Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 26, Number 121, Decatur, Adams County, 21 May 1928 — Page 1

■ WEATHER . | partly Cloudy and I coW ewhat cooler to- | night. Tuesday most- ■ |y fair.

SHERIFF SHOOTS MAN IN SELF DEFENSE

Alleged Slayer Os Lafayette Deputy Sheriffs Is Caught

■JOHN BURNS IS I UNDER ARRESTs DENIES SLAYING I One Os Two Convicts ) Sought For Double Murder Caught At Lafayette I declares bandits KILLED OFFICERS Lafayette, Ind., May 21.—UNS) I _Eearing violence from local ■ citizens, inflamed Joy the brutal I slaying of deputy sheriffs WalI lace McClure and John Groves, I Tippecanoe county sheriffs, I Charies M. Johnson this afterI noon started with John Burns, I alleged slayer captured here I e >rlv today for the slate prison I at Michigan City. Feeling was running high because I of the crime, which was charged to I Burns and Samuel Baxter and which I ocenied as the officers were taking I the two men to the state reformatory. Alters His Story Burns has altered his strange tale I of being overtaken by bandits in a I motor car on the morning of the I slaying, but had refused to admit I pivticipating in the murder. i The new story which he told gave I the names of the three men, to the I officers, whom he declared were I strangers in his earlier story. The I names were withheld pending forth I ed investigation. Hurns insists that there were no definite arrangement between he and Baxter and the three men, relative to a delivery. Burns admitted finally that he was present when the two deputies were slain, the definite point agreed upon where the slaying occured was at Maple Point. Lafayette, Ind., May 21 - (INS) —A fantastic tale that bandits held up the car in which John Hurns and Samuel Baxter were being taken to the state 1 reformatory and captured John P. i Grove and Wallace McClure, slain deputy she; Iffs, was related by Burns f Bowing his arrest here today, according to Tippecanoe county prosecutor Law;ence Davidson. Burns, after his arrest here early I today by a squad of Lafayette police I uh ti, would not admit that ho and Baxter, who is still at large, were, implicated in the killing of the deputy sheriffs, which they were charged. Prosecutor Davidson and Chief of Police Arthur Eversole grilled Burns for« many hours today. Left Baxter In March Burns said that he had become separated from Baxter early in March ami that he has not seen him since. '< OVI'INI RI) OM »>ACR THIEF ENTERS MONROE HOME Suit of Clothes, Watch, And $7 In Cash Taken From Jacob Longenberger Home Monroe, May 21. (Special) — A thief, believed to be local talen, entered the home of Jacob Longenberger, of Monroe, about 2 o’clock this morning and stole a suit of clothes, a gold watch, a hat. a pocketbook containing about $7 and some food. The robbery is thought to have occured about 2 o’clock this morning. •Mis. Longenberger stated that she thought she heard someone moving around in the house early this morning, but did not awaken her husband. When Mr. and Mrs. Longenberger arose this morning, they discovered the theft. The thief had gained entrance through a cellar door and apparently knew the Interior arrangement of the house, Mrs. Longenberger kept some change in her cupboard in the kitchen and this was stolen. The first theory was that two strangers, seen in Monroe yesterday afternoon, might have manipulated the robbery, but It is not thought that strangers would have known where the money was placed in the cupboard.. Police officers are working on several clues at present. Most residents of Monroe are of the opinion that the theft was done by local talent.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Vol. XXVI, No. 121.

UNCROWNED KING AND HIS NEMESIS ] ft . T. ! . ’LI W- d ' I A ■ i * "Big Bill’’ Haywood (right), onetime "uncrowned king’ of the 1.W.W., who recently died in Russia while in exile as a fugitive from American justice. It wa Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (left), who sentenced "Big Hill” to jail in 1921 for obstructing the war.

