Decatur Democrat, Volume 47, Number 22, Decatur, Adams County, 6 August 1903 — Page 1

aIL the news all the time.

01VME XLVII.

11REE PEOPLE KILLED IW .aVCERINE EXPLOSION NEAR BLUFFTON YESTERDAY. he Shock was Plainly Felt For a Distance of More Than Fifty Miles. L e Empire and American jycerine factory located two [lies east of Bluffton was blown to jems at 12:34 yesterday, killing f least three people. The report L felt for fifty miles and was L audible here, everyone supising that a terrible explosion had eurred at one of the factories in wn . Word soon arrived from tiffton telling the story and veral hundred people from here imediately drove over. Correct port of the terrible accident is jy difficult to obtain but a ephone message at 2:30 that ternoon said it is known that four Lple have been killed and perhaps ie or two more. Among those lown to have met death was lly Hower, a mixer at the factory id teamsters Radabaugh and iffy. It is impossible to state nt caused the explosion as everyie about the factory was torn to pees, fragments of the men and ant being scattered over a twenty re field. Seven men were empyed at the factory but it is ought only four were about at e time of the explosion. The He glass of the Briggs hardware pre at Geneva and the glass in ivenports drug store at Bluffton •re shattered besides many small lesat a more or less distance Mn the scene. The factory was rued by an eastern company, J. . Billard, jr. of New York Cl*"-, ing president. The plant was lued at |2,000 and was to have en abandoned within a month, new factory having been built at irtford City. Tclqphone calls ire received here from all over is part of the country inquiring the explosion. The report was peculiar one, t Wu"'al.' , l *lW 3ns being heard almost instantly, ie big plate glasses in the various Isiness houses here were well aken up and everyone was badly ightened. Every home in the ty was jarred and some even ought an earthquake had hapmed. The Waring Glove Manufacturing ’•> are doing an immense amount business and the capacity of oir plant is scarcely large enough m eet the demands for manufacred product. At the present time ere are eighty-five machines in eration and it is the intention of e company to , soon have that tfnber increased to 125. The Anient of their present quarters being fitted for a store room and that shall have Iteen come ‘ed a place for the additional Wlll g machines will be arranged 1 A representative of the Singer vv mg machine company was in i» city today and closed a conlct with Mr. Waring for the 'mediate delivery of twenty maJnes which will be installed as 011 as possible. At the present ne fhere are almost 90 employees fhis institution and what it eans °ur city can by no means 1 over estimated.

becAiite D B M oCft <r.

Mrs. Willamina Barron, commonly known as grandma Barron who lives seven miles east of this city died at midnight Friday after several weeks illness with liver trouble from which different complications set in. She was sixty three years old and leaves six children all of whom are living and reside near their paternal home Allen H. Moyer may have to answer to a charge of bigamy. His wife, Mary E. Moyer, has applied for divorce at Decatur, as previously stated in the News, alleging that the divorce secured here by her husband was illegal because she was never notified. Moyer afterards married a daughter of Francis Horner and a little son was born to them last week. He is in Indianapolis. No criminal charge has been filed against him there it was the fault of the court in granting the divorce without notifying his wife. Bluffton News. Mission services were held at the Reformed church Sunday. At the morning services Rev. Peter Kohler of St. Marys, Ohio, preached a highly interesting and instructive sermon to a large audience. Rev. Spies of this city read the scripture lesson and offered prayer. In the afternoon Rev. Kohler again preached and Rev. C. H. Schneider of Magley and Rev. Pontius of this city delivered short addresses. The sermon in the evening was preached by Rev. Oswald P. Vitz of Vera Cruz assisted by Rev. Kohler and Rev. Nate Vitz of Vera Cruz. At the evening services beautiful music was rendreed by the male quartette of the Reformed church at Bluffton. All services were well attended.

