Decatur Democrat, Volume 47, Number 24, Decatur, Adams County, 20 August 1903 — Page 1

NEWS all the time.

VOLUME XLVIL

. business meeting was held at the Pleasant M. E. church Saturday Iraoon, August 15, at which it was I , ide d where the new church should Located. It will be on the southpt corner of the cross roads on the Noah Sheets’ farm. The following > ' rsons W ere selected as the building committee: Joseph E. Mann.. Coat < Cook Noah S. Sheets, Rev. W. E. McCarty and Etta Mallonee. Work ff ill be commenced on the building at 03ce . The new church may be called Walnut Valley. An affidavit entitled State vs D * jsy White, Mary White. Anna Sunday, Minnie Brown, and Mabel Evans whose true names are unInown, was tiled before Mayor Coffee Tuesday. The affidavit was filed by Lizzie Kooken and charges the parties named witn maintaining a house of ill fame. Two girls only were found at the house” They gave their names as Mary White and May Martin, and plead gui'ty to the charge. Both were fined to the extent of *18.30, and in default of payment went to jail. The Bluffton base ball team was defeated at Huntington Sunday by the Columbia City Reds in a close score of 2to 1. Bluffton, to be sure, mourns the result,and blames the umpire. Now isn’t that natural’ Her umpire usualy wins half the game but it could not be done as Huntington and a knock followed. A Columbia .City player put the ball to the weeds when a man was on bases and two scores were made while the slow Bluffton outfielder was searching for the sphere. Bluffton objected loudly and appealed wtih that school boy rule, l, Over the fence is out.” Many of the friends of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Brown gathered at their home north of the city Aug. 1 to remind him that just fifty six years ago he for the first time was the honored guest of his father and mother. A sumptuous dinner, and music and the meeting of friends made the day a very enjoyable one for all. The guests from abroad were L. D. Peoples Peoria, HL, Mr. Mrs.and 8. E. Brown and family of Fort Wayne., Mr. and Mrs. Frank Houck and family of Marion, and Miss Eva People, Upland and of course Mr. Brown was the honored guest of the day. D. W. Beery left Monday night for Indianapolis and L. H. Holthouse left at the same time for Chicago, and between the two they expect '' * bag'sbveiV*cass' exceed two hundred head. The firm of Beery & Holthouse have number of sales ahead and before the season ends will cover a great portion of northern Indiana, Ohio and a porticn of Pennsylvania. The prices they are receiving are greatly in excess of that received before, and ready sales have been found every place they have been. It has been a busy season and many hau-? • —» s have bveeu disposed of. The state opened a prosecution in ’Squire Baughman’s court Monday ing against Mary Johnson, for provoke, on an affidavit filed by Rachel P. Ball. John Moran prosecuted and D. E. Smith defended. It seems that the Ball and Johnson children were having their troubles, when the parents interfered, and unbecoming epithets applied to Mrs. Ball by Mrs. Johnson, were the grounds for prosecution. The case was argued that evening but'Squire Baughman didn't think the evidence sufficient, and acquitted the defendant. Clem Voglewede has his shelving built and now awaits the arrival °f his stock of shoes ordered, and if all goes well will have same ready for buying public next Saturday. As has been stated "before, he w iU be located in the Moser building on "South Second street, which he has arranged in a suitable way for the display of such a stock. It is n °w coming in and as soon as it is all placed properly he will open the Joors and be ready for active busiJ’ess. Since being remodeled the room looks very cozy and neat, and as 'em thoroughly understands the Qsiness, he will no doubt succeed.

