Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 23, Number 37, Decatur, Adams County, 12 February 1925 — Page 1

volume XXIII. Number 37.

CENTRAL SCHOOL PLAY ENJOYED BY LARGE AUDIENCE Splendid Manner REPEATED TONIGHT Youthful Actors Make Success In Staging Play Written For Adults ] . Just for Fun." the three act comdy pr(we nted at the high school uditoriuni h. ' right by the eighth “ d „ pupils Os the Central school. ~,. j.ieii much fun for the large Alienee present and the youthful ~rs did remarkably well with the Suction. The auditorium was nsarty filled for the opening perftinnance, and another large audience b expected tonight when the play sill b l ' repeated. The play will start at 8 o'clock tonight. .Although the play was written for ulidts. the eighth grade pupils went titrMgh the production with scarcely any mistakes. There were six characters ip the play, four girls and two hoys, and every one of them did remarkably well. They kept the action moving and there were no lullsT> story of the play concerns two young ladies, namely. Miss Edith Morton and Miss Mabel West, who decide to change names and portions while they are visiting with th- former's aunt. Mrs. Fitzgerald Mandeville de Smythe. The rolls of Pn> two young ladies were played by Mis- Betty Macklin and Miss Anna E. Kinnes. The part of the aunt was played by Miss Harriet Wallace. The two gentlemen, Lord Chaise* and Jack Earl, also ire dissatisfied with their positions and decide to change their names and positions for a short vhi! The roles of the two gemtlethen were played by Herman Lankemu and Merle Chrisman, 'respectively Many amusing circumstances arise as the four youths meet. Miss Morton falls in love with Lord Chelsea, thinking he is Jack Earl, and Lord Chelsea thinks his new love is Mi-s West. The real Miss West, sing Miss Morten's name, falls in we with the real Jack Earl, thinkng him to be Lord Chelsea. The real Jack Earl thinks his sweetheart is Miss Morten. Miss Morten’s aunt, also, has the two girls confused, and thinks that Miss West is her niece. Finally the real identity of the four youths is learned and the complications straight med out to the satisfaction of all. The sixth character in the play is Jane McCarthey, an Irish maid servant. The part was played by Miss Marie Crider. A specialty entitled "Hats” was Siren between the first and second wis. Nine eighth grade girls appeared on the stage, each carrying d pretty hat box, and sang a song. Those taking part in the specialty 'we: Melvena Smitley, Iris Acker, Florence Anderson, Helena Aughenilnia Chronister, Marguerite (Continued on Page Six) SEVENTEEN WIN HONOR BADGES Seventeen Catholic H. S. J upils Make Grade Os 90 Or Higher Seventeen pupils ot the Decatur * thollc high school received an av„aße Frade o£ ninety per cent or we at the last examination which pintles them to wearing the Honor •Ke for the next six weeks. Those , aKlng a grade of ninety or over in ast examinations are: Earl ChrisCteorße Laurent, Robert VogleChr Arthur Wewede, Bernardine v s He ' en Holthouse, Anna ier’T * d 'i Al ‘ ee Clark ' Rlchard Miline m BC “ V ’ ertzb erger, John DowlVmiiou J dalene Schmltt - Margaret L Em ’ FranCSS Malle *' Cather ’ I<eon Kohne C ° nStanCe SChmlU and school, a . ttendance at the Catholic good and’a «. the Wi “ ter haS held " P Progress Th BUCeeßsful is be h«l 1 • The neXt exam! nations will B Uilt ina ? Ottt five week « and ihe high schn ?* by the PUP ‘ IS in th ®

