Decatur Democrat, Volume 47, Number 28, Decatur, Adams County, 17 September 1903 — Page 1

IZTtHE NEWjf~ ALL THE TIME.

volume xlvii.

owned by Flanders /son one of Decatur’s best horses, Li not go in the Northern Indiana tins fall, as there is no iL, for him. The speed programid not see fit to make a 24 or «is trot and True Worth 18 consequently shut outThe sub-district missionary meet j in , held at Bobo yesterday was a. ln ® S Rev. J. c.White was chairfUC/nd proved himself a splendid, “’X; iveral fothe Fort Wayne, Strict ministers were in attend-, cce andgave interesting addresses . Jhev have come to day and will, old meeting all day in the MethoLt church. Tonight’s service | guises great things tomorrow ( they go to Monroe and Thurßday t 0 (jenevdoelling of the cars between here and . Port Wayne will be furnished from j the station here. This will be the main power house and business nlace of the road, and here is where they will promote their business from The arrival of the company’s engineer yesterday has set in motion the work of grading both at Monmouth and Middletown, and as long as the weather permits this feature so the work will be rapidly pushed. Ralph Erwin, who up to a week ago was with the Murray Hotel, has secured a position as fireman on the Clover Leaf. Ho passed through this city the other day and his fellow brakeman have a little story to tell of “Cv's” gameness. The brakies say that on the first run the lad was almost “all in’’ but still refused to allow any one to asisst him and when the division terminal was reached he could hardly get out of the cab. Dallas Butler, Jesse Winnes, 'Kate Krick of Decatur, John Singleton, Ear! Butler, Charley Cook, Alph Spahr, Ada and Etta Mallonee, C. C. Sheets and family of Mt. Pleasant. and Walter Steele of Peterson, were entertained at dinner at the country home of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Steele in Kirkland township Sunday. The afternoon was spent in games and music till a late hour when the guests parted for their homes wishing Mr. and Mrs. Steel and family many more such pleasant days. The Howard-Dorsett Stock Com pany are announced for Bosses’s opera house in this city all next week. The show is, without a question, the finest repertoire company on the road. The plays are all new their scenery beautiful, costumes appropriate and every member of the troupe an actor of experience. T' *’ management expects a good patronage during the fair week and for that reason has secured such a strong company. Remember, the Howard-Dorsett company will be here all week, from Monday until Saturday. Ollie Conn of Decatur, Illinois, who played with C. O. France of this city,last year in the Paris, Texas base ball team, died Monday from inreceived by being run over by a street car. After the accident it was necessary to amputate his leg and arm and he never rallied from the shock. At the time of his death Conn vas president of the Decatur base ball team of the Three I League, and it was through his influence that 1 rance was signed this season with the Decatur team. This makes the second man connected with the Decatur team who has been killed accidentally, one other having drowned, which is indeed very unfortunate. Business was transacted in the circuit court this morning as follows: German Building, Loan Fund & Saving Association vs Flora and Isaac A. Wible, L. C. DeVoss withdraws his appearance for defendants, default as to defendants, finding for plaintiff for 1674.97. Alma Englehart vs Michael Englefiart, answer filed by prosecuting attorney. Nicholas Wassers, L. W. A. Luckey and James M. Rose, seperate demurer 'filed by Luckey to ea ch paragraph of complaint. MarIha A. Dutcher vs Lucinda Cline et al. default of defendants, finding or plaintiff, that she is owner in fee ainiyle of real estate described in

