Decatur Democrat, Volume 51, Number 1, Decatur, Adams County, 2 January 1908 Edition 02 — Page 2

IT WILL HE DIVIDED The Two Banks of this City Get the Big End of the Deal. The board of commissioners were in session a short time today, it being their second meeting as a board of finance. Bids were opened for interest payments on public funds. The five banks of Adams county each bid two per cent on daily balances, two and one-half per cent on monies deposited six months and three per cent on monies deposited one year. The funds were divided in accordance with the capitalization of each of the banks, and in accordance with this division the Old Adams County bank is given *60.000, First National bank *60,000, Bank of Berne. *40.000, People's State bank *25,000. and Bank of Geneva *24,000. Under this system the liability for the preservation of these funds is shifted from the county treasurer and his bondsmen to the several banks, and they supply the necessary bonds to make the county safe from any loss.

The county surveyor’s office is being moved from its present location to the rooms in the Morrison block, formerly occupied by the interurban. APPOINTMENTS BY HANLY. Governor Names Members of Boards of State Institutions. Indianapolis, laid.. Dec. 24. —Governor Hanly today announced the following appointments on boards of state institutions: Northern Insane hospital—Henry A. Barnhart, Democrat. Rochester. Eastern Insane hospital—John W. Honan. Democrat. LalGrange. Central Insane hospital—Eli Marvin, Democrat, Frankfort. Southern Ipsane hospital—Fred T. Bays. Democrat, Sullivan. Institution lor the Deaf—W. P. Herron. Democrat, Crawfordsville. Institution for the Blind—-A. C. Pilkenton. Republican, Greenfield. State Normal School —W. H. Armstrong, Republican, Indianapolis and Joshua Jump, Democrat, Terre Haute. The following were re-appointed -,-n Metropolitan police boards: W. T. Dobbins, Republican. Lafayette. A. B. Beshore. Republican. Marion. F. N. Watt, Democrat, Richmond. J. J. Sheerin. Democrat, Logansport. J. V. Murphy, Democrat, Jeffersonville. Thomas Bogot. Democrat. Anderson. T. F. Gerhardt, Democrat, Kokomo. o Another Christmas dinner which was given in the country was the one served by Mr. and Mrs. D. D. Zimmer man at twelve o’clock. The guests were: Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bentz. Miss Viola Case, of Winona Lake; Milton Griffin, of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Mindwell and Alma Case, of Magley; Frank Annen. of Magley. The neighbors were: Mr. and Mrs. Martin Jahn, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Zimmerman, Misses Lulu Jahn, Bessie Vowman, Bessie Zimmer, man Vivian Jahn. Jessie Berry, Messrs Earl Vowman, Roy, Ralph and Clark Jahn, Charles Zimmerman, John Zimmerman, James Zimmerman. James Pierce, commonly known as “Humpty” from Indianapolis, best utility man in the I. O. league during 1907, is here for a visit with old friends Incidentally he is booking his big minstrel show here for February. Jim has signed a contract in the Canadian league for the season of 1908. He is one of the most popular ball players who has appeared on the Decatur diamond since the days of "Chick” Stahl.

We are in receipt of a“Men y Christmas” card from Craig Miller, a former Decatur resident, now living at the Marion soldier home. He wishes all his Decatur friends a happy new year, hopes to visit here soon and advises us to keep up the purpose for a larger city. Paul Kendall, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Kendall, of this, town, arrived home last Wednesday from Staunton. Va., where he is attending military academy.. He will remain in Willshire till the evening of January 4. He must be beck at school not later than the evening of January 6. He likes his surroundings at Staunton, and is one of 350 students now attending that famous school —boys who have been sent there from all over the American continent.—Willshire Herald.

Harry C. Webber, the local as well as a traveling passenger and freight agent of the Clover Leaf railway, sold papers on the streets of Bluffton while he attended the public schools. After from high school he became a telegraph operator and later an agent. He is counted as a hustler. —Marion Chronicle.

; MUCH. GOOD DONE — Many Kind Words of Praise for the Charity of the Elks. Sixty-five homes were made happy bright and cheerful Christmas by the local order of Elks, the result of the distribution of their Christmas dinner and many who never before had cause to give thanks returned the same yesterday. The Elks’ delivery wagons started late Tuesday afternoon with their baskets of good cheer and the task of supplying those on the list was not completed unil early Christmas morning. The committee in charge did their duty in a proficient manner and reached every hom e that they had on their list and if any were slighted it was because their name had not been turned in by those requested so to do. The cause was one of the best moves ever made by a local order, and the Elks are to be congratulated upon their method of bringing relief to those who need it most. The Elks lodge is founded upon charity and every order in the country does all in its power to carry out the workings of the order to the letter and as a result much good is done, and many who are worthy and in need are thus bridged over until the atmosphere brightens up and they can see their way clearer.