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Gasoline To Advance Two Cents Tomorrow (UNITED PftlHS HERVHI?) Chicago, Feb. 12 —(Special to Daily Democrat)- Retail price of gasoline will h« advanced two cents per gallop effective tomorrow, the Standard Oil company of Indiana announced today. Kerosene will be increased one cent. The rapid advance in crude oil was given as th? cause of the advance in prices. Mew prices for gasoline will be. for tank wagon IS cents; service station 20 cent 8. The increase Is effective in the eleven middlewestern states of the company’s territory. o FORMER DECATUR RESIDENT DIES Mrs. Harry Braden Dies At Home In Lansing, Mich., This Morning Mrs. Mark Braden received word today that her mother-in-law, Mrs. Harry Braden, died this morning at her homo in lensing, Michigan, following a short illness of quinsy. Mrs. Braden formerly resided in Decatur. Mark Braden was called to Lansing last Friday on account of the serious illness of his mother and he was at her bedside when death occured this morning. The immediate ■auso Os death was gangrene, which was caused by the quinsy. Mrs. Braden was ill only a week- Her husband died last May. Mr. and Mrs. | Braden mov*ed away from Decatur nine years ago. The remains will be taken to Elkhart Saturday afternoon and funeral services will be held in that city Monday afternoon. Burial will be made at Elkhart. Grocery Wrecked By Bomb Niles, 0.. Feb. 12 —(Special to Daily Democrat) —A grocery was •••eke* aiMk dweUMg neM. doa» was damaged by a mysterious bomb explosion here today. Police believe that the blast may be a recurrence of the klan and antiklan bate war which caused serious rioting here in November. This is the fourth bomb outrage in the last 18 months. RADIO FOND IS STILLGROWING Total Os Fund For Buying Sets For Blind Residents Reaches $537.16 Contributions to the fund for purchasing radio receiving sets for the blind residents ot Decatur and vicinity continue to come in, showing the the wonderful spirit of the citizens of Decatur and community. A total of $28.50 in additional contributions has been received since the last list was published, making a grand total of $537.16. A check for $5 was received from Frank France, who is spending the winter in Florida and who learned about the splendid movement through the Daily Democrat. Another check for $3 was received from William Hurst, of Detroit, who is a brother of James Hurst ot this city and an uncle of the Miss Hurst who will receive one of the radio sets. The committee appointed recently to purchase the sets and have them installed, is at work. The sets have been purchased at a remarkably low price, a factory price being quoted by a local wholesale house. A sub-com-mittea has been investigating the residences where the sets will be installed to make arrangements for having the erial erected. The sets will be installed within the next few days and soon the unfortunate residents of the city will be receiving wonderful entertainment through their ears, although deprived of the sense of sight. The new contributions to the fund are: A Friend $4.00 William Hurst, Detroit 3.00 Leßoy Cliffton 2.00 Mrs. George Winters i l.po Ruben R. Romey, Geneva 50 Phil L. Macklin family 5.00 F. E. France, Florida 5.00 Father Otto H. Peters 1.00 Mrs. Cronover 1.00 A Friend : 1.00 Charles Sether 5.00

CAVE ••CAPTIVE” AS HE APPEARED DURING CAVE EXPLORATIONS ■ ■., •, J, ** EmW . > A* 4 • J The above picture of Floyd Collins, cave “prisoner,” was taken in Crystal cave about ten days before his entrance into Sand Cave and shows him in about the sam» position in which he is supposed to be held captive

