Decatur Democrat, Volume 41, Number 17, Decatur, Adams County, 8 July 1897 — Page 1

[all THE NEWS, I ALL THE TIME.

VOLUME XU.

Eva s,nith waß ,he guesl ffrieuds at Ridgeville last Sunffiiy. n [< Erwin and Jud Teeple ateu'ied t<> ’egal business at Borland Monday. Lydia Site and daughter of [ol'iL. Ohio, are visiting Mr. and Mrs A. L. DeVilbiss. Mr. and Mrs Charles Hammond jf Huntington, Snndayed with Mr. ind Mrs. J W. Place. Col. M B Miller and wife, Mrs r G E! iugham and baby are at Winchester visiting relatives. Lloyd and Mabie Sholty of Burkett, Ind., were the guests of B. fo.'Sholty and family last Sunday. Miss Bertha Fullenkamp attended the celebration at Bluffton Monday, the guest of Miss Ethel Starr. Misses Mary and Mabel Staver returned to their home at Bluffton ' jfter a pleasant visit with Miss i Arbie Loch. Miss Gertie Merryman has returned home after a few weeks visit with friends and relatives near M illshire, Ohio. An infant child of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Helm, died early Sunday’ morning and was buried in the afternoon of the same day. Sam Simison of Berne, was in town Monday on his way to Bluff ton He ordered the Democrat sent to his wife at Oden, .Michigan. I The City Band made their first | appearance in their new’ uniforms last Saturday and were the center of attraction. In addition to being [ pretty now, the boys are also flue, musicians. Dr. Chas. E. Miller, optician, | will again be at Dr. J. S Bo vers’ office Thursday, July 15th. Those who have been unable to get glasse- properly fitted are respec - tively invited to call. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Evarts are attending the mee ing of the Indi ana Republican Editori d Association at Mackinac this week. During their trip they wi 1 also attend the national convention of the Y, P. C U. at Detroit. R. K. Allison, D’French Quinn, X. K. Todd and D. M. Hensley went to the Celina reservoir on a fishing tour last Saturday, and report the biggest catch of the season Sixty-eight bass and two hnndred blue gills was the result of two days spent with the finny tribe. The board of commissioners were in session Tuesday as an auditing board, examining the vouchers presented .by’ the trustees who appeared before them. About half of them were absent so we presume that they incurred no expense dur ing the month just past. The first Monday in August the trustee* make their final report to the commissioners. A runaway on Main street Sunday evening caused considerable excitement for a few moments. A [tesni belonging to Peoples & Rice and driven by Frank Peterson started to run as they left the barn on north Main street. They ran south on Main street, and dashed into the barricade at the end of the brick street, where the carriage was demolished. Peterson held onto the horses however, and they "ere finally stopped. The escape of the driver is miraculous, as people expected to see him dashed to pieces every minute. Fire destroyed the transfer house at the junction of the three railroads in this city, last Saturday afternoon. The alarm of fire was turned in about 4 o’clock and the tire department and a large crowd of people were soon on the scene, "wing to the peculiar location of the fire and the scarcity of hose, it was some time liefore the fire department could get at work, but finally got the fire under control, the fire was caused bv a collision of Clover Leaf and G. R. & I. treight trains. The Clover Leaf engine ran into the G. R. & I. freight, knocking two box cars off the track, and the tranfer house off he foundation. One of the cars eontained matches and the jar 'gnited the matches and soon both ears and the transfer house were a Il ‘ ass of flames and were totally deNearly all the contents both cars and transfer house re destroyed, but two bodies ' '-eh are reported to have been in e transfer house, were taken out w ore the Hames reached them.