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Next Monday at Winchester the Masons will have something doing, a wholesale batch of third degree work being on tap. Through E. N. Canada an invitation has been received by the Masonic lodge in this city and if the weather is not too I near the infernal regions, enough ■ may go down to confer the secret 1 workings of this degree upon one l of those seeking light in Masonry. The Winchester lodge is one of the best in the state—except Decatur—and they have an established ’ reputation for the right royal entertainment of visitors to their sa- | cred citadel of Masonic teachings, i Decatur lodge will be entertained and we hope they will accept the invitation. The first real business meeting ; held by the new directors of the Citizen’s Telephone company was the one Monday at which time Manager Tyndall was instructed to contract with George Kinsel for his return to the employ of the company. Mr. Kinsel has been occupying a similar position with the Portland Telephone company, but is an old employee of the Citizen’s, having worked here for several years. He will, no doubt, be on deck again in a few days. The telephone poles along Monroe street were ordered moved in order to conform to the new street being built from the bridge to the Grand Rapids railway. A raise in salaries for the exchange girls was also another agreeable feature to them, each being the recipient of an increase. The special grand jury ordered to report Tuesday to indict Joe Osburn for murder convened at nine o’clock yesterday morning. The delay was caused by the officers subpoening the wrong juror. James McCune was the man selected, but instead Martin McCune was notified. It was necessary to await the arrival of the right man and all day the five other men made themselves comfortable as possible about the court house. James H. Smith was sent out to get Mr. McCune but at three o’clock the juror had not arrived and Judge Erwin announced that they would not be ordered into session until tomorrow. The special session, it is believed, will continue several days. The Commercial Club have everything in readiness for the adjustment of the Springfield Traction subsidy. The deed is made out, contract and other papers all ready for the simple matter of transfer. The traction people are advanced to the same point, and upon the arrival of one of the Fledderjohanns, whose signature is a necessary article to the validity of the transfer, the deed will be done. This will take place not later than tomorrow, and after that event the Springfield Traction Company will be the owner of fourteen acres of Adams county realty, upon which will be erected their mammoth power station, car barns and other buildings necessary for the operation of their system of railway. All the power fur the proThe nearest Joe Hocker has come to asking for a liquor license was for about three minutes Thursday afternoon, when he appeared in the auditor’s office, and for the space of a few minutes made the air blue, in the close proximity of Fred Rohrer, at whom all the surplus hot air was aimed. No particular grievance was aired, and after the first skirmish he went away in comparative--1 ly good humor. Mr. Rohrer stood the fire without retaliation either by , word, sign or deed, and as one man . cannot gracefully run all sides of a the encounter ended before , /began. He did not ask to have i his liquor license brought up for . consideration, and will not as he has said that the business is not of sufficient proportions to warrant . a scrap in court to retain it. He ■ has been engaged in this business at Monroe for years, and so far as we . know always conducted a saloon as , respectably as it is possible to d . . This fact no doubt, makes m that the. present onslaugh aga > ■ him has some personal elements. . „«. hare >. to «« , it is Simply a part of the crusade in Monroe township.

DECATUR, INDIANA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1901.

C C- STATEMENTS have been mailed to all subscribers who owe sub- - ■ and those whose time expire now. The Democrat is £ C ? f ne 1 0 ~a y ear > Paid in advance; and one dollar and a half a year, ? a it not paid in advance. .. 1 | J jijinju oyrtru vrunj-, j trtnjTj uu u uvnlnjt~

A young couple living on First street, whose married life has extended only over four happy months came near having serious trouble today. It seems the bride had made up her mind to leave and this morning after her husband had left for his days work she sent for Brokaw & Son, second hand dealers, and sold him the household go<sds complete. She made all other arrangements to leave town, intending to go to Mil. waukee. Her clothing was packed and everything done but buying a ticket when her husband heard, of the affair. A reconciliation took place, the furniture was redeemed and everything seems as serene as ever. Tom Railing, the Decatur TexasLeaguer, who played short stop yesterday with Decatur, had a rough experience Saturday afternoon in a runaway. He spent the afternoon in Ossian and in the evening started home with a young man named Coffee. Five miles east of Ossian the horse began kicking and running, tearing the buggy to pieces and leaving the boys lying in the road. They walked back to Ossian and let the horse go. They came to Bluffton Sunday morning on the Indianapolis excursion. The horse was caught by a man named McCague, three miles east of where he dumped the boys. He was in a bad condition from his tear. Railing was not much the worse for the experience.—Bluffton News. To properly celebrate the twentieth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. E. X. Ehinger, their daughter, Miss Edna, cleverly planned a surprise, which was executed last evening. About thirtyfive guests had been invited and they took the unsuspecting couple when completely off their guard. The excitement of that moment once over the different parties soon dropped into the game of progressive pedro which afforded the principal amusement. Mrs. Harmon Confer and Charles Meibers came out best in the game and were awarded with presents. Dan Nib lick and Mrs. Dyonis Schmidt played for the booby prizes and were consoled by the presentation of suitable awards. During the evening much merriment was had and the entire affair was climaxed with delicious course of refreshments. The occasion will long be remembered by the guests and it is past assured that Mr. and Mrs. Ehinger will never forget this twentieth wedding anniversary. The Indiana World’s Fair Commissioners are just now giving a good deal of attention to what other states are preparing to do in the way of making exhibtis of their resources at the coming exposition in order that they may be able to exploit the advantages of Indiana in away that will leave no doubt in the minds of all observers of the superiority of the Indiana products. This was one of the important matters discussed at the meeting last week, although the matter was not publicly advertised. The Indiana commissioners have gone far nough with their work to have a pretty fair idea of what kind of an exhibit they will be able to make of the various industries tha* have made the state prosperous. They now propose to do a little comparing with what other states will be able to do so that better exhibits can be made from Indiana than from any other state which will attempt to compete in any particular line. Indiana has rivals in every line o’industry that will be exploited. The commissioners who arc looking; as i <-r the work of collecting exhibits say the state will be able to prove its superiority in all the lines of industry Peculiarly adapted to the state. In the field of agriculture, manufacturing and in the minerals found in the soil they believe they can excel.