INSURANCE RATE BILL IS KILLED IN HOUSE TODAY Measure Would Have Abolished Insurance Rate Making Bureaus JOINT SESSION HELD Two Houses Os Legislature Join In Observing Lincoln’s Birthday (UNITED PRESS SERVICE) Indiantipolis. Feb. 12 (Speto Daily Democratb-Rid-mg down tlie protests of a inilitant minority the house today killed the Chamber’s senate bill to abolish state insurance rate making bureaus. A majority report of the insurance committee lor indefinite postponment was adopted. Representative Ridenour, of Auburn, signed a minority report recommending passage. ('.barges of the use of a “slush fund" by lobbyists seeking to defeat the measure were made by Representative Kitch, of Ph’inouth. during debate on the bill. The most powerful lobby has been working against this bill that the present legislature has seen, Kitch said. Its opponents have raised a large slush fund to defeat it. Kitch however did not know what use had been made of the “slush fund.” Representative Freeman, of Kokomo defending the action of the majority of the insurance committee in recommending indefinite postponment of the bill- He declared the committee had no knowledge of any slush fund and had acted on the bill of its own volition without coercion in any way. The senate bill to provide the death penalty for convicted bank bandits was virtually killed when a committee report amending the bill to make the penalty 30 years imprisonment was adopted. A similar bill introduced in the house was killed in committee last week. The house also killed the Holmes senate bill to make the sale of snuff and tobacco to miners a misdemeanor. The house and senate met in joint session at 11 o’clock for memorial services, commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Governor Jackson, presided at the session and Dr. William Lowe Bryan, president of Indiana university, delivered the memorial address. 0 •William Blowers Dies At His Home In Geneva Geneva. Feb. 12—Funeral services were held from the Methodist church hepe at 2 o’clock this afternoon for ■William Blowers, age 62 years, who died at his shome here following an illness of complication of diseases. Burial was made i’J the Studebaker c< metery. Mr. Blower.' Ipd been blind for Hie last sevent?en y< ars. He is survived by his wife and son son, Darrsll.

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, February 12, 1925.

Training Schools To Be Held For Club Leaders

Lafayette, Ind., Feb. 12. —Two state training schools for community and c'i !> leuders, from every county in Indiana will be conducted by the Agricultural Extension Department of Purdue University in co-operation with the state Y. M. C. A. it was announced here today. Leaders from counties south and including Vermillion. Pare, Putman, Morgan. Johnrou. Shelby. Rush. Fayette and Union will go to Camp Bedford, near Bedford. May 25-30. Leaders from all •other counties will go to Camp Tecumseh near Monticello, June 1-6. 0 LINCOLN'S SON IN POOR HEALTH Robert Todd Lincoln, Son Os Former President, Is Interviewed By James A. Moran. (U. P. Staff Correspondent) Washington. Feb. 12. — Abraham Lincoln's son—Robert Todd Lincoln — now in his 82nd year, is failing in health. The doors of the quaint old colonial house here where he lives with his wife and servants are closed to all except his most intimate friends and behind them he p*ses his declining years in seclusion as ordered by his physicians. Uncoin's major activity is corresponding with historians and publicists who write him to acquire details of his father’s life. In this he is keenly painstaking and has the laid of one of the most complete collections of books and. documents on (Continued on Page Three) MOOSE LEGION CLUB PLANNED Decatur Moose Plan To Organize Legion Club Here Monday Night A Moose Legion club is to be organized in Decatur at a meeting to be held at the Moose hall next Monday evening at eight o’clock, at which time James Ford. R. J. Stetter and other officials of the Fort Wayne district Legion No. 18, will be here to complete details. The Legion is a special degree organized among the Moose members, all proceeds from wh’ch go to buying ground, erecting buildings and otherwise paying expenses of installation of a home for old people, located near Jacksonville, Florida, and as wonderful in its line as is Mooseheart for the children. The Legion clubs now being organized are for the purpose of boosting memberships in the Leg'on. Weather Mostly fair in south. Cloudy in north portion tonight and Friday with (some snow Friday. Warmer tonight and in south portion Friday.