Miss R iby Miller is visiting at Linn Grove with a young daughter i of er Hoffman. Claude Cole a prominent young! man of Dunkirk, Indiana, visited Miss Fanny DeVilbiss last Sunday, i Mrs. Amscher of Urbana, 0., ' the mother of Rev. Wendell of the I | Evang- lical church, Snndayed with I her son in this city. Mrs. James Bozzard of Toledo, Ohio, is the guest of the Messrs, j Gus and Fred Sellemeyer and other relatives in this vicinity. Mrs. J. E Baker returned to her home at Garden City, Kansas, Monday after an extended visit with Air. and Mrs. X. Blackburn. The picnic at Friedheim last Sunday was a great success. The affair was nicely conducted and I the large crowd of 1500 people had an elegant time. Peter Hoffman and son, Trustee Hall and Fred Hoffman all of Hart- | ford township, were in the city Monday looking after business around the court house. Calvin Miller & Co., the contractors for the Bluffton and Decatur macadamized road are making things hum. They ha'e several miles of grade made also are ready to crush rock. Christ Ashbaucher and William Reppert both of French township, are carrying mighty sore arms caused by being thrown from a | load of hay which they were unloading with a hay fork. ’I There will be no preaching services at the Presbterian church ! Sunday, July 11 and 18, on acI ] count of the absence of the pastor |on a vacation, Sunday school as I usual at 9:15 a. m,., and C. E. at 6:15 p m. We must say that Mrs. Frank , Railing shows more solid grit to | the square inch than any other woman on earth. This was demonj strated yesterday when Mis. Raili ing’s horse took fright and plunged - headlong carrying her at terrific . gait on Marshall street. '. The new circuit court cases art 1 I I Sarah A. Cochran vs. Gertie Faust et al., foreclosure, demand $450. , | Mathias Ullman vs B. J. Terveer, r from J. H. Smith, J. P. John t Glutting vs. B. J. Terveer, . from J. H. Smith, J. P. Robert . N. Laisure vs. Rosetta Laisure, , divorce. I Sam Laman of the firm of J. S. Bowers & Co., has moved his old residence from the corner of Madi- > son and Fourth streets to a vacant r lot on Ninth street, and will soon . have a handsome new residence under the course of construction on f the old site. When completed it will be among the finest residences in the city, and one that Mr. and • Mrs. Laman can point to with < pride. The third division of the Ladies Mite S’ciety of the Methodist . church are now busy making all > i preliminary arrangements and adL I yertising their excursion to RobinJi son Park, Fort Wayne, which is , i due next Wednesday. The park i is a beautiful resort and a dry i spent there will afford much pleas1] ure. The fare for the round trip f is but sixty five cen's, children thirty-five cents. In addition to I this is the street car fare which is fifteen and twenty cents. Lunch » baskets can be stored in the bag- . gage car, so take your dinners and > enjoy a day at this beautiful park. On Sunday evening a union ser- > vice was held at the M. E. church - in the interest of good citizenship. ; The church was beautifully, decoi rated with Hags and John W. \ ail 3 presided. Scripture was read by 1 James Garard and prayer offered . by A. Van Camp. The choir fur f nished excellent music, “Columbia I Gem of the Ocean’’ and “America’’ - being among the selections. Miss I Margaret Eicher sang beautifully, . Mrs. C. E. Doty playing the ac i companiment. Rev. Shepherd who was to have responded to the f subject “Church Unity” was com . pelted to be absent on account of a f funeral. Jeff Bryson took his f place discussing “The Best Way 31 to Spend the Fourth. ’ He had ■ been notified only a few minutes i before, but made one of the best i speeches of the evening. Rev. - i Wendel talked upon “Sabbath 31 Desecration,” Rev. Gregg upon > “Licentiousness,” Rev. Hart upon 3 ‘The Liquor Traffic,” Rev. Horton i upon “Legislatures,” Rev. A itz t upon “The Bible and the Church in Relation to Civic Affairs.”

DECATUR, INDIANA, THURSDAY. .JULY 8, 1897.