Chicago Man Seeks Legal Permission To Woo Wife

BACCALAUREATE SERVICE IS HELD Methodist Church too Small To Accomodate Immense Crowd Sunday Night Many persons were unable to gain admission to tlie First Methodist, church to attend the annual baccalaureate service tor Decatur high school’s graduating class, so largo was the attendance. The church was filled long before time for the service to open. The sermon was preached by the Rev. A. R. Fledderjohann, pastor of the Zion Reformed church. His sermon on “What Constitutes a Success- ' tul Life," was filled with sound advice and helpful information for the giaduates. Several delightful musical numbers were given during the ■program. Rev. Fledderjohann’s sermon follows: “Members of the graduating class of 1928, parents, teachers and friends: "We are assembled here tonight in the interest of life. When I use tlie term ’life’ I love to think of Long-fe’-Cow’s poem, ‘The Psalm of Life. which brings to us a wonderful and marvelous message. “ ‘Tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!’ For the soul is dead that, slumbers, And things are not what they seem. “’Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; ‘Dust thou art. to dust returnest,’ Was not spoken of the soul. " ‘Art is long, and time is fleeting. And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled <lrunlß^J ll ' f jJ’ p;itl 2J rOVTIXCKO OV I’AGK THKEEI STEWART MUST S T A N D TRIAL Standard Oil Co.. Chairman Loses Attempt To Nullify Indictment Washington, May 21—(U.R>—Robert W. Stewart, chairman of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, lost today his attempt to nullify the senate contempt indictment against him. He must go on trial here later. Jutice F. L Siddons in district of Columbia supreme court upheld a government demurrer to Stewart's "plea in bar" against the indictment. Stewait contended primarily in his plea that he purged himself of the contempt change by a later appearance before the Senate Teapot Dome committee, at which time he testified fully and answered all the questions he previously refused to answer.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

State. National And lnternmlui.nl Newn

Chicago. May 21—(INS)-A Chicago husband was to appear in court today to seek leg'll permission to woo his wife. This unusual predicament is the lot <f Mr. Jameg, Barrett Johnson, a commercial artist. Ho is Indignant over an injunction obtained by Mrs Johnson restraining him from sending her candy and flowers. • It’s an outrage.” wailed Mr. Johnson. “Any other man who wants to send his wife candy or roses sees a confectioner or a tlorlst. I have to see a lawyer.” And that is just what Mr. Johnson did. Attorney Otto Baer today will go 1 before Judge Joseph Sabath and ask that the “ridiculous" injunction be dissolved. Baer echoed the Indigna- ' tion of his client: ■ Imagine a man going to jail for ' sending candy and flowers to his own ' wife’" he said. But. to Mrs. Johnson, tlie wife, the ’ injunction wasn't so “ridiculous." ' She is suing her artist husband for ' divorce and believes she should not accept, his gifts. His persistent wooI ng. she said, made the injunction I necessary. ti - WRECKS BREMEN . IN TAKING OFF German Trans - Atlantic Plane Badly Damaged In Accident Halifax, N. S„ May 21.—(INS) - Wrecked almost beyond repair in attempting to take off on Plane Sablon. Lali., the trans-Atlantic monor plane Bremen will have to remain there indefinitely until a boat arrives to bring it to New York, advices from Point Amour, Lab., stated today. With Fred Melchoir, the Junkers expert, at the controls and two mechanics accompanying him, the plane lose about. 30 feet after a short dash down the runway built for it and ' suddenly dropped ffo t|he ground. None was hurt, but the left side of the plane was badly damaged. I Melchoir reached tKc Bremen by dropping in a parachute from one of 'he army planes which was to escort tlie German ship to New York. i Alton Hower Buys Stock r’ Os Kolter Grocery Store Alton Hower, of this city, this afternoon purchased the stock of the f grocery store formerly operated by - Fled Kolter, on South Second street, i The stock and fixtures were sold by - the receiver, A. D. Suttles, today, i The price of the sale was said to t have been more than SI,OOO. Mr. Hower could not be located this t afternoon and It was not announced - what he planned to do, but It was / reported that he would conduct the store at its former location.

