Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 23, Number 123, Decatur, Adams County, 23 May 1925 — Page 1

■Vol. XXIII. Number 123.

HUNDREDS KILLED BY QUAKE IN JAPAN

■Gang of Bandits Rob Bank at Bourbon

EARLY MORNING I ROBBERY NETS I SIO,OOO CASH ■Bonds Valued At From $2,- | 0(111 To $5,00(1 Taken; Ten Men In Gang ■BANK IS WRECKED ■Telephone Wires Cut And Citizens Are Repulsed By Shots Plymouth, Ind.,~Muy 23.— ■(United Press.) — The State Hunk at Bourbon, 10 miles east ■of here, was robbed of SIO,OOO ■n cash and from $2,000 to $5,■OOO in bonds by an organized ■rang of bandits early today. I George Spindler, the town’s ■night watchman, was seized by ■the bandits, taken to the bank ■nd placed in a back room with ■his hands tied with heavy wire ■while the.v did their work. I Five charges of nitroglycerine ■were used in blowing the safe ■open and the interior of the ■bank was almost wrecked by ■the blasts. fl Robert Taylor, a moving picture ■operator, drove past the bank while ■the robbety was in progress. One of ■lite baadits shot at him. The bitilri ■ grazed his chin. I Other citizens who appeared on the ■ streets were warned to get hack in ■their houses. The bandits who seized Spindler ■ said there were ten men in the gang. ■ Five men were seen at work by ■ Spindler. I Before entering the bank, two of ■ the bandits went to the telephone ex- ■ change, cut all the cables and placed la guard over Mrs. Philip Baugher, I night operator. The bandits used a heavy railroad I iron to batter down the front door (of the bank and worked deliberately | at the tank of blowing open the safe. : which was a heavy, old fashioned one. Silas Wolf, living in a flat near the bank, heard the first blast and ran into the street. A guard thrust a revolver in his face and forced him back into the building. Three or four other men who appeared on the street were forced to sit down on the curbing while one of the bandits kept them covered until the gang fled. WANTS HOSPITAL AFFAIRS PROBED I e | Wayne County Coroner Demands Thorough Probe At East Haven Richmond .End., May 23 — Demand for a thorough grand jury probe of conditions at tiie Eastern State Hospital for the insane was made today I'.v Coroner Bond of Wayne /ounty in II c port of his investigation of the death of Latidy Jackson, of Decatur, t'tt inmate at the institution Coroner Bond also recommended in j •lictment on a manslaughter charge °f Clyde Williams, attendant at the hospital who placed Jackson in a hot htith and left him there unattended. Jackson died from scalds received while in the bath. Williams was dis charged by the hospital superinten'lpnt and has disappeared, o l‘enn Defeats Columbia And Princeton Oarsmen \ New York, May 23. — (United I I’ress.) —The University of Pennsylvania crews, working with machinelike precision, swamped Princeton and ( Columbia in all three races in connection with the annual Childs cup •lit on the Harlem river here today.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Arrest Clears Up Series Os Robberies At Van Wert Van Wert, Ohio, May 23-Tho series of robberies that have been oc-| curing in this city the last several' I weeks have been cleared by the ar , | rest and confession yesterday of "Arch" Chlvlnglon, of North Market, irect, this city. Chivington hasj • been suspected for some time anil when arrested Friday, confessed Io lhe robberies. . When arraigned in Mayor’s court! the man entered a plea of guilty and was bound over to the circuit court of Van Wen county. His trial will i come up the first day of the Septem her term of the court. DAMAGE SUIT COST $1,348i _——_ Trial of Typhoid Fever Case Held Here, Cost Allen County Large Sum The recent trial of the typhiod fever damage ,- uit venued to the Adam circuit court from Alb a county, will cost Allen county a total of $1,348.75 according to the figures just compiled by John E. Nelson, clerk of the Adams circuit court. Although this is a large figure, the greatest cost of the trial must be met by the parties involved as the attorney fees, salary of experts ami other similar costs will amount to several thousand dollaiNt. it is estimated. The witness fees ami court costs which must be paid by the losing side, amounted to $432.70. Trial was in session thirty-three days, or parts of days. The pay of the jurors for the thirty-three days amounted to $937.50. The sheriff ami clerk each received si>6. and the court bailiff received $107.25. The court reporter received $165. The charge made for light, fuel and stationery was $5. and the clerk charged $2 for making the records and statement and certifying same for collection. | The costs of the trial were paid by ' Adams county, but the clerk of the court will certify the costs to the clerk of the Allen circuit court for payment and the money will be refunded by that county. However, it likely will be a year or two before Allen county refunds the money, as the payment will not be made until the case has been finally disposed of. The jury in the case found the plaintiff, the Lincoln Trust company, administrator of the estate of Herman Hauermeister. and assessed the damages against the two defendants, the Pennsylvania Railroad company and the City of Fori Wayne, at $9,00(1. The defendants had sixty days from the time tile verdict was returned in which to file a motion for a new trial, and 1 counsel for the defendants hav slal ’ 1 ed that such action will be taken. In case the motion for a new trial is overruled, counsel has intimated that i the case will be appealed to a higher ' court. If such action is taken ,the final disposition of the ease will be delayed for a year or two. or perhaps longer. Since many more suits, based on the ' same charges, are pending against ' the railroad company and thecity of Kort Wayne, this case is consedered as a test case and will be fought | through the higher courts it is said. o — Bluffton Opens War On Auto Speeders’ (Cnlted Pr««s Service) Bluffton, May 23-A war on auto speeders has been started at. Blhffton by Sheriff Noah Frauhiger, it was announced yesterday. The sheriff ,stated Friday that ail warnings had been made and hereafter violators i'lpnld be dealt with severely. V The speed war is the outgrowth of ' many ■ii-PW-’’' from residents of Bluffton that ears are being driven in excess io the speed laws on side streets 'of this city. About a hundred warnings were issued yesterday and several arrests are. expected today.

