Decatur Democrat, Volume 51, Number 15, Decatur, Adams County, 9 April 1908 — Page 6

TERM CLOSED TODAY Various Bills Allowed—A Week’s Vacation—Several Suits Dismissed The February term of the Adams circuit court closed Saturday after a busy session. The Ap.ll term will begin on April 13th after a weeks vacation. The grand jury will convene on the same day and it may unlucky for some law breakers. After nearly twenty hours’ consideration the jury in the case of Sarah Gleason vs. Ed Young to collect $5,000 damages for the death of Clem Boze, returned a verdict at six o’clock last Saturday finding for the defendant. It is said the first ballot resulted six to six, the six for the plaintiff finally coming over to the views of the Others. A motion for a new trial will be filed. Peterson & Moran have entered appearance for the defendant in the case of Sadie E. Myens vs. Harvey E, Myers, divorce. The Base of Richard B. Johnson vs. George Raver et al, foreclosure of mortgage, dismissed and costs paid.

Citizens' National Bank, of Portland vs. Rosa E. Smitley et al, to foreclose mortgage, appearance by ' Peterson & Moran and Dell Dragoo : for defendants. - < Ida D. Whitright vs. Abraham Whitright, divorce, dismissed %t cost < of plaintiff. Grant G. Owens vs. Peter Helmrick. warranty, costs ordered retaxed. Delilah J. Butler vs. Margaret and Henry Mayer, trespass, J. C. Sutton apptflnted special judge to hear 1 cause. Srate vs. Harry Miller, larceny, cause dismissed and defendant discharged. State vs. Isaac Zimmerman perjury, dismissed on motion by prosecutor. _______- State vs. Russell White, arson, and ’ State vs. Reuben Walling, neglect of child, dismissed. The court allowed the various bills for the expenses of fbe February term, including fees of clerk, baliff. court reporter, telephone rgnt, meals for jurors, etc. Probate officer Henry Lankenau has his semi-annual report, showing ten youths under his controls seven boys and three girls. Three are •harged with burglary, Jour with incorrigibility, four with larceny and one for a misdemeanor. Four of the children are at wcrk and six in school. Mr. Lankenau's report is complete and was approved by the c.urt. He attended the meeting of the state board of charities and correction at Evansville last October afld so reports. Lola P. Jones vs. Frank P. Jones, divorce, cause dismissed at cost of the plaintiff. Jesse Smith appeared in court last Saturday® and plead guilty to a charge of keeping a gaming room. Judge Merryman promptly assessed a fine of SIO.OO and costs and gave him ninety days in jail, »he jail sentence being suspended during good behavior of defendant Smith. In the matter of Charles E. Meyer, guardian for Richard 0 P. Meyer, a sale of real estate was ordered at private sale after giving three week’s notice. — LOST MONEY ON APPLES. Firms W S-ieid Them in Cold Storare Unloading. Last fall it appeared to the apple dealers that the scarcity of apples would cause them, to bring fabulous prices in the spring. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of apples were placed in the cold storage and doled out through the winter at prices that were nearly prohibitory. But the consumers seemed to have lost their appetite for apples ana the demand was small throughout the season in which should be eagerly scaf’ht. They did. not besiege the cold storage houses in a struggle for apples and the speculators were surprised. It is now the time of year when even cold storage apples cannot long be in demand and the speculators are turning them loose on the market at prices that spell min. It is said one New York firm that went largely into apple storage last fall will lose nearly $2,000,000 by the strange turn in the market, ________ O—- ——— • Mrs. Ira Thomas and baby are spending the day at Fort Wayne.