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, May 21, 1928,

KEROSENE EXPLOSION FATAL TO LOCAL MAN

(Jarage Man Protests Street Repair; Would Ruin “Testing Ground" Portland, Ind.. May 21 —(UP)— Pr. test to the iepair of South Marldlan Street, has been voiced by , John Jellison, local Fold repair man , because it will “remove" his "test- 1 Ing grounds." Jellison points out that the foimer rough condition c,f I the street made an ideal place to I test cars for cqueeks and rattles. Foil of mine i DISASTER NEAR ' 200; 14 ESC APE ( Total Os 45 Bodies Recovered This Morning; Little Hope For Others GAS IS BLAMED FOR THE TRAGEDY] By Regis Curran INS Staff Correspondent Mather, Pa., May 21. — HNS)— Laborously digging their way through debris-choked mine entries, rescue crews today reached the mine butts where the bodies of 152 men killed in Saturday’s explosion in the Mather colliery are believed to lie. Five ' more bodies were recovered today bringing the total taken from the mine to 45. It is believed that 211 men in all were in the mine at the time of the blast and all but fourteen probably perished. Rescue Work Is Slow The work of opening up the mine butts sealed by the blast, more than a mile and a half from the shaft, will probably take another day. officials directing the rescue work said. The rescue' crews are di- ing through each loom in each of the butts between Nos. 15 to 25. in which the bodies are believed to be buried. Any faint hope that any of the miners would be found alive in the mini l was dispelled by the condition of the I five bodies removed today. They were ) burned almost beyond recognition. While the majority of the experts , assign gas as the reason for the blast, there were some who claimed that dust, possibly ignited by a spark from a mine car trolley, caused Ihe explosion. Overlooking no chances to save any men who may have been able to brattice themselves in from the gas, thousands of cubic feet of pure air were being forced into tin* workings today. * A picture of tlie force of the blast was given by Marcus Cobb, leader of the first seven-man rescue team to reach the base of the shaft after the explosion. He said the bodies of three men, badly mangled, werp found almost at the foot of the shaft —5,000 feet from the center of the explosion. A few feet farther on they came upon three injured men. As far as they flared advance in the face of the gas they found bodies, many mangled beyond identification. , o — Two Brothers Fight; One Arrested And Jailed Dan Death of east of Decatur was arrested Saturday charged with assault and battery on bis brother Clinton Death. Death was, arrested , by Chief of Police Sephus Melchi, in a local pool room. The two brothers had engaged in a fistic encounter and . had been separated by police officers. Later, Dan Death returned to the pool room where the fight took place ■ and walked back to where his brother was, with a knife drawn. Chief , Melchi was also in the rear of the r.ool room ami immediately arrested , Death He was taken to the Adams 1 county jail and was released yesteri day on bond. . He will be arraigned in mayor’s court at 7 o'clock tonight.