A dispatch from Bluffton says: Ida Starr, a sixteen year old girl residing at Poneto, six miles south of this city, was accidentally shot by her brother-in-law, Ira Huff, about 5:30 o'clock Saturday evening, The affair is a terrible one and has shocked the entire community. Huff, with his wife, makes his home with his mother-in-law; who is a widow While Miss Starr was preparing supper, he sat in ;the parlor looking at some pictures in an album. When preparations for the meal had been concluded, the young girl came to the parlor to call Huff. The latter at once laid down the album and picked which was lying on the table. Miss Starr, it is said, warned him to be careful as the revolver was loaded, but he replied that he guessed it wasn’t and he snapped the weapon. To his surprise, the revolver went off and Miss Starr fell, with her hand clutching her throat. Examination of the unfortunate girl revealed the fact that the bullet had penetrated her i” “The course of true love never did run smooth.” Such probably the soliloquy of two prominent Bluffton ladies, who were the stars in a serio-comic affair Saturday night. Edßandall and Edward Winfield, t wo well known business men of Bluffton, thought it no harm to leave their wives at home and drive over to a live town just to see how it goes. But gin a laddie meet a lassie, there’s going to be trouble, especially if the laddie s married. The women in the case were two unknown persons from Marion, who had come all the way to Decatur for the purpose of taking in the town with Randall and Winfield. But the evening train from Bluffton brought over two women who with fire in their eyes inquired for their husbands. Messrs. Randall and Winfield. They soon met them coming down street with two women whom the Bluffton ladies failed to recognize as any of the family relatives. Whereupon one of the Bluffton ladies siezed a buggy whip and an umhtella, and for a while the air was blue, as she landed right and left on the Marion girls . The latter started to run, but their aggressor pursued until the police interfered. The men were nowhere to be seen at this stage, and it is supposed they hurried home to prepare breakfast for their wives.

DECATUR, INDIANA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1903.

L. D. Adams left Monday night in company with several Indianapolis capitalists for Mississippi and the south. The party will be gone several weeks and will before their return determine on a location for a cooperage plant. The thickly wooded southwest territory is well adapted to the needs of such a factory and Mr. Auams and the ] other gentlemen interested have no doubt as to the success of their : venture. Nothing definite has as vet been arranged regarding the extent on capacity of the new factory but indications piont to one of the largest factories of this kind east of the Mississippi. The annual meeting of the stocki holders of the Old Adams County | Bank was held in their offices in the Bank block Tuesday morning, beginning at nine o’clock and continuing until noon. The most jm- ' portant item of business was the I election of officers and board of ■ directors. The officers and members who have served daring the past year again chosen the following well known business men being the list: President, W. H. Niblick; Vice president, David Studabaker; cashier, R. K. Allison; assistant cashiers, C. 8. Niblick and French Quinn; board of directors, R. B. Allison, R. K. Allison. J. S. Bowers, David Studabaker, W. H. Niblick, M. J. Niblick and Henry Hite. The other business consisted of the declaring of dividends and other affairs of particular interest only to stockholders. The most dastardly crime of recent months was committed near Hartford City Monday when two negroes meet George Hearshy, a popular young man, nineteen years old, in the woods, took his gun away from him and then mutilated him in the most terrible manner imaginable, completely castrating him. He managed to crawl home and the alarm was given. A posse was organized and started in pursuit of the black wretches. A dispatch from Hartford City Tuesday morning said: The two | negroes charged with mutilating I young George Hearshey were arrested late last night by sheriff

and his deputies. The prisoners were brought to the city safely and placed in jail, after having been followed by a mob bent upon lynching them. The mob followed ■J-:”-surrounded them in a clump of woods. Had they caught them they would most certainly have been lynched, but Sheriff Morrical and his men managed to lay hands upon the culprits and brought them in safety to the city. The people of the city and surrounding country are wildly excited and the danger of a lynching in not yet over. farmer of St Joe township, died at 10:45 o'clock Sunday morning at St. Joseph hospital, where he had undergone an operation for appendicitis. The operation had been successful and the surgeons in charge of the case were confident that death has not resulted from appendicitis. An autopsy was held by Dr. Maurice Rosenthal, who discovered that the cause of death was paralysis of the bowels. Mr. Schopmann was one of the most widely and most favorably known residents of this section. His age was 53 years, 10 months and 16 days. He was born and raised in Allen county and had lived here all his life. He leaves a widow, Mrs. Minnie Schopmann, and five children—Mrs Wilhelmina Busch and Mrs. Charlotte Fleminy, of this city, and Johanna, Martin and Clara, who reside at home, Mrs. Schopmann, still living, and there are also three sisters and three brothers, Mrs. Henry Leinker and Mrs. William Berning, of this city; Mrs. Henry Berning, of St. Joe township; Henry Schopmann, of Milan township; Louis Schopmann, of. St Joe-jpwnship, and Philip Schop- j mann, of' Fort Wayne. The funeral. services will be held Tuesday after- i noon.—Fort Wayne Journal-. Gazette. Mr. Schopman had a > number of relativesand acquaintances in this county.