WRITES ABOUT THEM Manners, Customs, Habits and Modes of Living of the Various People Mexico, March 10, Dear Folks:—lt is so bard to get time to write letters. lam going to try and tell you a little more about Mexico before I leave it. I wrote Hattie and Matie a very little. I could not get time to write. I want to tell about our trip south of the city, to Tloxcala. Santa Ana, Puebla. Esperanza. Maltrato and Cordoba, and Orizaba. From Mexico City to Tloxcala we followed the trail of Cortez. Indeed all through the republic wherever anything is especially beautiful or fine, It Is connected with Cortez. If a fine valley, he took it unto himself and built a palace there. His palaces are all over. If the natives had a temple, he destroyed it, stole the gold‘end jewels and built on its site a church —Catholic, of course, for that was before the days of Protestantism. Whatever he could pot use he destroyed utterly. After leaving the city for a couple hours, we passed close to the pyramids of the sun and, of the moon, built of cut stone and covered with earth, by some of the native races before Cortez's time. As we were to see Cholula, a larger pyramid, we did not stop here. It is supposed now that the Spaniards destroyed the picture records, as nothing in the excavations tell anything about the builders. There are traces of the walls of a city, one wall over 200 feet thick and 34 feet high—they are said to be next in interest to Mitla in their whole surroundings, but we had not time to stop. Cholula was the pyritoid we were to see. We passed Texcoco, where Cortez built his ships to return to the conquest of the city. He has a palace here, too. I cannot take time to tell <you of the old city and the ancient grandeur Cortez found, and destroyed, but we must hurry on to Tiaxcala. We left the cars at Santa Ana, and quaint little street cars dr&wn by little donkeys pulled us about six miles to tlaxcala. There are first, and second class cars. We took tile, first class. The second are full of natives in pieir picturesque costumes and various odors. All the rway the volcanoes of Popocatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl, tkeir summits crowtysd with perpetaual snow, are in sight. Melirkzi is to the east, named for Cortez faithful guide, and for wtiom he drowned h> sSpanish wife. In one of his old castles we were the well in which she vAis drowmeh. All the way to Tlavcola we passed droves of Indians, going and returning to market with their tiny donl&ys loaded or with empty panniers. If going, man and wife trottiag alongside, the woman with a baby strung along her Ifeck; if returning with empty baskets, woman and baby on the donkey. The roads reminded me of an aiilhill, suc% crowds of little trovjji people were hurrying hither and thither. At the time of the coffiquest, Tlaxcala had 3,000 inhabitants. Now she has 4,000. There are hundreds of houses empty, or in ruins. It made me thiijk of Pompei. The old chufth of San Francisco is the oldest church in America, commenced in the year 1521. We saw the

font where the Tlaxcalan chiefs who« helped Cortez conquer Nlbntezunfh were baptized, and in tae museum are the clothes they wore then, f»d the robes the priests wore, afld the banner Cortez gave te the Tlavcalans. They are all under glass and in a good state of preservation after 400 years. In this the first pulpit in the new world. The people here talk the Axtec language. The autitude here is nearly 8,000 feet. We see queer things. Some curious cistern like objects, oval in shape, built out of mud, standing altogether above ground we were told were graneries to keep the grain from rats. This makes me think to say we have seen wheat in all stages, just’ planted, a few inches high, headed out, cutting (always with a sickle, a handful at a time> and threshing. They thresh by putting the straw on a threshing floor of pounded earth and driving a horse or mule around and around over it. The broken straw is put in bales, and sold for mak adobe or sun dried bricks. We often see corn in all stages, but as this is winter arfl the dry season, there is not much corn planted. Farmers are plowing for spring always with oxen, and a wooden plow with one woden prong in the earth and one handle. Occasionally we see an American plow, but one handle was always sawed off. The plowman always wears white cotton clothes, and a sort of sandal on his bare feet, and an immense hat they call sombrera on the head, and if cool, a blanket they call a zerape around tfcenn, usually gay wtjh color. Oh, yes, I must tell you about the corn. It is so valuable to them. They use every bit of it. They grind the grain on their home-made mills. A slanting stone with legs, and a stone rolling pin. A woman on her knees grinds all the corn. The staple food seems