HENRY WARD IS VICTIM OF BURNS Young World War Veteran Fatally Burned In Blast Saturday Evening Henry Ward, 29, a veteran of the World war, was fatally burned at 5 o’clock Saturday evening, at his home at 310 North Eleventh street, when a five-gal-lon can, partially filled with kersenc. exploded in his hands while lie was pouring kerosene from the can onto a fire in a stove in the kitchen of his home. Tie died at the Adams County Memorial hospital at 11:40 o’clock Saturday night. Body Badly Burned Mr. Ward s body was horribly burned from just below his shoulders to his feet, and he also received bad burns on his arms, hands and face. From his waist down, there was scarcely any skin left. It is believed that he inhaled some of the Hames, also. The city firemen wens called to extinguish the blaze. '1 lie interior of the house was badly damaged and practically all of the furniture was destroyed. The firemen used about thirty' gallons of chemicals in extinguishing the fire. Preparing For Bath Mr. Ward was preparing to take a bath when the accident occurred. He was clad only in his underwear and a pair of overalls. He had kindled a fire in the coal stove in the kitchen, to warm the room for his bath, but as the fire was not limning as well as lie wished, lie pickejl up the kerosene can, which contained about two gallons of kerosene, and dashed some if the liquid onto the flames. The flames, evidently, followed the stream of kerosene hack to the can and the fumes collected inside the can were ignited, causing an explosion. The entire bottom was blown out of the kerosene can by tlie Idast. and the flaming liquid was thrown over Mr. Ward and the 1 furniture in the kitcli(COVI'IM EI» OX PAGE THltl’.l’.l YOUNG MOTHER AND BABY DIE Mrs. Marcus Moser, Os Near Berne, Dies Hour After Her Baby Succumbs Berne, Ind., May 21 - (Special) Mrs. Marcus Moser, aged 29 years died at 8 o’clock this morning. Monday. May 21, 1928, just one hour after her eleven hour old baby had passed away. Tlie deaths i ccured at the Moser home, one mile* west and one mile north of Berne Mrs. Moser took ill with influenza last week, and Thursday pneumonia set in. At 8 o’clock Sunday night. May 20. she gave birth to a baby, which lived only until 7 o'c lock this morning. Mrs. Mcser succumbed just an hour following tlie baby's death. The deceased was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Blocher. Her father having preceded her in death. The mother has remarried and is now Mrs. No.ih Gottschalk, cf near Linn (trove. Anna Faye Moser was born August 19. 1898, near Domestic, Wells coun'y. When a young child she came to Berne and was employed by the Berne Manufacturing Company until her marriage, Match 2, 1919 with Marcus Moser. Tlie husband, mother and three children survive as follows: Robert, agetUeiglit; Vera, aged six; and James aged two years. Three sisters are: Miss Minnie Blocher, of Berne, Mrs. Elmer Dubach, residing near Linn Grove. One step-sister, Goldie Gottschalk, also survives. Funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon, at 1:30 o'clock at the family )esiderice, and at 2 o'clock at the Mennonite chinch in Berne the R. Schroeder officiating. Burial will take place in the M. R. E. cemetery.

ily 'the United Pms mid luirruullouiil Nm* Ser,ler

Executioner Bombed JF w *■ j * J Robert E.liott (above), executioner of Ruth Snyder. Judd Gray, Sacco and Vanzetti, was slightly wounded when his home in Jamaica. N. Y., was blown up by a Isimb left on the front porch. His house was destroyed and two neighboring homes partially wri cked. Police attribute the bombing io Sacco-Vanzetti sympathisers. PRISONER FLEES JAIL: RECAPTURED Dewey Shaffer Escapes While Working In Jail Yard; Two Others Arrested An effort of Dewey Shaffer, arrested a few days ago by Sheriff Hollingsworth. to escape from jail Saturday was climaxed in the recapture of Shaffer after a few hours freedom and the arrest of Ora and Roy Smith, of this city. All three are charged with the disposal of carcasses of dead animals without, a license. Shaffer was working in the jail yard whi n he ran away. Wiien Sheriif Hollingsworth turned around to give some orders to another laborer Shaffer ran across the yard and to the west part of the city where he was recaptured. Shaffer was found west of Decatur in a woods Saturday afternoon by Sheriff Hollingsworth. He was talking to the two Smith boys. Sheriff Hollingsworth approached the trio demanding that they surrender. This they refused to do and started to run in different directions. Shaffer was caught and taken to jail and later Sheriff Hollingsworth accompanied by Night Policeman Burl Johnson wont to the Smith home west of Decatur and took the other two into custody. When the officers arrived at the jail with the Smith boys, Roy Smith demanded that he be released. This was refused and Smith made an effort to escape. He was recaptured on the front porch of the jail by Sheriff Hollingsworth. Smith reached for a gun in his pocket, but tlie effort was frustrated A .25 calibre automatic pistol was taken from him and he was placed in a ceil. Shaffer is in jail awaiting sentence and the two Smiths were cheduled to appear in mayor’s court today. It is likely that Roy Smith will face an additional charge of carrying a concealed weapon. GAS RELEASED IN STREET; 11 KILLED Deadly Phosgene Gas Released In Hamburg, Germany, After Explosion Hamberg. Germany, May 21 —(lI.R) — With eleven persons ieported dead and 100 seriously affected a huge cloud of deadly phosgene gas that threatened the Hamburg area throughout the • night was blown at least temporarily ’ toward open country at noon today by ' a providential wind. During the forenoon rain started, 1 and a wind came from the east. The gas, moving solidly.drifted toward an uninhabited heath west of the city and the danger was diminished. o — < Miss Ruth Johnson, student al * Madam Blakers spent the week-end 1 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. O. T . Johnson, south of the city.