Surveyor Fulk filed two ditch reports this week and another is almost comp eted He is the busiest man in town these hot days. Mary Houser, M. Haiers, Mary Reichert, Victoria Ramsey, W S. i Robbins and B. Woodard can have letters by calling at the postoffice., Attorney 11. C. Undeiwood and i wife of Huntington, were visiting | in the city over Sunday with Superintendent and Mrs. Brandyberry. William Sellemeyer, Albert But ler and Frank McCampbell were at the surveyor’s office yesterday making a report of the Homer Faust ditch. The Misses Oral Adams of Portland and Etta Hunter of Wapakoneta, 0., who were the guests of the Misses Meyers on Fifth street have returned to their homes. Among the legal fraternity now at Portland interested in the case of Stoops vs the City of Decatur, will be found R. S. Peterson, J. F. Mann, J. T. Merryman, C. J. Lutz and Shaffer Peterson. Several es the young people of ths city held a picnic in the Dailey grove east of the city, last Monday and the contrast between that cool resort and the sweltering heat of the city was greatly appreciated. Our neighboring cities are ordering all dogs muzzled during the hot season and it might be well for our city- to follow suit. An order of this kind might prevent several cases of rabies, and more cases of lacerated bodies. A team belonging to William L. Linsler, an Adams county farmer, took fright at a Hying bit of paper on .Madison street yesterday, and ran away. Mr. Linsler was thrown out of the wagon and slightly bruised. The wagon was badly wrecked. —Fort Wayne Journal. During the fire Monday evening sneak thieves entered several residences during the absence of the familiesandsecured a small amount of booty. At the h mie* of Peter Amspatigh S3O in money was taken The work was evidently done by parties acquainted with the surroundings. R. K. Erwin as attorney sos Robert X. Laisure, has filed a suit for divorce from Rosetta Laisure. The complaint shows them to have been married March 8, 1890, and lived together until June 24, 1896. Abandonment and adultery with Peter Kessler and divers other per sons, is charged. The plaintiff wants the custody of their two children and a divorce. Frank Nichols a welt known young man of this city, died sud denly Saturday afternoon from a paralytic stroke. He suffered a slight stroke on Friday but recovered from that and was able to attend to his duties at the Riverside Saloon on Saturday. While at tending to the wants of a customer, ne suffered from a second attack and onlv lived a short time. Owing to the extreme warm weather decomposition set in early and the burial took place Sunday night at 10 o’clock. Funeral services were held at the house Monday afternoon. An alarm of the was turned in Monday evening from the livery Mabie of Peoples & Rice on north Main street, and almost before people could begin to think of a fire the building was a mass of Hames. The mow was well filled with hay which only added fuel to the fire and increased the intense heat. The tire department was soon on the spot, but were some time before they made themselves useful. Foolishly or otherwise they en deavored to lay a line of hose along Jackson street on the north side of the fire but the intense heat caused them to abandon the apparatus and seek shelter over the embankment. Had the cart remained where it was three minutes longer, it too would have gone the way of the unjust, but a good Samaritan volunteered to save it alone and unassisted, ami after some further delay on account of a scarcity’ ot nydrant wrenches and hose spanners, streams of water were put at work. Everything belonging to Peoples & Rce was saved with the exception of teed, and a small amount of other goods that were stored in the loft. Their loss is fully covered by S7OO insurance. The building was owned by W. H. Niblick and John B. Rice and was covered by SI,OOO insurance, prooably enough to cover the loss.

& E Operator Williams will i not be held responsible for any mistakes in train orders for a few days. A n w boy who in ide his appearance mst Sunday has com- I pletely befuddled his equilibrium. Clerk Lenhart issued marriage : licenses during the past week to Henry Schmidt and Catharine] Conrad, Sidnev T. C. Chapman and Matilda A. Heath, .Milo J Sales and Coia Meshberger, Mike' Hamrick and Rosa C. Hyde. Clerk Lenhart issued the first; physician’s license, under the new medical law, Tuesday. Eimer L. Gaize of Magley, was the lucky recipient, and from the certificate fil d we note th -t he is a graduate of the Ohio Electric Medical College. Owing to the burning of the transfer house, our draymen have been furnished extra employment in transferring freight from one depot to another, and thus we find a true exemplification of the old adage, “ ’Tis an ill wind that blows nobody’ good.” The June apportionment for the state credits Adams county wi h 7,752 school children bet ween the ages of six and twenty one years. The amount of our state tax is $6,706.98, congressional school fund inte r est $1,500, amount ap portioned per capita $11,085.36. Trustee William Hall is building a new barn that measures thirty six by’ sixty feet, and is surely large enough to hold a'l the stock and grain during any’ year of prosperity. It is already filled with hay of the finest quality’—about the only kind they raise over in Hartford township. The fire on last Monday’ n’ght has demonstrated one thing beyond a doubt. The fire protection for the city is inadequate, and not propeny’ regu ated. The business men and property men are demanding better protection and are entitled to it. There can be no excuse for having only one hydrant wrench and one spanner, neither can there be any excuse for having a fire company without any regulation. Furthermore the citizens will not put up with this class of service, and stand in constant fear of a disastrous fire, when they know they have ample water service to cope with tires, if properly handled. The injunction proceeding instituted by Joseph H. Vogelwede against the common council and mayor of the city, and the Citizens Electric Light Company, came up for hearing before Judge Heller Monday morning. At the opening of court the chairs on the inside railing were all occupied by the interested legal fraternity, the city officers and a few spectators. The attorneys for the city and the Electric Light C unpany were Mann & Beatty, and France & Merryman, while the reraonstrator was repre sented by R. S. Peterson, R. K. Erwin, and Hooper & Andrews. A demurer was filed by the attor neys for the city and company, which demurred to each paragraph of the c mplaint claiming them insufficient, which points were argu d by the attorneys on both sides. The court held the complaint good after which some evidence was taken touching the various paragraphs of the complaint, and an endeavor made to prove that the city is already beyond the two per cent, limit of indebtedness as pro vided by law; that the land upon which the proposed plant will be built, was transferred to the city for waterworks and park purposes only, and that a conspiracy exists The mayor, clerk and treasurer testified, together with the various law points argued, consumed the entire day. The further hearing of the case has been postponed un til some time next week at least. The attorneys, or some of them, went to Portland Tuesday morning, they being interested in the suit ot Eli Stoops vs the City of Decatur, which was venued to that circuit by request of the plaintiff. Their absence necessitated the postpone ment of the injunction suit. In the testimony’ Monday the organization of the water works company was explained. The company was organized with a capital stock of SIO,OOO. The city of Decatur took $9,500 of this amount, the balance of the stockholders taking the other SSOO, which was all paid by Howe the contractor. By this means a company was organized who issued bonds and trust deeds to the amount of perhaps $50,000.