to be tortillas, a sort of flapjack made from the ground corn. You see then sold on the street, by the single or dozen. In the markets at the church door, everywhere! They are the food of the Indian. The grain is used in different ways, but the tortillas are the most common. Os the husks, the fine inner leaves are used for tomalles. You see these inner husks done in great bales on the backs of donkeys going to market. The coarse outer husks are used for fodder. Then the cattle are turned in the field and eat the leaves and some of the stocks. When they will eat no more it is gathered in bales for wood. When the ground is plowed for a new crop, and the roots are turned up. then these are shaken free from dirt and used for fires. Wood is very scarce in a great part of Mexico. We have seen Indian women with small armfuls of twigs and a few corn stalks. She had probably been a couple of hours in gleaning near the mountains. Wood is not so scarce, but it is small, brought in bundles on backs of donkeys. Charcoal is used a great deal. The Indians iu the mountains buru it and bring it io the cities for sale. Let me speak here of the washings lest I forget it. It is done on the stones by the (river, or puddle —wherever water is tQ be found, for this is the dry season. It is the primitive way ot washing clothes. They hang the i clothes on bushes or stones or lay ! them on the bank to dry. Soap is very scarce and higlJ. I do not see how the people keep as clean as they do, with «scarcity of water and soap. Their houses are of muds bricks, or in the hot country of bamboo or corn stalk sides, and roof of grass or palm leaf. A dirt floor, and a woven mat on the floor to sleep on, and a zerape for i cover. A few earthern dishes and a I handful of fire to cook over. The 1 better class of Mexican and Spanish are very different. Have good houses, some are palaces. But the poor native Indian is worse than the Amerjfan slave before the sixties. He seems happy and contented, good natured except when dTunk, then «he iS bad! They seem, to bathe as often as possi-’ ble. We set a great deaf* of it by the wayside. The wedding ceremony is not often, tfsed, as they cannot get enough money ahead, so they dispense with it. Mantf get from six to twenty cents a (Jay, and a ifiarriagp ceremony costs several dollars. You a can how.t is. They are*very religious. If mak? six cents, they will give three to theclurch. To return to tfie price of soap. I stfcv in one city in Mejico in a store c window a pasteboard box with twe cakes of toilet soap marked in big figures $4.25.* Another b.x in the same window was»a Japanese lecquer box, had two catons of toilet soap, aSiox of ptyvder, a box .f rouge and a beetle of perfume and was marked $15.00. Mother thiag very expensive here is glasswajp. that you can get on any ten cent count ter, $2.25 tip to Ten cent glass dishes, two afld three dollars. But I must get back to my trip. Fron> Tlazcala we went to Cholalu. It is a pyramid built by unknown people. It* was Sere when the Aztecs came, and 'they were fold that it was built by a a race of giants and tell a legend cident with the fiebrew amount of deluge, and the Tower of Babel. When Cortez came was a great temple on the top. * I forgot to say the pyramid is built of® alternate layers of clay, limestone and sun-dried 177 feet high, and built in terraces, covered-with dirt, and now overgrown with shrubs and trees. Tt is more than a thousand feet each way at the base. It covers 20 acres of ground. This was 0 the holy city of the Analiuacs. Cortez declared he counted 4&0 ;owers in the city of Cholula, yet no temple had more than two towers and some only ofle. On the top of the pyramid stood the chief temple. But of course Cortez proceeded at once to destroy it and build a church in its The description of this old temple is wonderful. The church Cortez had buift is still standing, but has recently been redecorated. That®is wnat Is spoiling Mexico for the visitor, the fever that has seized them to decorate old things. Scraping off the moss and putting on fresh paint spoils the look of things. Even in some of the churches *they have painted over their old paintings, and the tarnished gold frames are painted a cream or blue or green. Pictures of value have thus been rendered valueless. But it looks new and bright. But to return to the pyramid. Steep steps are hewn in the rock leading up to the church. It is full of gold decorations and is V(ery gongeous. The view from the top of the pyramid is very fine. The towers of fifty-eight churches can be counted from here. Thirty tn the plains nearby and twenty-eight in the town of Cholula, which now has a population of i only 5,000 people. This will give you an idea of the churches in Mexico, and why the government suppressed . a good many. This would not t/jjnd i as if any had been suppressed, but they ; have. No converts or monasteries are ; allowed. Every mile of ground you i pass on the train, you can count from 1 1 eight to ten churches, always in view.