ILL MANY MONTHS Was Seventy-Six Years Old —Funeral Services to be Held Saturday. Jacob Hay, aged seventy-six years, died Thursday, at seven o’clock at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Hay on Adams street, after an illness dating back several months, death result, ing from old age and other complications. Mr. Hay for years followed the trade of a blacksmith until his de. dining years and feeble condition forced him to cease work. During the past six or seven years he has made his home with his son, Maurice Hay, where he has been well cared for and given a comfortable home. He took bedfast several weeks ago and from that time he failed rapidly, death relieving him this morning. The funeral will be held Saturday afternoon at th e house. Rev. Hessert will officiate, and interment will be made in the Decatur cemetery. 0 WERE HAPPILY WEDDED. Blue Creek Township Couple Make Their Vows. Yesterday noon at the home of the bride's parents. Miss Eva Workinger and Leroy Ray, both of Blue Creek township, were happily wedded by Rev. Betz, of Rockford. The ceremony was impressively performed and this happy couple start on their matrimonial career under the most pleasant auspices. After the ceremony was performed, the bride and groom and the invited guests enjoyed a wedding breakfast which was elaborate indeed, and they were the recipients of many beautiful presents. They will reside in Blue Creek township, and their innumerable friends join in wishing for them all success th e future can hold.

ARBOR AND BIRD DAY ANNUALHas Been Issued Under Direction of Prof. Cotton. i The and Bird Day annual is issued by the state under the di’ection of F. A. Cotton, state superintendent of public instruction and has been printed and copies sent tc County Superintendent 1. E. Opliger for distribution. Besides the proclamation of the governor relating to Arbor and Bird Day, and communications from President Roosevelt and Superintendent Cotton the pamphlet contains many matters of valuable information. One of the communications printed and made part of the pamphlet is by W. H. Kellogg, a state authority on birds. He writes of companionship with birds and tells of many pleasures to be obtained by cultivating acquaintance with the feathered ; visitors. It is probably his last conI tribution to the annual. Regret for . this fact Is expressed by Superintendent Cotton. Some of the most InI teresting reproductions printed in the pamphlet are the work of children of I the school for feeble-minded youth, i at Fort Wayne. o Mrs. J. L. Harden returned to her home at Montpslier today after enjoying a visit wit hher father, R. F. Mumma.