Hoffman & Liddv, the <-ontra -t---toi.s for bridge abuttment on the ! Decatur & Bluffton gravel road, began work yesterday The gradling of the road bed is almost comI pleted from Peterson to this end of ] the line, and by the time another | week shall have elapsed the work of placing crushed stone on the | road will have commenced. Frank Studabakera young man | of Bluffton, and well known in this | city, met with a deplorable accii dent Saturday’ by’ which he lost his ] right hand. The accident was the ] result of a careless handling of giant cannon crackers, one of them exploding in his hand tearing that member to shreds making amputa tion necessary. Warnings are useless now that the g orious Fourth is over, but in clearly’ demonstrates that giant fire crackers are dangerous playthings. County Supt. Brandyberry,Supt. Brittson of the city schools, and the other officers connected with the schools have decided on the division of the county into districts for the employment of truant offi eers Three dis ricts were made. Preble, Root, Kirkland, Washington and Decatur comprising the first; French, Monroe, Hartford, ' Wabash, Geneva and Berne the second, and Union, St. Mary’s, Blue Creek and Jefferson the third. The appointment of truant officers have not yet been made. The city fire department flushed Main street last Friday evening, giving the street a thorough cleaning preparatory to the celebration During the melee the valve in the hydrant was broken and she How of water caused a pandemonium. The ca ch banns would not carry’ off the flow owing to their being in poor condition, and Monroe street was flooded. After some delaythings were put in proper shape i again, and the catch basins received , attention Monday, another case of “barn locked, horse stolen” &q. , By the way, it would be a sens ble thing and a healthy one too, to . wash down the s'reet semi oc ; casfonally. City council met Tuesday even- ’ ing, Mayer Quinn presiding. The minutes of previous meeting were ' read and approved. The finance committee recommended that the following bills be al owed: J. L. Edwards $213.34, Supt. waterworks pay roll sl7 55, Decatur ■ Journal $4.74, X. Inglehart $7, 3 S andard Oil Co., $2.25, Chas. F. I True $12.09, J. C. Roop $2 25, A. 3 J. Teeple $2.25, Ed Magley 50c, > Fire department $53.75, Street ' Commissioner’s pay roll $179 05, 1 F. A. Dibble $2, C. Dorwin S4O, 3 M. Jackson S4O, Wm Geary $5, - Gas Co., $45, L. I. Brokaw $2.34, ’ Ed Green $1 50, Earl Coverdale s $1(1.50, Lew Colchen $1.30. The ■ bills of Chas. X. Spencer and Gus i Ehinger for services as special police during the cantata were not allowed, but were referred to the . judiciary committee. A petition was presented signed by proper y owners asking that a sidewalk be built along the north side of Marshall street to Fifth street. Referred to the committee on streets . and alleys. The city treasurer made his report and it was referred to the finance committee for i approval. The contract for macada mizing the alley running from Third to Glass streets, north of 1 Marshall street, was awarded to ■ Myers & Gillig at $lO4 for crushed stone and 30c per rod for tile. The bond of SSOO with W. J. Myers and J. H. Vbglewede as sureties was approved. A resolution was presented and adopted that the clerk be ordered to draw a wai - rant for $2,000 in favor of E. Woods, payable out of Second and Winchester street improvement fund, as the first estimate upon the Second and Winchester street improvement. Another resolution was also introduced asking that the electric lights now in use by the city be shut off to save expenses for the city, in view ot the fact that the contract with J. D. Ed wards for lighting the street has expired. This resolution brought on quite a wordy- war, and the mat ter was continued until July 13 for action. The mayor filed his report and it was sent to the finance committee. Complaints were made regarding stagnant water standing near the C. & E. railroad, also the unsavory condition of several privy vaults. The city health officer and city attorney were ordered to eee that the sanitary conditions of these places were improved. Council then adjourned.