FINDS $16,000 IN BONDS IN AN OLD PAINT CAN Heirs Os Late Mrs. Elizabeth Kern Narrowly Miss Large Sum ESTATE IS LARGE Total Value Os Estate Is $110,000; Large Inheritance Tax I How near the of Mrs. Elizabeth Kern, whose death occured last i Deeem'b^F—came* to missing a forItune of over $16,000 was told today 'by Judson W. Teeple, of this city, attorney for the estate, who told how Jesse Rice, grandson of .Mrs. Kern found bonds, securities and couponsj in an old paint can placed in a discarded oven in the kitchen of the] Kern home, in St. Marys township. The $16,000 worth of gilt edge bonds, found in the paint can, comprise part of a fortune estimated at more than SIIO,OOO. of which more than $45,000 is in bank certificates, bonds, preferred stock in reputable concerns, gravel road bonds, municipal and United States bonds. In addition to the bonds and securities there are more than 500 acres of land in St Marys and Wabash townships and four or five small houses in Decatur, which revert to the three children of Mrs. Kern, the mother not having a will. On the day before Thanksgiving, last year. Mrs. Kern came to Decatur and withdrew her papers from a safety deposit box in one of the banks. She took all her bonds and securities with her, for the purpose of making a list of them, it was stated. She did not return the bonds, securities and stocks to the bank but hid them In her own home. Her death occurred on December 4. The children knew she had considerable personal property and a search was made through the house for the stock and bonds. They found more than $26,000 of the bank certificates, preferred stock and bonds a few days after her death and also found the sheet which she had made up, containing a list of the other bonds and securities Since that time a daily “hunt” was made for the missing properly. A week ago last Wednesday, Mr. Rice was looking in the pantry, hoping to find a trace of the bonds. H<* came upon an old bake oven, which was shoved back in the pantry. Inside of this oven was a gallon paint can and when be pried it open, to his surprise found it filled with gravel road bonds and other bonds, amounting in all to $16,062.30, including $75 in road coupons which had not been redeemed. Mrs. Kern’s estate is one of the largest ever probated in the history of the county and the largest tone probated in the last ten years, •it is said. It was stated that she was <the richest widow woman in the county. She owned three farms in Washington and St. Marys townships, amounting to 478 acres and one in (Continued On Page Five)

McGutleyites To Hold State Meeting February 21 A state ineel Ing of all people who used the McGuffey School Books w lien they went to school will be held in the Claypool Hotel, Indianapolis, at 9:30 a. m. and 2:30 p. ni, Saturday, February 21. Registration fees and dues for one year will be one dollar. Otis J. Miller, of Bloomington, Is sponsor of the meeting, and Julia ('. Reid, of Indianapolis, is secretary Pro Tem. There are several peojde in Adams county who used the McGuffey hooks and very likely some of them will attend the meeting. ALLEGED BANDIT IS CAUGHT AGAIN Harry Zimmerman, Suspect In Wren Robbery Is Held At Huntington Huntington, Felt. 12. — Harry Zimmerman, 35 years old, brother-in-law and alleged pal of Roy Comer, bandit and gun-man was arrested Tuesday night at Market and Jefferson streets by Motorcycle Officer Sorenson in connection with the robbery of an aged couple in Van Wert, O. The arrest was made at the request of the authorities in Ohio, where s<ix indictments are held against Zimmerman. Comer, who was arrested at Roanoke some time ago, is now held at Van Wert in connection with the same robbery. Immediately after his arrest, Zimmerman was lodged in the Hunting ton county jail, and Chief of Police Baker notified the authorities at Van Wert, who are expected to reach the city today. Zimmerman declined to waive extradition proceeding and communicated with his attorneys, police said. Efforts probably will be made to free him through habeas corpus proceedings. Chief Baker sa'd that he would request a high bond in an effort to hold the man until the arrival of the Ohio officers. Warrant Received A warrant for Zimmerman's arrest 1 was received in Huntington several (Continued On Page Five) o BABY’S BODY l-S FOUND IN SEWER Van Wert, 0., Police Seeking Identity Os Infant’s Mother Xan Wert, 0., Feb. 12. — Coroner Frank W. Dannecker continued his investigation today regarding the body of an infant girl found by plumbers in a sewer at 215 North Market street Monday afternoon. Fred Tangeman, who lives in the property where the sewer is located, was quizzed by the coroner but denied knowl- j edge of how the baby girl's body happened to he there. Tangeman, who is a laborer at the! plant of the Van Wert Gas Light Co., has lived in the house since December 3, 1924. he testified. With hintm live his wife and baby born on December 31, Anna Buecker, his wife's sister who has an illegitimate child 19 months old, and two broth-ers-.'n-law, Henry Buecker and Tony Buecker. The house was empty for five days before they moved into it, he told the coroner. Asked To Burn Body The witness was questioned about his statements made to the plumbers when the child's body was discovered. He admitted that he had stated at once that the baby did not belong to him and suggested that he take the body and burn it in the furnace at the gas plant. “I wouldn't have done that though after 1 thought about it,” he said. Tangeman told the coroner that his wife’s sister had left their home in anger sometime during the latter part of 1924 when he accused her of being about to again become a mother. Miss Buecker had lived with another sister in Van Wert for two or three months after this episode and returned to his home the last of December, Tangeman testified. Officers say that the only way the baby’s body could have gotten into the sewer was through a toilet in the house occupied by Tangeman. It was determined in an examination made by the coroner and other physicians that the baby had been alive at birth.