HIGHSCHOOL DIPLOMAS ARE ■ AWARDED TO 50 — — » Forty-Fourth Annual Com- i mencemcnt Os Decatur < High School Is Held GOOD ADDRESS GIVEN 1 i Kathryn Hyland Wins A. A. I’. W. Award; Commercial Awards Made Speaking on the subject, "Who Are You And Where Are You Going,” . Hon. Emerson E. Ballard, of Crawfordsville, told the 1925 graduating I class of Decatur high school last | night that they will be judged and measured by the particular "who” that is in them and not by the "who" that they would appear to be, and that their daily actions will be the m.le stones along their road of life that show where they are going. Mr. Ballard spoke for an hour on the subject named above, and his ad | dtess was both interesting and instructive. The high school auditor 1 ium was filled to capacity for the 1 forty-fourth annual commencement ex- 1 ercises. ■ The program started shortly after I 8 o’clock, when the graduates march- I ed in and took their seats on the 1 - stage. The Chambers Malic Players, of Fort W ayiie. jlieti jilayeil a seleelion from “Blossom Time.” The Rev. A. R. Fledderjohann, pastor of the Zion Reformed church, gave the invocation. Following another selec- 1 tion by the Chambers quintette. Superintendent M. F. Worthman intro- 1 diiced Mr. Ballard. In covering his subject. Mr. Ballard, who is a lawyer, author and lecturer, discussed the home and state and their relation to and part in moulding the life of men ami women. The value of good "habits formed in the home was stressed. Fifty Graduates In Class Following Mr. Billard’s address, Principal Walter J. Krick spoke of a few of the accomplishments of the 1925 class, in presenting the class to Superintendent Worthman, who pre-| sented the diplomas. There were i fifty graduates in the class., there being twenty-seven boys and twentythree girls. Mr. Worthmail spoke a few words to the class, giving the graduates valuable advice and wishing them success. Following another selection by the Quintette, Miss Blanche McCrory, of the Commercial Department, presented several commercial awards. Many honors were bestowed upon Miss Mildred Akey, a member of the graduating c lass. During her four years in high school, .Miss Akey maintained an average grade of more than 95 (CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE)