IIRCULATION 2400 WEEKLY.

NUMBER 17

Charles Worst one of the men convicted of murder in the famous Bakesto case, was paroed by Governor Mount on account of falling health. A few days ago, the governor’s private secretary made a visit to the prison north, for the i purpose of inspecting the condition of the invalids, ami found twelve in a hopeless cmdiiion. All of them will be paroled and the Indianapolis Sentinel says that Werst of this county, is among the number to rective the leniency of the governor. Werst has served about twelve years, and is slowly dying with consumption. He was tried together with Fred Richards for the murder of Amos Baekesto in Blue Creek township, both of them receiving life sentences. In conversation with Hon. W. H. Harkins, deputy revenue collector for this district, that gentleman gave the Sun man the following figures: Friday I deposited $9,957.47 in one of the Fort Wayne banks to Uncle Sam’s credit. This is but little more than half of the amount that will be collected within the next week. The money was derived from the liquor revenue, and came in amounts ranging from $25 to SIOO. Wholesale liquor dealers are required to pay a license of SIOO per annum, and wholesale beer dealers SSO. Retail dealers in beer alone pay S2O for the privilege of selling the foaming lager, and retai ers of beer and whiskey pay $25 per annum. There are many more applicants for government license, which, owing to the rush of business in the office, Captain Reese has not yet a tended to —Portland Sun The glorious Fourth is over in Decatur. The eagle has screamed and the supply of tire crackers and fire works is exhausted. With the thermometer nearing the 100° mark in the shade, a pushing, merging mass of sweltering humanity, perspired and fought their waythrough the crowded streets of the city to see the sights. Everything took place promptly as advertised and while interest lagged in the comical parade owing to the intense' heat, what’ there was of it was in tensely funny and pleased the big crowd. D. L. Myers, Wesley Bowser and S. D. Merrica the judges of the pirade, awarded first prize of sls to the Washington township delegation comprised of the sons of Henry H. Meyers. The second prize was given to the colored delegation comprised of young men living in the neighborhood of Jonathan Fleming. Promptly at 1:30 the fire department gave an exhibition on the streets, but were called upon to give an exhibition in real earnest when an alarm of fire was turned in from the transfer, and a large crowd of people had an opportunity of seeing the boys with their working harness on. At 2:30 the potatoe race took place with six entries. The contest was spirited and full of interest but owing to the immense crowd the names of the winners could not be learned. The sack race followed with six entries, in th s race the winners were Alb gar, Winans and Dubois in the order named. The interest centered in the bicycle race for boys under 14. But two entries were made in this race, Leon Locke and Charivy Merryman. The boys are evenly matched and the race was a hot one from start to finish, Leon Locke finally winning with but a foot to spare. This ended the afternoon program. In the evening the illuminated bicycle parade was the principal attraction. The parade was not noted for its length, but those who took part had their wheels handsomely decorated and are entitled to a great deal of credit for the interest manifested. Among the ladies the winners of the first and second prizes were Misses Myrttle Watts and Blanche Dibble. For the gentlemen the prizes were captured by Rudolph Umble and Ansel Bremerkamp. Fireworks were displayed in different parts of the city and the sky was a continual blaze of illuminated beauty. No accidents marred the occasion other than the usual amount of burned fingers, and clothing, always so conspicons on occasions of this kind. The large crowd was nicely handled, everybody being able to have their wants supplied at the restaurants and soda fountains, and were made as comfortable as possible by our citizens. Thus has another glorious celebration been added to the annals of history, and everything has assumed its normal condition.