The late G. W. Archbold named in his will John Ferguson of Fort Wayne, as his executor. Mr. Ferguson is a lumber dealer of Fort Wayne who is well known in this city has filed his bond and is now acting in that capacity. Mrs. Emma Wingfield, through her attorneys Mock & Sons, filed suit for divorce Tuesday from her husband, Ed Wingfield. In her complaint she alleges that he has been guilty of adultery and cruel and inhuman treatment, reciting in her complaint a number of instances during the past two years. She alleges that this morning he struck her in the face with his fist kicked her and called her vile, vulgar, and indecent names. She says that they were married October 12, 1892 and separated August 1, 1903. She asks for the custody of their two children, Marie, aged ten, and Edgar D., aged 5. She also asks for SI,OOO alimony and $lO per week for maintenance of each of the two children.— Bluffton News. Ed Wingfield is one of the men who was surprised by his wife here Saturday evening while in company with another woman. Ulla Huitz the sweeper agent who has been battling with Adams county citizens for two weeks past, the result of a business controversy with L C. Mills the Honduras merchant, has brought damage suit. The case was filed last Monday by attorney David E. Smi*h and Mock & Sons and is entited Ulla Huitz vs Bert Bailey, Hazel C. Andrews, Lewie C. Mills and John B. Crowl, complaint for false imprisonment, demand SI,OOO. The complaint is very short, simply reciting the fact that on July 22 the defendants in this suit unlawfully imprisoned her and deprived her of liberty for the space of ten hours. They imprisoned her in Wells county and carried her to Adams county, heaped curses, indignities and vulgarities upon her and kept her imprisoned until ten o’clock at night, compelling her to pay $8.60 to obtain her liberty. All this she claims was unlawful and uncalled for and to reimburse her for injured feelings and mortifications she demands the sum of SIOOO. She was arrested for beating a thirty cent board bill, and paid a fine of $8.60. The suit was filed by Mills before ’Squire Bailey, who ordered Hazel Andrews to arrest “was busy in the harvest fields and ordered John Crowl to make the arrest, hence the four parties to the suit. At ten o'clock Tuesday according to previous advertisement the board of commissioners opened the bids for the North and South St. Mary’s township macadam roads, the same being voted for and favorably carried at a township election held in June. The bids as opened were on the north road E. Woods & Co. $16,500; Julius Haugk $16,568; and Davis Dailey, $14,980. South road, E. Woods & Co., $14,010, and Julius Haugk $14,139. The two lowest bidders were Davis Dailey on the north road, and E. Woods & Co., on the south road. No contracts were awarded then and will not be for a week or ten days, or until the board is called by the auditor. By roughly estimating it is thought that the valuation of the real estate and personal property in St. Marys township will permit the building Os both roads under the two per cent limit of indebtedness. The delay in letting the contract is for the purpose of giving the auditor time to total up the assessment sheets for the township, which will determine this point in question. Should the valuation prove sufficient contracts for both roads will be made, and bonds for their construction sold. Should the valuation be short, then one road will be sold. At the farthest construction of both roads will not be necessarily delayed .longer than I until next year. The * two roads I embiace about nine miles and cover | rhe two important thoroughfares of ' the township, and when confpleted i will be a source of pride and con- ! venience to the energetic people of I St. Mary's township.

A TRIP TO THE CIRCUS LARGEST CROWD IN HISORY OF DECATUR VISITS WALLACE SHOWS. Short Change Man at Work, and as a Result Perry Mercer Gels a Terrible Beating. The crowd which attended the Wallace shows .*here Saturday afternoon and evening was one of the biggest ever in the city and the big tents were crowded at both performances. The show was above the average and presented a number of high class features, the general opinion being that the Wallace circus is bigger and better than ever. The usual number of robberiesj fights and other incidents of circus day are reported and can be told as follows j Eph Bolinger the Monroe farmer who was robbed of his pocket book at the show grounds failed to get any trace of it Saturday though he and the police spent sevral hours searching for the parties. He will reward anyone returning the $2500 in notes and certfiicates. Martin Lord, of Monmouth, was perhaps the heaviest cash loser on the circus day robberies. He had four complimentary tickets given him for the use of his building as a sign board and brought his family in to see the show. His little niece accompanied him and Martin took out his wallet out to buy her a ticket. This done he replaced his pocketbook in what he considered a safe place and proceeded on his way into the big tent. But the tip had gone out and no sooner had he entered the crowd than he was quickly relieved of his money by a pickpocket . The loss made him so blue thai he came back to town with his family and didn’t even get to see the show.