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Although the India uu peach crop is a failure and the southern crop has gone the same route the price of the fruit will be compara-1 tively cheap in this locality. The Michigan crop is showing up and all evidence points to a bountiful harvest. Dealers are already receiving the advance guard of the peach invasion and heavy shipmentswill soon follow. The useless waste of the city water is an extravagance which the city authorities are going to try hard to curb. In the winter time the water consumers let a stream flow to keep the pipes from freezing and during the summer the people permit a continued flow to take the place of ice and the refrigerator. The crusade against such offenders is a good thing and the water waste should by all means be prevented. If the citizens would only think that they must pay for the waste as increased expenses make greater water rate he would be more careful and if he does not think the city authorities will think for him. A dispatch from Laporte, says: “Advices from Benton Harbor state thatGoveror Bliss, of Michigan, will refuse to pardon Claude Railing, of Decatur, Ind., who is confined in prison at lonia, serving time for bigamy. A determined effort has been made in the past week to secure Railings’release from prison. Railing married Miss Florence Zimmerman, of Niles, before he had secured a divorce from a wife living at Fort Wayne.’’ Railing is well known here as is the story of his crime. His Decatur friends have always believed he committed the crime innocently and have been I doing everything possible to secure 'a pardon for him. Governor Bliss’s action will therefore be a disappointment to them. In renewing his subscription to the Democrat, J. E. Mann of Hugston, Kansas, writes an interesting letter about himself and the country where he lives. A fine rain on August 8 and 11 assures his crops beyond any preadventure. He has 230 acres in growing crops, corn, broom corn, Kaffir corn, cane, etc. He recently was the moving spirit in the organization of a local telephone company, they now own sixty miles of lines and free exchanges with four other companies which is proving a great convenience. He is president of the company and has in charge the manageimpresses us with the fact that Mr. Mann is in high favor in that community and is getting along well. On a change of venue there was held here Friday a suit entitled Wayne Ireland vs the Fort Wayne Traction Company, a suit for damages with a demand for *IOOO. The suit was filed by S. M. Huch as attorney for the plaintiff, and Barrett & Morriss and D. E. Smith for tile traction company. The complaint sets out the fact that the plaintiff was in the employ of the company, and on December 19, 1901, received a fall that laid him up for sixty days, and which badly injured him. The fall was occasioned by an unsafe structure of the company s engine room. The case has been docketed and perhaps will be heard at the September term of the Adams circuit court, beginning September 7. The bond of H. P. Streicher as contractor for bricking Monroe and Fourth streets, arrived on schedule time Saturday, and is now in the hands of City Clerk Hower, in whose care it was directed. The bonds were for |oo,oeo the amount assumed in t e contract for Monroe, street and *40,000 for the Fourth street contract. The bond is given by the Amerian Bonding Company of Baltimore, Maryland, countersigned by the proper officials at Indianapolis. The bond is good as old wheat in the mill and removes the qast spark of doubt about the bmldn. of the streets. Work upon X will be commenced almost at once, and the shortt tone , given assures their completion another winter arriW-

DECATUR, INDIANA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1903.

WE BEGUN TODAY 5 Mailing statements to subscribers owing subscription, or whose E c time expired at this date. If paid in advance, the DEMOCRAT 5 Pl is * 1.00 a year, and if not paid in advance, *1.50 a year. .2 TmriJuihhjiiuirijuiiinjuinhhjfnjiJuihjLruLrLnlruihjxrunFyyOuLnjL-ijijuLruiKrt]

A young man, who gave his name as Irvin Witking and home at Akron, 0., was arrested Monday by Marshal Cordua. He gave the costumary hard luck spoil in Mayor's court but this honor couldn’t see it that way. But in justice to all concerned, the Mayor gave him permanent employment at the jail until the fine of $9.30 is replevied. Young America will be in his glory this fall, the crop of hickory nuts will be a large one. The trees are said to be loaded and if an early frost don't get them the quality will be up to the standard. Whenever there are plenty of hickory nuts the squirrels are plentiful. Walnuts will be scarce and the mothers of youngsters are thankful that stained hands and limbs will be harder to develop. Alexander Tubman of Cleveland, Ohio, the contractor, who has recently been awarded the contract for the grading of the Fort Wayne & Springfield traction line between this city and Ft. Wayne, was in town Tuesday, arranging to begin operations. Mr. Tubman stated to the Democrat that he would start in on the job in about two weeks. Just where grading will first be commenced has not been ascertained, but it is probable that the first ground will be broken near Monmouth. The contractor said that he thought Monmouth a desirable place for his laborers to camp and if they locate there work will be begun near that place. A large number of workmen used on the job will be imported and these will camp in tents along the line of work. Contractor Tubman has organized gangs of workmen and when work is once commenced there will be no delay. At noon Tuesday the first ground was broken on Fourth street. Contractor Strieoher has about fifteen men and six teams at work and the entire afternoon they were busy removing dirt. Some of the ground is hauled on the lots of individuals and the remaining is dumped along the Erie railroad track near the G. R. & I. crossing. Mr. Streicher stated that he had work for every available man in this city and that as *faSt’ iIS would put on more shovelers. All laborers are asked to furnish their own tools. This the contractor says is the better plan for every man will then be careful about placing the tools in a safe place at nights. Work was commenced this noon at the south end of Fourth street and the excavations on that thoroughfare will be comp eted before Monroe W&t jj l be touched. The paving gang will arrive in this city after finishing a street at Toledo on which they are now working. Within a few days Mr. Streicher expects to have at least one hundred men and twenty-five teams at work. A Hereford cattle show and sale was on at Wabash Wednesday of last week, and according to the newspapers of that city it was a large sale and netted the owners some big prices. In the showmany competed for prizes and some of the best cattle ever seen in Wabah were on display. The sales which followed made an average of $165 a head, and fifty five were sold. Some brought very fancy prices, for instance one cow sold for 1350, and others brouhgt S3OO $335, $275, *260, 1250, $3lO, and so on. It was a great day for the breeders of the Hereford brand of fine Cattle, and ought to tickle the vanity of Smith, Ullman & Co., and Toney Voglewede who are extensive dealers in Herefords in this county. They possess sonic migMy fine specimens and they have many superior talking points but we will not attempt to enumerate too many of these as our knowledge lof cattle is somewhat limited. However, we are willing to bank on the Herefords.