SUNKEN CITIES. Ancient Legend of the Lost Duteh Town of Stavoren. Along the shores of the German ocean, as in other parts of the world, there are legends of great and populous cities swallowed up by the sea. Sometimes these legeqds are based upon facts and occasionally not A writer in the Scientific American says: "The most striking of all the legends is that dealing with the lost Dutch town of Stavoren. at the entrance of the Zuyder Zee. Here there lived a rich and powerful lady, whose pride, cruelty and selfishness aroused the anger of heaven and caused the wicked and misguided city to sink beneath the waves. A small portion of the city (where the good people lived) was saved, and its name still cleaves to the small town of Stavoren. it Is an indisputable fact that in the thirteenth century Stavoren was a wealthy and powerful commercial city. However, due partly to the port’s becoming choked with sand and partly to the irruption of the Zuyder Zee in 1277. it rapidly lost its importance, and at the present time what is left of it affords shelter to only about 800 souls. The roofs and spires of the now submarine buildings can, it is said, be often seen far down in the depths when the sea is still and the weather is clear, while silent listeners on Christmas eve will hear the distant and muffled tone of church bells arising from the depths, only to break in bubbles and ripples on the surface of the Zuyder Zee. “Disaster befell the small hamlet of Tiefengruben about thirty years ago. This was a pretty little village situated near Kranichfeld, in Thuringia, Germany. In the center there was a small Innocent looking pond, upon which the good people used to keep their ducks and other water loving fowl. One stormy day. why and where- | fore heaven only knows, the village went down, and its place was taken by a large lake, which still marks the site of the 111 fated village. The benighted peasant returuiug home after a hard day’s work felling timber in ; the forest surrounding Kranichfeld often sees uncanny looking lights flitting about over the marshy ground and mutters a prayer for the rest of the troubled spirits who. he thinks, are hunting for their lost home. These lights are merely ignited marsh gases, or 'will o’ the wisps.’ “Many other towns have disappeared. due to landslides, avalanches and the like, which have hurled them into lakes and Inland seas. Local legends say that huge devilfish' live in these takes, and it is their movements which cause the towns to slip down and burl their contents Into the depths, where the monsters can then glut their maws on mangled flesh and blood. Since the eleventh century ‘Old Hans.’ as the Frisians call the north sea. has devastated no less than 144 towns and villages. either by swallowing them up entirely or else by burying them under heaps of sand."—Chicago News. The Selfishness of Bachelors. Assuredly the erudite Gibbon and the crotchety Deyverdun would have liked a woman to attend to their household affairs, but each preferred that the other take the chance of assuming a burden, and. however prudent a wife thus obtained might have proved to be. we may be certain that her advent would have been attributed to human prescience and that she would not be regarded as coming, as the Scriptures truly say. "direct from the Lord.” And yet the pompous Gibbon should have known better. Twenty odd years before, while still capable of feeling human emotion, be had fallen in love really and truly with the Lausanne minister’s daughter, Susanne Curchod. and would have married her but for his father’s disapproval. But self Interest prevailed, and be let the beautiful girl go to become the wife of Keeker and the mother of Mme. de Stael. Doubtless the melancholy aspect of the great man’s autobiography 11 due largely to his subsequent feeling of aggrievement at having deprived himself by excessive caution of a most desirable companionship. But it is ever so with men who have passed forty unsubdued by domestic discipline. Their flagrant demands invariably exceed the bounds of reason. Observe Gibbon’s requirements— a mistress. a lively acquaintance, a good natured friend, a dignified head of the table, a frugal housekeeper and a useful nurse, all molded into one feminine form.—George Harvey in North American Review.

Yuls Dough. The first authentic record of Christmas pie or pudding is that of the Yule dough. This was a paste made in the form of a baby and presented by the bakers to their customers as a Christmas gift In ancient Rome on the vigil of the Nativity sweetmeats In the form of images were presented to the holy fathers, and It is probable that Yule dough had Its origin in this custom. A belief was prevalent .at one time that mince pie. which is composed of fruits and spices grown in the east was a survival in memory of the offerings brought by the wise men to Bethlehem when they came to worship the Infant Saviour. The pie in later years came to be a wonderful compound of fruits, spices and meats, eggs and sugar and Inspired the poet Herrick to write: Come, guard this night the Christmas pie That the thiefe. though ne'er so slie. With his flesh hooks don't come nle To catch It Plum pudding, now the universal piece de resistance in England, was originally “plumb porridge” and was served from a tureen at all the Christmas festivals.—St James’ Gazette.

STORY LEAKED OUT Arrived Here T uesday Were Married During Afternoon by Rev. Paine. Mr. F. C. Waugh, one of the most prominent young men of Bluffton and , employee of the Wells county bank, and Miss Sadie Miller, a popular young school teacher of Craigville. i arrived here Tuesday afternoon and soon afterward accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. O. D. Weldy. drove to the home of Rev. C. T. Paine, of St. Paul church, south of the city, where they were married. They left for Bluffton Tuesday evening, where they were entertained over Christmas. The Bluff, ton Banner said of the affair: It had been the intention of the ccuple to keep the wedding a secret, i at least until Christmas day, and to further their plans each went to Decatur by a different route; but the ab. senc e of Mr. Waugh from the Wells County bank, where he is employed, aroused the suspicions of his friends, and the truth became known. They will live in the property on east Central avenue recently purchased by the groom, moving there immediately after It is vacated by the present tenant. The bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Miller, of Craigville. and at present a teacher in one of the county schools. She will finish her term of teaching, however. Both the young people are highly respected among a large circle of friends, and they have th e heartiest wishes of all for a happy future. 0 SETTLE WITH STATE For Fall Taxes—Suit Filed to Obtain Possession of Child—Joke on Clerks. County treasurer John Lachot left his morning for Indianapolis, where he will settle with the state tomorrow for the fall installment of the taxes paid in 1907. He carried with him the very neat sum of *17,866.22, which with *6,000 previously forwarded, makes a total of state tax for the last half of *23.866.22. Mr. Lachot was accompanied to Indianapolis by his son, Dwight A new case filed on Christmas day was entitled Milton S. Hilpert vs. Leota B. Gottschalk, a suit to modify an order of court. Plaintiff and defendant were formerly husband and wife, were granted a divorce several years ago, when the wife was given custody of the only child. Now comes the father and asks the court to grant him the custody charging th e defendant with treating the child in a cruel manner and with refusing to permit plaintiff to see the child as was ordered by the court. DeVoss and Sut. ton are attorneys for the plaintiff.

