a. in., struck Ihe enclosed buggy in which they were riding id the Winchester street crossing, just south of the city limits, ihe buggy was completely demolshed anil Ihe horse was badly mangled. Ihe children were Pi ter, Amelia. Clara and Julius Koenig, children of Mrs. Mary Koenig, residing two miles south of the city on the Monroe road. Peter, age 15. suffered three fractures of the right leg yind one fracture of the left leg. \le s al the Adams County MemoD* ial hospital, where it was reported this afternoon that he is resting good. Ihe other three children escaped with only minor injuries and were taken home after their injuries had been dressed at a local physician's office. Peter's right leg was broken in tv.o places between the hip ami knee and once between tlie knee and ankle. His left leg was broken between the knee and ankle, this being a compound fracture. He was not injured about his head nor body, except lor minor bruises and scratches. The children were enroute to tills ity where they are pupils in the SL loseph Catholic schools. The train, which was running :i few minutes late, was No. 11 and wa '■ u charge of Engineer John B.tckley. ind Conductor Andy Mulborg. both of Fort Wayne. Amelia, age 12, suffered a few cuts about her head. Clara, age 10. suffered an injured elbow and cuts abo it one leg. and Julius, age 8, had th> calf of one leg injured. All three were badly bruised ami scratch! ■' but none of their injuries are regarded as serious. The children left their home, which is about two miles south on the Monroe road, slioitly alter 7 o clock. 1 heir mother warned them Just as they left home, to watch for the train. Mrs. Koenig said that she warm'd them every day about the train. Owing to the cold air this morning, the breaths from Hie four children in the enclosed buggy caused the glasses in the buggy to become steamed and the children could not see through them clearly, they said. As they appeared tile crossing they did not see the train coming and started across the tracks. Engineer Buckley sounded tile whistle on Hie locomotive, according to passengers on the train and applied tlie brakes when he saw the horse start across tlie trucks. Tlie cow-catcher of the engine struck Hie horse and the front end of the boggy. The buggy was demolished on the west side of the tracks and parts shewn along tlie track for a distance of 25t) feet. The horse was dragged for a distance of about 200 feet and thrown to the east side of the tracks. Tlie body of the horse was terribly mangled and evidently was killed instantly by the force of I tlie collision. The four children were hurled to the west side of the track. The three V younger children were able to c limb to their feet and walk up the grade. The engineer and fireman picked up 1 Peter and placed him in a car driven 1 by Clarence Hinman, of Decatur (Continued on Page Seven)