Before Esq. W. F. Worden of Union township, begins a civil suit, the plaintiffs being Edwards & Bros, of Monroeville, the defendant being Benjamin Baxter. The suit is on account of *145 which the plaintiffs claim is due them. An attachment was issued by the court on three kilns of drain tile owned by the defendant, which the plaintiffs demand in settlement of the account. The trial begins at ten o'clock Monday. Loyd Banta, little six year old son of Mr. and Mrs. John Banta of Willshire met death Wednesday in a peculiar manner. He was playing about the Banta & Kohn dry goods store, wandered out to the ware room where he climbed up to the loft. He leaned out over the edge, lost his balance, and fell lighting across the top of an open box. The lad's stomach received the force of the blow and he was picked up unconscious and carried home. Medical aid was summoned but seemed to no avail and little Loyd breathed his last at 6:30 that evening. He was a bright litle fellow and he and his parents are well known here where they frequently visit. The accident is a very sad one and particularly so because the father is at Toledo on business and could not be located until several hours after his little boy’s death. The accident happened about 3:30 and the boy fell but a few feet. L. D. Adams and F. P. Adams left Thursday on a trip through the south in search of a suitable timber tract to begin work in the stave and heading business. Their objective point is Jackson, Miss, but in the ten days they expect to be gone they will tour Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama to pick the best timber land with the most favorable location. If they select a site the factory and mill at Bluffton will be moved to the new place. Since his factory burneed in this city two months ago, L. D. Adams has disposed of almost all the remainder of his holdings here and as the timber supply is not sufficient he dees not intend tc re-start the factory. There is nc longer timber about Bluffton, noi near enough to ruh the hiilT’any length of time, and the firm has decided to move into the timber districts, where there are woods enough to furnish an output.— Frankfort Crescent. Frank Thomas a brick layer figured in an accident Monday that may have cost him his life. A scaffold brode with him and when he fell his entire body was bruised and two big gashes were cut in his head. One cut was about three inches long and the other about an inch. Both cuts bared the skull and it was necessary for Dr. Beavers who dressed the wounds to take several stitches in sewing them up. Thomas and several other brick layers were working on the Schenepp school house, six miles east of this city, which is being constructend by Julius Haugk, and were standing on the second story scaffold which gave away on the breaking of a padlock. When the structure broke Thomas and a hod carrier by the name of Williams fell but the latter was not injured to any great extent. Thomas fell to the bottom of the basement through the joists and mass of broken boards. Ben Middleton came near going down with the others as he stood about two feet from the section of the scaffold that gave way. The fellow workmen ran to the assistance of the two and found one alright and the other bleeding profusely. Thomas who was blinded and almost knocked unconscious by the fall, was hurried to an improvised ambulance and brought to this city where he was doctored up. The injured man came here from Marion, Ind., recently and has a family i He is about thirty five years old. ■ £ w