Court convened Christmas morning! but no business other than the filing of the above case was transacted. | Deputy Clerks James P- Haefling and Dannie Roop were the victims of an unusual joke Thursday, when Will Fraizier and Miss Pruda Danner, a popular young couple from Blue Creek township appeared at the office and asked for a marriage license. The officials smiled in that pleased and happy manner, stereotyped for such •cessions and produced the necessary blanks, when the eouple, after a few whispered words and a smile and a glance, announced they were only joking. Just what caused the sudden change of plans could not be ascertained. Another license issued Thursday afternoon was to Lena Riesen, aged thirty, a dressmaker of Berne, and Sylvester A. Grove, aged twenty-nine, a laborer, of Pennville. HOME FROM JEFFERSONVILLE. Floyd Leßrun has arrived home after serving a short sentence at the Jeffersonville reformatory and has accepted a position at the old Weber livery barn. He is a young man of' good qualifications, is determined to live an upright, honest life and his one error should not be held against him. He can and will prove his right to the confidence of the people. Ed Phillips an old Decatur print, stopped in Geneva a few minutes Wednesday of last week on his re- . turn to Decatur from Portland, and while in town called at the Herald . office. Mr. Phillips published a paper J here in th e eighties when the paper was known as the Enterprise. He has been working on the M. & K. directory that was printed at the Timmons office in Portland, which is now comI pleted.—Geneva Herald.

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS i •. Joe Was Convicted Christmas Eve Four Years Ago —Peculiar Coincident. Four years ago. at eleven o’clock on ' Christmas eve, Joe Orborn, then on trial for the murder of his father-in-law. John Busenbark, stood with bowed i head and heavy heart in the Adams circuit court room and heard the verdict which pronounced him guilty of murder in the second degree and fixed his punishement at imprisonment for life. The scene was one of the saddest ever witnessed in that old justice hall, and will never be forgotten by the few who stood there. On Christmas eve this year in his prison cell at Michigan City, Joe rejeeived the glad news that Governor Hanly had confirmed the report of the pardon board and that he was free to join his relatives in Grant county for a Christmas dinner. It is indeed a peculiar co incident that a Christmas ! eve should mark the saddest and happiest moments of Osborn's life. There ' are few people who believe other than that Joe has suffered even more than he deserved for his nnlucky fit of anger. His little fortune of a few I thousand dollars was swept away by the costs of his trial and a forced sale, his home was broken up and Mis wife has remarried. He will start life anew and with always a heavy heart. | His freedomn is due to the efforts of his brother and other relatives and friends who were asisted by Attorney Amsden, of Marion, and Smith and i Heller of this city. The petition pre sented to the board of pardons two , weeks ago, contained the names of the judge, prosecuting attorney, jur- ' ors and thousands of the best citizens cf Adams and Grant counties. The board of pardons in making its recommendation, said that the crime for which Osborn was convicted, that ! of killing John Busnbark. his fatherI in-law was committeed on the impulse ' of the moment and without apparent premeditation; that prior to the commission of the act, Osborn was peaceable, quiet, steady and temperate and honest. The board stated, also, that there was trac e of insanity in Osborn s family, and that he was of weak intel, lect. It was shown that at least two members of Osborn's family had been ■ afflicted mentally. At the same time Tuesday, Governor Hanly pardoned Samuel Harman, aged 73, sent from Clay county in 1901, for i murder in the second degree. He also pardoned William H. Walsiffer, conj victed in Johnson county in 1906 of ' grand larceny. The paroles granted in both the ! cases of Osborn and Harmon have the usual conditions which surround such decrees. The paroles are granted on the condition that the men abstain from the use of Intoxicating liquor and from frequenting places where in. toxicating liquor is kept for sale and that they be peaceable, honest and law-abiding citizens.