LOSES CUSTODY OF HIS CHILDREN Wells County Board Os Guardians Gets Children Os Loyal Woods Bluffton, May 23—In the case of the Wells county board of children's guardians against Loyal Woods, formerly of Decatur, tor the custody of Mr. Woods’ children, the court ruled for the plaintiff giving the board the custody of the children, with the exception of Martha Woods, a daughter by a former marriage. The plaintiff alleged that Mr. Woods became heavily in debt and failed to care for his children properly, and that prior to the death of his second wife he failed to care for his family The court ordered that the . board of children's guardians take the children and that Mr. Woods pay $3.00 a week for their support. Mr. Woods was formerly a druggist in Bluffton.

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, May 23, 1925. •

Clarence Smit ley Home For Visit With Relatives C.ennie Smitley, of this city, who has been in school at Springfield, Missouri, for .he last two years, returned to this city last night for a visit with his parents and friends. Mr. Smitley is studying to be an evangelist. He has two years of college work yet, and then expects to become actively engaged in Pentecostal evangelism. He will be in this country at .first after his graduation and then It is probable that he may be assigned to some foreign field. If he desires that branch of work. The Pentecostal sect has more foreign missionaries than any other at pres ent. Mr. Smitley said. HAVE LEADING ROLES IN PLAY W. Guy Brown And Freeh Hower Are Damon And Pythias In K. of P. Play The roles of Damon and Pythias, in the play "Damon and Pythias," to be given in the high school auditor ! ium here next Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, will be played by W. Guy Brown and Freeh Hower, respectively. The production will be given by the dramatic team of Ke kionga lodge, Knights of Pythias, of this city. The story rff the wonderful friendship of Damon and Pythias, how Da mon substitutes for Pythias, when the latter is sentenced to he beheaded, in order that Pythias may visit his family, and how Damon is almost be headed: before Pythias returns, is one of the oldest and greatest friendship stories in history,. Mr. Brown and Mr. Hower portray these two (haraeters in excellent fashion. o

TWO CARS ARE BADLY DAMAGED I i Two Cars And Truck Figure In Auto Accident On Second Street Two cars wre badly damaged, about eight o’clock this morning on North Second street, when they met head-on in a triangular smash tip. A Ford coupe, driven by Harold Masterson, of pleasant Mills and salesman for the Adams County Auto company, was going north when a Conter ice-cream (ruck, driven by Aloysius Laurent, hacked out of the alley by the Conter factory, striking the Ford directly in , the side. A car driven by Miss Velma Walters, daughter of flits Walters, was coming south on Second street and when the truck struck the Ford it was thrown directly in front of the car driven by Miss Walters. The Ford and the Walters ear struck head-on. Roy Johnson, who was riding in the car driven by Master, on. received some slight cuts, but the other occupants of the cars were uninjured. The two cars, however, that hit head-on were badly damaged. The left fender axel, bumper and lights of the Wal- . ters car were badly damaged ami the entire front of the Ford coupe was destroyed.

The truck was not harmed to any ■ extent. The alley was blocked so that ' the Conter truck coil’d not pass 1 through and the driver was backing 1 out in order to get to the Conter plant • from the other alley. The Adams Conn- ' ty Auto company car was not exceeding the speed limit, it is said by witnesses, and the car driven by Miss 1 Walters was not going very fast, be- ’ cause it was just pulling out of a parkj 3 (CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE) 3 I Weather Unsettled tonight and Sunday; a probably local thunderstorms; much cooler in north and central po-tlons.