I The infant child of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Kuebler, born at twelve o’clock Monday night died twenty minutes later. It was a perfectly developed boy baby, and much sorrow is expressed that it could not live. Funeral services and interment took place this afternoon. Fort Wayne records a suicide of one of its prominent citizens, W. L. j Pettit. The sad event occurred at seven o'clock Monday morning at the home of the deceased, when he sent a bullet from a thirty-two calibre revolver crashing through his brain. Mr. Pettit had for a long time been the victim of a dangerous nervous trouble, which brought on temporary insanity, at which time the rash act was committed. For many years he was the assistant cashier of the First National bank there, but on the reorganization of the institution something more than a year ago, Mr. Pettit resigned. Since then he has been engaged in the commission business. For many months this nervous disease had played disastrously upon his general health, and his friends many times feared such a result. The first wife of the deceased was a daughter of J. D. Nuttman who at one time was an influential and wealthy citizen of this city. The deceased was about sixty years old. Postoffice Inspector Burr with headquarters in Fort Wayne, was in the city Monday, he being on his way to Van Buren where official business was calling him. His visit here had no especial significance, he simply stopping while enroute through to Van Buren. Postmaster Brittson took advantage of the occasion and . drove him over the city, having in view the idea of showing the inspector the territory that would have to be covered when free de- , livery was established. It has , been contended in away that two , carriers would be sufficient to take care of the work, but after the inspector saw how large we were he . readily admitted that three regular carriers would be necessary to . begin with. This of course means , one substitute always to press into L business should he be needed. Inspector Burr also took a birds-eye I view of the new postoffice building , and the progress being made in its - construction, and signified his ap- , proval of the work up to this time. , The outside walls are now up one , story and a few weeks more will ." Lm.'.l.. ft and a mighty fine one at that. City Electrician Mylott is busy preparing an annual report which he expects to present to the council at their first meeting in September. In this report he will determine just how much per annum each arc L light in the streets costs the city. At the present time there are 73 arc lights in use and at the watt rate charged to private t light would cost the au t or grand total of *5840 per year. The city’s incandescent service is a money maker however and offsets a big portion of the power station . operating expenses. In his report ; the electrician will total the offset and then divide the number of arc lights into the amount remaining operating expenses and thus determine to the cent what each arc light costs the .city. Os twenty or twenty five muncipal lighting plants over the United States, Portland , secures her lights , all things considered about as cheap as can be found. The electrician of that city figures *23.00 for each light per year but the cost to the city is greatly reduced by ncreasing the rate of lights to the private consumers. While Portland's rate, twelve cents per kilowatt, is not exorbitant it is four cents higher than Decatur’s which is extremely low. There is not a city in the state that affords a cheaper rate than Decatur and Logansport is the only place that makes an equal rate. Just what the price for Decatur's lights will be cannot be estimated but it 'is safe to say that they will compare favorably with any of their municipal plan ft

CIRCULATION 2800 WEEKLY

NUMBER 24

The domestic difficulties of the Fronfield family have been satisfactorily adjusted, and as a result the suit for divorce entited Malinda Fronfield vs William C. Fronfield has been withdrawn and the accrued costs paid. Three Lima, Ohio, base ball teams have met defeat in this city, the third losing out Sunday in an overwhelming score of 37 to 6. The Warren, Indiana, team could not come and when manager of the home club learned this he secured the Pirates of Lima instead. The Pirates were not a bad looking set of fellows and a number of sports after sizing them up offered two to one on the visitors. It was the same as usual, however, for you know we cannot always tell by appearances. Lima started in the game like old players but were soon left far behind and never came within talking distance of the locals. Jones of Lima, a south paw twirled for three innings and pitched a good ball but his support was rotten and he cut it out leaving Lawson to finish the game. Lawson was easy and the twenty one hits that Decatur got combined with thirty three errors made by the visitors made the game a cinch for the home team. The Rosenthals were in their old time form and could have swallowed about three teams like their opponents. Only two errors are charged to them and they gobbled up all kinds of hard chances both in the infield and the outfield. Charles Pennington, a new man, was placed at short stop and although he had few chances he gave evidence of becoming a valuable man. Bones France secured the only home run Sunday that has been made this season. He drove a line drive to extreme right center and was across the plate before slow outfielders of Lima could locate the ball. The meeting at the Commercial Club Saturday evening was attended by a few enthusiasts. The report of the committee who had in hand the negotiations with the Springfield Traction Company was heard, and in all things approved. They had secured a thirty days option on fourteen acres of land belonging to Mrs. Allen Robinson, which includes the quarry now being operated, the price stipulated in said option being *2500. They also secured concessions from the traction company that the presentation to them of this tract of land -die;-wi I-'■ Useask. For it they agree to establish and make this city the official . home of the company establish the general offices of the company here, make it the main power station of the entire line and say that the buildings and equipments when all complete will cost near *IOO,OOO. Every one on the line will be paid from here and in a general way Deactur will be “it” with the Spimgfleld Traction Company. The committee who made .11 negotiations, met the traction management Monday and put everything in writing, and now it is up to the good people of Decatur to locate them. If the spirit of enterprise amounts to $2500, the deed is done, and the location of the busy and business institution assured. But it all depends upon Decatur. Committees are or will be appointed to take up this matter with the individual citizens and four hours labor should be sufficient to crown their efforts with success. It is a business proposition pure and simple. The terms upon which this agreement is made are more than reasonable, and the committee having same in charge deserves instituted praise from every citizen of the city. If successful the traction company will put a large force of men at work in the quarry, getting out stone for bridge abuttments for their line. They calculate that they will be able to quarry all their town stone at least for the line between this city and Fort Wayne and it was this feature that appealed to them, in reducing their demands. But it is now up to Decatur and immediate action is demanded.