The office of county surveyor L. L. Baumgartner, which has been located in the Allison block for a number of years, was moved across the street in the room which was occupied by the interurban people before taking their new quarters. The new location for the surveyor’s office is quite convenient and Mr. Baumgartner Is elated over his change. IN CALIFORNIA Charged With Stealing a Large Sum—ls Postmaster at Ocean Park. A dispatch from Ocean Park. CaL, tells of th e arrest of Charles Lovelace, postmaster at that place, who is accused of the embezzlement of between SIO,OOO and $12,000. He surrendered himself into the United States court and Christmas day and was released after furnishing $4,000 bond. Until four years ago when he went west. Lovelace was one of the best known editors in this section of the state. H e was owner and editor? of the Huntington News-Diemocrat tfor several years, later started the Wabash Star which he sold out and established the Huntington Morning Journal, which was suspended after a >ew months, when Lovelace went west, accompanied by James Slack a wealthy and retired stock dealer of Huntington county. He was a brilliant writer and has hundreds of friends in Indian* *hc hope he will be able to clear himself of these ugly charges. Mrs. Fiorella Chalfant, a well known pioneer woman of Wells county, was found dead in bed Saturday morninfl at her home in Ossian. She was 81 years of age, a native of Ohio, an< had lived in Wells county since 185Ei

CHURCH I.:?’ — Various J as rW Yule Tide. By Perle fll Christmas d ay . ano , hp . in the life of y, )l:ng tur, ha.- passed into a most delightful J in th e “ ual form in ; .. rac!i home in the city and e Oa J were the sacred church famly dinners and merir ent. There w ere te , JI mottl -in Decatur J ow.loked by Old Sam tAen care of by the Elks djmers for sixty-eight Ides there were many otheW arity. Os the many socl|| fl jre have been able to Jewing: JJ

Misses Elenora Forbing a Crawford were entertained ( o’clock dinner given by j( r H. Franke at their home, Wayne Christinas. It waj > gathering of the Franke, W« Crawford families. The Christmas collection J orphans at St. Marys chunk] very good one in spite of M It amounts! to *318.14. Mr. and llrs. Charles TnJ Brice were pleasantly enteifl a Christmi i dinner given bj| Mrs. Ben.il lin Sawyer and■ their horn at Bluffton. Ind j Mr. ar. ' Mrs. Charles jJ light fully Pertained a few J at a dinn given at lloelj mas day. Fhe cu ,-ts were:■ Mrs. Jacl Hagel, of Marion, a and Mrsflenry Thomas anil ter, PorA Jesse Helm. A fanfl reunion was helll mas daw- the home of Mr. J V. D. fl. at Craigville. m guests fln this city were:! Mrs. Ofl Mills and family! Mrs. Isl Steele and family! Mrs. (Sge Everett and fstril frey fl and Charles JobJ Danv.lkll: Mr. and Mrs. from fcigville; Charley Ml familf; Craigville. Mifld Mrs. T. J. Durthl a six o'clock ChristJ ner ye rday. The compllJ guesil' re: Mrs. Annie EnJ Marflpffee. Mrs. Bernard Cw Mr. and Mrs. 1 Schjfl and family. Mr. udn SinMßOi tin. Miss Rose Egas! Mrs. Dyonis Schmid! a six o'clock family® at their beaotifl home Mercer avenue yesteifl 1 — 1 Mr G. Ellingham is entail th® Ring Matron's club noon fl: Katherine Confer and fl Mar; Mayme. Rose and® Mrs- •• Smith and daugitfl tfl ests at a family Chriitfl I nby Mrs. A. A. Anfl| I tert Mrs. Arnold was fofl Mis' nter. . ■■ —» •. ■ ■ • r.".-:.: ! the rob and Prairie schoolifl Mt< pe church in Blue Credfl Bh! It was a rousing suctt«fl ch..nd music was conductedfl W Miller. The teacher fl Ja school. The program fl ch of Mr. Wm No’ l - thetefl I Bk’ rair 'e schoo '' At the °fl Exercises, a free will ofWfl t» and everybody seenl fl Ifr Then the presents ™fl I fated by the members ■ I U>l. At this time Mr. Ifanted with an elegant H er by his pupils and Mr 'fl l >,. G E. Garard home : ■ Kue was the scene o ■ Kvab.e ever:' Christmas and Wends * ■ at dinner. -:. and Mrs. A. W g Mr. and Mrs. -I- • Lfl '.Fort Wayne; Mr.Jo-jW f -ntpelier. Ind ''.''V’jndJ R-ard and fami *' phiUp | Fee and son. M ■ Vtli ° n toW ±yn 8 e Lnwood Lial tint- being K 0 .linnet r r and Mis- n bme was g bl!y . Those pre^ fToIe JB lem and Bo 'rs. Minnie » [r . and Mrs. C. J-