Price 2 Cents.

MAY TAKE 60 HOURS YETTO REACH COLLINS Supervisor Os Rescue Work Issues Official Statement Today MAY FIND FISSURE All Preparations To Lift, Man From Cave When Opening Is Made (UNITED PRESS SERVICED , Cave City, Ky., Feb. 12.—Official estimate today stated it would take a maximum of 60 hours to reach the level at which Collins lies. H. T. Thomas Carmichael, general supervisor of operations, issued the following official communique: “At 9 a. m. today the shaft had reached a depth of 10 feet, “Engineers calculate Co,llins is not more than 70 feet below the surface. ‘‘Our normal average now is ten feet in twenty-four hours, which should put us at the 70foot level 60 hours from now. "It then will be necessary to bore a tunnel to Collins whose position laterally from our shaft we believe We have fixed. "If our drift fails to locate him we will make drifts in all directions until he is found." Then Carmichael added, unofficially: “All this is barring surprises. There are many fissures in the rocks. We might at any moment strike one which would lead us to Collins. "Our shaft might strike the roof of the tunnel in which Collins lives obviating the necessity of a side drift. At the Mouth of Sand Cave. Ky.. Feb. 12.—As a winter wind flecked snow across the opening ot their shaft diggers attacked this morning the last few feet of rock that separates them from Floyd Collins. The mole-men have burrowed to the limestone layer which forlhs the root of Collins’ rock box. It may he minutes, it may be hours before their picks pierce that bottom crust and disclose- to them their goal. All preparations have been made quickly to clear out the debris, place Collins on a lift and deliver him to Dr. W. H. Hazlett, Chicago, who will— But there they stop. Dr. Hazlett may give stimulants. Or be may announce the man is dead. Official estimate today stated it would take a maximum of sixty hours to reach the level at which Collins (Continued on page three) o SAW LINCOLN'S INAUGURAL TRAIN James N. Fristoe Saw Train Carrying Lincoln To Washington In 1861 James N. Fristoe. a resident here since 1865 and one of the best known men of the county, thinks he is perhaps the only citizen now living here who saw the train which conveyed Abraham Lincoln from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington. D. C„ in February, 1861, for his first inauguration. Jim was ten years old at that time and was in school in Licking county, Ohio, twenty-six miles east of Columbus. When word came that the train was to pass near the school house, over the old Panhandle railway, the teacher dismissed the class and all the children went to the railway. They were within twenty feet of the track when the tram passed. It consisted of engine and tender, baggage car and one day coach. There were no Pullmans in | those days and the man who was starting on so important a journey was making the trip in the commonest manner possible. Times were strenuous those days and the great Civil war was in the making but the only precaution was a pilot engine which ran about 1,500 feet ahead ot the President’s train. If there are any others in the county who saw the train, Mr. Fistoe would like to hear from them.