Charles Leer, trustee of Green township, Grant county, and Frank Osburn of the same place were here Monday calling on Joe Osburn at the county jail. They called at this office last evening and we found them very clever gentlemen. Mr. Leer said,“l have know Joe Osburn all my life or nearly so and known him to be a good man. You could take a net and catch every man, woman and child in Green township and you would not find and enemy to Joe Osburn. His fiends know that at times when he is worried he is not accountable for his actions and he is known in our neighhborhood as crazy Joe Osburn. Sympathy of his former neighbors seems to be with him. He has an insane sister at home, a cousin in an Indianapolis hospital and an uncle of his committed suicide three years ago.” The newly elected board of directors for the Citizen’s Telephone company met Monday for organization, the same being completed by the elcetion of Henry Hite as president, John Baker vice president, Frank M. Schirmeyer secretary, E. X. Ehinger treasurer, and John W. Tyndall manager. This is the first meeting of the new board since their elcetion, Henry Hite having returned Saturday from West Baden. The board is replete with good practical business men, and the business of the company will continue along the lines of good government in the management of the company’s affairs. Mr. Tyndall as manager, assumes the place of Jeff Bryson, who has filled this position for the last four or five years and who made an enviable record in such a trying place. The new manager is chuck full of ability and is practical in everything he undertakes, and his administraion is already assured from every point ot viev. No business was taken up outside the election of officers, but they have another meeting tonight which will be the initial step toward the business end of the administration of the present board. The Marion Leader says: ‘ ‘Joseph Osburn, who killed his father-in-law, John Busenbark, lived in Grant county most all his life. He reside I in Green township and his occupation was that of a £ ««.;-«■■ • ' well known pill over the county. Nine years ago Osburn committed a vicious assault on Lew McCaskey, a resident of Green township and a brother of Harve McCaskey, the politician. Osburn claimed that McCaskey had talked about his wife, and seeing McCaskey at a country sale he approached him from behind and beat him over the head with the butt end of a black snake whip. Me<’iskey wits'serious’-’’ ]y injured and for a time it was feared that he would-dk>. Osburn was arrested on the charge of assault with intent to kill and brought to jail in Marion. He was triedjin the circuit court and was found guilty of assault and battery and was fined 1500 and given a jail sentence His relatives wanted to make up his fine and get him out of jail, but he refused to allow them to do so, saying that he didn’t know any better way to make SSOO than to lay it out in jail. At the jail he was soon made trusty and after serving almost a year he was allowed to return to his family. He has never been conisdered exactly right mentally and one sister is said to have died in an insane asylum. John Busenbark , the murdered man, resided in Grant county on his Green township farm for twenty years. He was highly respected and had a large circle of friends. His wife died in the Marion early last spring. Shortly after that he sold his Grant county farm and he and his son-in-law, the man who killed him, moved to Dec&tur. where they had purchased a farm.