Mrs. Erhart and Mrs. Watkins, two women, well known in Decatur, went to the show Saturday afternoon. They were once the best of friends but several months ago had a quarrel that made them bitter enemies. They happened to get into the menagerie tent at the same time' * and ‘after circuiatLng about" an hour or so found themselves face to face. They shot fierce glances at each other. Some one said something, a curt reply and then it came, biff, bang, scratch and pull hair, a regular woman scrap followed.- It was entertaining for the audience but was soon over and the. participants passed on into the circus tent with scratched faces and dishevelled hair. Mrs. Erhart plead guilty to a charge of assault and battery and was fined a dollar and costs which Mrs. Er bait promised to pay Tuesday. Perry Mercer was the victim of a cowardly assault at the grounds Saturday evening and the detectives and show policemen gave a very disgusting exhibition of how they protect their patrons. Perry purchased a ten cent ticket to the side show giving the seller a fifty cent piece. That honest and worthy offeial refused to give back any change. Perri’ of course made objections as anyone would under the circumstances and the ticket seller called for his police gang. They came, five or six of them, and ordered Perry off the grounds. He refused and then followed as cowardy an assault as one could see anywhere. The gang surrounded him and took turns in striking him, three brave and sturdy detectives getting in a kick every now and then. One of the thugs finally knocked the poor fellow down and then William Fronfield and other bystanders interfered and stopped the disgraceful proceedings. Perry then started into the side show and was again assaulted but held his own and gained admittance. Several other people report small losses as the result of pickpockets

CIRCULATION 2800 WEEKLY

NUMBER 22

and short change artists, the sums ranging from a few pennies to a few dollars. It seems the people will never learn to leave their valuables in a safe place on such days and to protect themselves when in a crowd. Attorney C. J. Lutz can tell just how easy it is for a man to be mistaken in a crowd. He was in the jam in front of the ticket wagon Saturday evening and another fellow pushing in the oppoite direction managed to get his watch chain caught on a button on Mr. Lutz’s coat. Instantly the fellow gave the alarm that some one was trying to “touch” him and the glances he shut at the well known attorney were very suspicious. The crowd was stopped long enough to allow the man to undo his chain and push on happy. George Kinzle returned to Portland Tuesday where he is em«w ployed by the Home Telephone Company. He shipped his household goods to that place Monday and will soon be permanently located at his new place of residence. Cal Meyers, who arrived Sunday tells of a frightful accident on his trip. He took the interurban from Fort Wayne to Huntingon and the Erie home. About midway between Fort Wayne and Huntington the car struck a cow, jarring the occupants and delaying them fifteen minutes. About five miles farther,

when they were going a a good clip in an effort to make up time, the car struck a buggy containing a man, his wife and baby, killing them all instantly. The car, which contained twenty two passengers was derailed, but none of the passengers •were seriously injured. Cal has a few bumps and scratches but was not hurt. He does not know the names of the people killed. Hurled down a fifteen foot embankment, with their carriage turned over, August Walter and family miraculously escaped injury. Mr. Walter with his wife and two children was driving past the show grounds, when the team became frightened at a passing wagon, and lurched down the embankment nearly overturning the wagon with its contents. Mrs. Walter jumped with her baby girl, and neither received a scratch. Mr. Walter and his little son remained :«>■, t.-.ig.v;,, The crowd of spectators near by closed their eyes and a moment later ran down the bank expecting to find all or part of the family crushed to death. But, save a terrible scare, they were as sound as ever. The team broke loose, lunged over a five foot fence and were caught in a corn field near by. The carriage was damaged but little, the tongue and axle tree being broken. Mr. Walter and family certainly had a close call and none realize it than themselves. The first society event for several days was the reception and entertainment given by Miss Arbie Loch at her home Mondry night, in honor of Miss Jeannette Crinke of Kendalville. About forty of Miss Arbie’s friends were present and they were all feeling their best. A novel game was provided for the guests, in which bean bags were thrown through a hoop, from the top of which was suspended a bell. The trick was to thrown the bag through the hoop without ringing the bell. The game was a hit with those present, who found the feat more difficult than it appeared. Todd Linn had his weather eye with him, and finished with first prize, a beautiful hand painted picture. Booby was given Miss Lola Jackson. At ten o’clock refreshments were served by the hostess, during which several musical selections were given. After luncheon the party went to the Columbian Club rooms where for several hours they gayly tripped to rag time. The event was highly successful and quite a treat to Decatur society. Out of town guests were Misses Jeannette Wrinkle of Kendalville, Nell Simison of Berne, and Mr. Lorea Marsh of Celina, O.