STEPHENSON'S CASE IS VENDED TO NOBLESVILLE Ex-Klan Leader And Aides Claim Fair Trial Impossible At Capital F. E. HINES IS .JUDGE i Date For Trial Not Set By Noblesville Judge; Was Set For June 2 Indianapolis, May 23. (United Press.) —Judge Collins, in criminal court today granted a change of venue to the Hamilton county circuit court at Noblesville for trial of the Stephenson-Oberholtzer murder case. Attorneys for D. ('. Stephenson, former Ku Klux Klan leader, and his two aides. Earl Klenck and Earl Gentry, charged with first degree murder for the death of Miss Madge Oherholtzer, petitioned for change of venue. I They declared the three men couid I not be given a fair trial in Marion county because of the popular excitement and prejudice aroused by the case. After a conference with defense and prosecuting attorneys. Judge Col iins designated the Hamilton county court for the trial. Date for Hie trial will be set by the circuit judge in Hamilton county. The i-asa was to have gone on trial in Marion county criminal court June o Fred E. H nes is judge of the Ham ilton county court. —— o — Attended Convention Os Odd Fellows Lodge Owen Davis has returned front lit d anapolis, where he attended lite annual ((invention of the Independent I Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Davis accompanied a delegation of Odd Fellows who went to Greensburg ThursI day to the annual inspection of the I Odd Fellows Home for Children. The delegation was pleased with the progress of the new Schuyler Colfax Memorial dormitory for children. — o I President Coolidge Has Attack Os Indigestion Washington, May 23. — (United Press.) —President Coolidge was forced to cancel his business engagements today by a slight attack of indigestion apparently caused by eating fruit for breakfast which did not agree with him. The attack was of such a slight nature, however, that the president went ahead with plans for bis usual weekend cruise down the Pontomac witlt , a party of friends abroad the May flower. _ o

JOE ENGLE DIES AT HOME IN BERNE Life-Long Resident Os Adams County Dies Os Apoplexy Thursday Joe Engle, age 72, a life-long resident of Adams county, died at Berne Thursday afternoon. Death was due to appoplexy. Mr. Engle suffered h’s first stroke in April and has been confined since that time. The deceased was born in Pennsylvania and came to Berne when a small child. Most of Ills lite, Mr. Engle resided on a farm near Berne, but recently he moved to Berne where he resided with relatives. He is survived by a brother, two daugh-l ters and ten grandchildren. Funeral services were held from | the home In Berne th’s afternoon at 12 o’clock. Burial took place in the cemetery of the Dunkard church near Berne, of which Mr. Engle was a | member.

To Attend Presbyterian Assembly At Columbus <’. I). Teeple. C. C. Pumphrey, W. A. Lower and Wilson Lee will leave , tomorrow for Columbus, Ohio, to attend the general assembly of Presby--1 teiian churches of the United States in session at that city. The Reverend fl. N. Covert will join the party Mon- ' day. A heated session is predicted at the annua) assembly, it being the outgrowth of several opinions for- ' warded, finally the dividing of the assembly into two groups, the modernists and fundamentalists. It is thought the session will close Tuesday or Wednesday. O HEATWAVE IS CLAIMING LIVES At Least Two Deaths Caused By Extreme Heat In Middlewest And South Chicago, May 23 (United Press" — i At least two deaths and many pros * trations already have resulted from I .the extreme heat wave gripping the 1 middlewest and southwest, according !Io reports to the weather bureau here today. The deaths weie in Nebraska, one man succumbing in Omaha and another in Lincoln Temperatures throughout the state ranged from 95 1 to 104 degrees, but the torried weather seemed somewhat broken this morning. Five prostrations were reported from Milwaukee where the mercury climbed 28 degrees in 20 minutes, and 40 degrees in an hour, mounting to > 91 above yesterday afternoon. Terrific rain storms accompanied ‘ by high winds (rippled communication iu parts of Minnesota and North 1 Dakota, but brought relief from the ■ sweltering weather Minneapolis | had a mark of 99 degrees in the as- ■ I ternoon, and reported two proslra- ’ ' tions.