George Flanders is loser a valuable gold watch and believes it to I have been stolen by a cripple beggar j who was on the streets Monday. : On that day George left the watch ■in his vest pocket which he carelessly left on the counter at the front of the laundry. At noon when he picked up his vest the watch and chain were missing. An investigation showed that the tramp had gone into the laundry but no one there saw him and it is beleived that under ordinary circumstances he would have went back where the people were working and asked for aid. He failed to do so and suspicion rests upon him. Marshal Cor dua has located him at Geneva and if the watch is found upon his person he will very probably not have to beg for a few’ years. The watch was a present to George from his uncle and was valuable, the case being of 18 carat gold and the works of the Amercian make. Frederick Blakey, one of the best known citizens of Adams county, died yesterday at eight o’clock, after suffering for four weeks from a stroke of paralysis. The deceased died at his home in the Blakey settlement in Union township which is so called from the fact that tne Blakey family was the first to settle in that locality. Mr. Blakey was a very influential citizen and a trustworthy man and one w’hose death is deeply felt by the community. He was born in Prussia, November 30, 1825, and came with his parents to America when ten years of age. He was married in December, 1854, to Miss Mary Bevalheimer who preceded him to the great beyond a number of years ago. Eight living children, five girls and three boys, survive their father. All of these, except Mrs. Frank Lankanau of New Orleans, live in this county near the parental homestead. In 1850 Fred Blakey and his brother embarked in the mercantile business and also run an ashery under the firm name of J. H. Blakey. In 1880 they commenced the manufacture of tile and did a very successful business. The funeral of the deceased will be held at two o’clock Thrusday after noon at the. Blakey church and interment will be made in the church yard cemetery. The Berne anti-saloon crusaders held a meeting Monday, it being called for the purpose of discussing and acting upon the proposition of the Berne saloon keepers that they would gracefully retire from business, providing a reasonable settlement be made which would in a way repay them for the loss of their W-k aft hand. The meeting last evening was largely attended, thus attesting the fact that the sentiment of the temperance element is at the right temperature. The offer of the saloon men was flatly sat upon. It only had Fred Rohrer and two others to support it. and while they earnestly endeavored to enlighten those present with the fact that they could ■well afford to be lenient to put into active practice the teachings of their Christianitys They were everlasting floored on the proposition, the opponents evidently believing that they should spare no quarter. This is an old, ancient rule, perhaps good enough in its day, but too decrepid for consideration in the twentieth century. They propose to adopt it. The next step in the cases will be the pushing of the evidence in the Berne justice’s court, hoping to have sufficient proof there to break up the saloon business in Berne. If that proves insufficient the cases in the circuit court here will be brought into play. The crusaders are determined and with a large fund at their disposal they can and will make things lively. It will at least stir the animals in Berne, and, for a time at least, many grusome stories may be expected to appear in the metropolitan press. It will prove a feast tor the correspondent scavenger, who thinks more of tl- fifteen cents he Sometimes gets, t he does for the truth about which he is trying to write. At the least, however, Berne will be well advertised.

NUMBER 28

A cowardly attack upon Fred Rohrer, his family and home was made early last Thur.- d<y and vas partially successful. Mr. Roherer as is well known, is the editor of the Berne Witness and the leader of the Anti-Saloon forces in that city. He has been ever alert and has never stopped dealing blows against the cause he belejves so detrimental. During the past two weeks he has been told that there was considerable talk that his home was to be blown up and he has been expecting most any emergency. At 1:47 that morning an explosion occurred followed a minute later by a heavier one. Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer were awakened by the first explosion but remained quiet until the second one came and when this one caved in the windows in the bed room they deemed it time to be getting out. The Rohrer home is located on the north eastcorner of Sprunger and Washington streets in the central part of town. The first charge of dynamite was placed between the screen and frame of a window on the west side and the second inside the screen of the front door. Mr. Rohrer believes the affair was carefully planned, that the perpetrators placed a light charge in the window expecting that when it went off Fred would rush down stairs and out to the front door just in time to receive the full effect of the much heavier charge placed at that part of the house. But Fred considered himself just as safe in bed as anywhere else and remained there until the shooting was over. Then he and Mrs. Rohrer came down stairs to view the wreck. The telephone was shattered some but Fred was able to call up Stengel & Craig’s drug store and tell them what had occurred. Quite a crowd had gathered on Main street believing a bank or safe had been blown and they appeared at the Rohrer house. Two down stairs windows and one upstairs were demolished, the front door was blown across the sitting room, the front porch was almost totally wrecked and the floor and ceiling being torn out almost entirely. The interior of the house presented a sorry appearance, chairs and stands were overturned and piled up in a heap, glassware and dishes had been thrown from the shelves and the pieces were strewn over the floor. Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer and three children spent the rest of the night at the neighbor’s homes. Fred coming here this morning to continue his fight in commissioners court against the saloons. Mrs. Rohrer and children will stay with her sister for a few workmen having started repairing the house this morning. The damages will be paid out of the temperance fund, though Fred received twenty five dollars donations by mail that morning from his sympathisers and this amount was increased no doubt during the day. Whatever is received in that manner will go into the fund. When first explosion ocoured - rushed -cut of his lions-■ and had just reached, the street when the second bomb exploded. The exact time is known, from the fact that the clock stopped and still shows thirteen minutes to one. Berne citizens are greatly excited and hundreds have visited the scene. The affair it is believed by many will turn the tide of public sentiment strongly in favor of the temperance people. Mr. Rohrer says: “I was looking for such a thing to happen, having been warned several times. My wife was also expecting it and we were neither one very badly frightened. I believe they have done their worst now and we will not be bothered any more. It is the death blow for saloons in Berne I shall continue my fight and believe I can win out.” The damage will not be over $l5O. The attack was one of the most cowardly ever attempted in the county and is denounced in strong terms by every fair minded citizen. No clue has yet been found to the cowards, but the officers will use every possible effort to run them down and if successful the guilty ones should and will be punished severely. gT&j