Price Two Cents

SHOOTI NG VICTIM BELIEVEDTOBE FUGITIVE ROBBER Man Shot Bv Sheriff Harl Hollingsworth This Afternoon Expected To Recover GIVES HIS NAME AS COTIE MYERS Bulletin Mrs. Jacob* Longenberger, of Montoe, this afternoon identified the si.it of clothes worn by Myers and one of the gold watches found in his pocket as those stolen from the Longenberger home last night. A man giving his name as (Jolie Myers. 39. tint! who is believed to be from Columbus, Indiana, was shot and seriously wouMlcd at 2 o'clock this afternoon. by Sheriff Hart Hollingsworth, of Adams county, after he had drawn a revolver ami fired one shot at the officer. Ilie shot missed the sheriff. The wounded man was brought to the Adams County Memorial hospital from the scene of the shooting, four and one-half miles southeast of Decatur. by the she;iff. Freeman Walters and Dan Railing. At the hospital, it was said that the man’s wound, while serious, was not believed to be dangerous and it is believed he will recover. The shot entered the right side just below the ribs ami passed entirely through his body. Believed To Be Thief It is believed that Myers was the person who broke into the Jacob Ixmgenberger residence at Monroe sometime last night, and stole a gold watch, $7 in money and a suit of clothes. The sheriff had been working on the Longenberger robbery ease today and shortly after noon he received a call from Perry Everett, who resides near the St. Paul church, southeast of Decatur, saying that he had seen a strange man in the woods near there. The sheriff answered the call Immediately, going alone to the woods. Sheriff Hollingsworth met Myers in the road beside the woods. The officer asked the man what his name was. but Myers refused to answer. The sheriff then announced that he was tlie sheriff of Adams county and that he would like to know his name. At that, Myers pulled a gun from his pocket. Sheriff Hollingsworth staled, and pointed it at him. He began backing away from the sheriff, and filed one shot. He tried to shoot again but the other cartridges failed to fire. The sheriff stepped backward a few paces to his car, reached in the car and got his gun, and fired at Myers, the bullet striking tlie man on the right side, just below the ribs. (COVri'IFD list PACE HIX) FILLING STATION ROBBERY FOILED ■ ■" Clyde Fugate Fires Three Shots At Fleeing Car; One Man Captured i An attempted gasoline filling station robbery was frustrated early Sunday morning when Clyde Fugate, who operates a filling station on West Adams street, heard prowlers around his station and crossed the street I from his residence to the station to (Ind two men attempting to drain gasoline from automobiles parked in the station driveway. One man, driving a Willys-Knight ■ automobile escaped, and a second man W. J, Nolan, of Peru, was captured by Mr. Fugate and turned over to Sheriff Hollingsworth. Fugate fired three shots at the fleeing man, all ” of the bullets striking the car. The automobile was later found by police officers near Kirkland township 1 high school building, and was return--1 ed to tills city. Nolan was placed in * jail and will be arraigned some time today in mayor’s court. It hud not ( been decided at noon what charges would be filed against the man. Efforts ate being made to capture the other of the pair who escaped and word was sent to officials of neigh boring cities and also at Peru where it the two claim their residence. Offld cers at Peru stated in a telephone r. conversation that both men have criminal records.

YOUR HOME PAPERLIKE ONE PF THE FAMILY