Storm Brings Relief S'. Paul. Minn.. May 23—Two ter-i ' rific rain and wind storms last night I .and early today crippling communi-’ cations and isolating the central part • of the state from the outside world. I gave this district temporary relief | irom record May heat. II j Two prostrations were reported at Minneapolis, as the mercury touched s the 99 degree mark, setting a new heat record for May and ranging il within two degrees of the highest i temperature on record in the local weather bureau. *' Sweeping through a wide area in 11 eastern North Dakota and central Minnesota, the storm tore down miles 11 of telephone and telegraph wires and ' caused considerable property damage.

Milwaupee. May 23—Five persons were overcome by the heat here dur-i ing the past 18 hours due to the record breapiug heat for this time of the year. The mecury limbed to 91 de grees. Storm warnings were posted along Lake Michigan today giving indications that rains and thunder showers will bring relief 0 — Ends Life After Writing Notices Os His Death New York. May 23 - (United Preus) —After writing notices of his own death for two newspapers, William Edward Coffin, 70 year old investment broker, committed suicide in his Park avenue office. He also left a letter in which he explained he was taking his life because the death of his wife a year . ago had left him lonely and inconsolable. | The death notices, addressed to 1 I the newspapers, read: i "Coffin. William Edward, May 22J suddenly, in his 70th year. Funeral and interment private Please omit ■ flowers.” i Coffin was a native of Richmond. Indiana.

Price 2 Cents.

QUAKE IS WORST SINCE 1923; FIRE ADDS TO TRAGEDY Four Towns Reported Totally Or Partly Destroyed By Fire ON WESTERN (OAST Quake Centered In Old Japan District On West Coast Os Island i (United Pffmn S« rvl<r) Jttpttn litis again been ravaged by earthquake and lire, lite worst since 1'.123 when Tokio I amt Yokohama were laid in ; ruins. I'lie towns of Toyooka, Sttki. Tstiin and Ktimabane were variously reported totally or partly destroyed by lire which followed the quake. tn the flourishing cities of Osaka, Kayoto and Kobe the quake was felt with tremendous shock even worse than that which rocked Tokio in 1923, but without causing damage. The quake centered in the i Kansi district old Japan on . the west coast of the island ,I fronting on the Jttpttn sea. — 'l London. May 23—(Special to Daily Democrat) A Tokio dispatch to the ■ Evening News reported that a train near Toyooka Ute earthquake hit Jap town —la missing and believed ! entombed in the collapsed A.shiya tunnel. A train near Jeobtidu wa,l ■ overturned while the shafts of the big s Ekuno silver mine caved in. the mes sage said. 1 Osaka, May 23 -(United Pres,) — I Several hundred dead have already > been reported as a result of the terrific earth shock, followed by lire which I struck Japan’s western coast today Reports say that easaulties are be--1 lieved to be "large" Towns within tire square miles of * Toyooka were almost completely de stroyed.

|tk Moto Takata Vnited Press Staff Correspondent Oaako, Japan. May 23 Tsltno Sakl once a smiling city of dwellings, noted for hot springs and health re sorts, is tonight a smoking runied city of dead. From an airplane tonight — rushed there with staff correspondents ot the Gaaka Mainichi- the first views of the (CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE)

BOYS HELD FOR COUNTERFEITING Two .lav County \ ouths Arrested For Passing Counterfeit Money Portland. Ind’. May 88. Charged ■ wit It being eoiinterfditers, two youths, ; William Elzroth and Ernest Gogenl heimer. were taken into custody here ! late Friday by Charles Mazey. secret i service agent, and Sheriff Ha*kins J of .lay county Another youth, suspected of being I a member of the alleged counterfeiting gang, escaped, apparently having been tipped off that the officers were after h'ni. i Elzroth was captured after a desI perate struggle with llazey in the atI tic of the home of his lather. Samuel , Elzroth. Counterfeit dollars and half dollars were passed on merchants throughout Jay county. They were r a poor imitation and were easily detected. O o' Daughter-in-law Os Elwood Haynes Dies tl Kokomo, May 23—(United Press) 't —March Haynes, 25. daughter-in-law of Elwood Haynes, builder of the first I- automobile, died here suddenly today. Haynes died last month.