Diversified Farming Pays in North Dakota feeaux of ... wmaodou. yield, of A No. I Hord Wheat Nonh Dakota ha. become known os <he grealen hard wheal p.odoe,ng alate m ihe eom.ty will, without doubt remain a. the head o wheat growtg state for gene Mton. 'to come, but the rich soil and climatic rood,tons make tt the tde.l county for diversified farmmg. and the progressive farmers of the state real.rmg that the best land on earth can be improved by a rotation or dteersuy of crops, are gertmg rich through diversified farmins. We can sell you the nchest kmd of land at FROM $12.00 to $20.00 AN ACRE that will produce from 25 to 35 bushels of hard wheat to the acre. Corn goes as high as 40 bushels; flax from 35 to 45; barley 30 to 40 bushes; oats 60 to 100 bushels; timothy and red clover yield enormous crops. Cattle thrive wonderfully, and dairying is now one of the most important agricultural pursuits. Vegetables and small fruits do especially well and yield abundantly. Come to North Dakota while the land is cheap. Come and meet the thousands of prosperous, happy, contented farmers who have in a few years made a home and a competence in the richest and best state in the best country on earth. Remember that the great rush of immigration and the consequent rapid settlement of the country is causing these lands to advance in leaps and bounds. Pull up now while land is cheap-you will get many acres for the price of delay. W® Are Colonizers - —Not Speculators ’R.tSVS ™ Zfc the kind of land you want, and we ll show you a piece that we know will win you. We also have a large number of improved and partially improved farm*. WRITE US FOR DESCRIPTION AND PRICES. WHEELOCK & WHEELOCK For yen ’ Waldorf BlOCk, It® chuck full or interesting '“S,FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA

And some of ,Jhem vftry large. One t here in Jholula has a roof of domes < supported by sixty-four round columns. i It is immense in size. At Puebla we t saw the finest aiiurch in the republic, j The cathedral in the city of Mexico t is larger. Tffe Puebja cathedral was consecrated in 1449. The high altar made from all the varieties of Mex- < ican marble and®the exquisite onyx of t Piebla. This altar cost 1110.000. One ' of the old bell towers cost SIOO,OOO. ' The building is 323 feet long, 101 feet > wide and mo»e the inside. I have not time to say 1 more about it. The cfity is clean and ’ h s’weets wKe for Mexico. There is ■such beawtifuV tile used in the build-1 ings, on doafes of chunSies and fronts of houses especially. I liked Puebla very mush. The onyx here is very bea«tif|l. I visited the M. E. mission «here. agd they iiave a very good build ingsi and nearly four Hundred in the gilds school. Ido not know how many i» the boys. From here we went down to <ssft>eranza. where we begun going down the mountains to the hot country. Although we®are in the torrid rone, we are §o high in altitude, belevel, ft is rr>t hqf. When we reach Mafcwita we are passing some of th? finest scenery in the world. High up on the mountains, with ferns and orchids and beautifrfi blooming shrubs, and thousands of below, cultivated fields and sftiall cities, wfth their shining chur*h domes. At Orizaba, the town, we are down the mountains, and Old Orizaba, the mountain, with her show® crown is near. We go farther sohth to the banana and orange groves and coffee plantations. We visited one and learned something. We learned that the coffee plants must have Ahad'S. So bananas are planted with them, and then big trees, toe—fruit bearing usually. We saw them picking coffee and drying it, and sorting it. We saw pineapples growing also. We had our lunch here, then went back to Mexico Ctiy. One day we went down to Toluca. In the republic of Mexico there is a state of which Toluca is the capital, just as there is a state of Washington, of which Tacoma is the capital. Here is another of Cortez palaces no wused by the legislature. It was built in 1530, I believe. Os course we visited the parish church built in 1585. Os course it is all done over, and smells of fresh paint. It is like every other place in Mexico, full of electric lights. They turned on 1.5G0 in this church for us. Here also is the first organ brought to America. It also has been made over, and its few pipes incorporated in the new one. In the back of the organ they showed with pride, a great big music box. The church was full of tinsel and paper flowers, and gilt glass halls. It is a city of 25.000. The scenery on the way was very fine. We passed an old Axtec town in which the Indians allow no one else to live. They speak the pure language, and have always owned their own land. One day we went to Amecameca, the second most sacred shrine in Mexico, at the foot of Popocatepetl and Itaccihuatl. It is another church built on top of a hill, with a sacred legend attached. There is a long road with steps, and stations of the cross along

they way with pieces of hair, rags, . old hats, etc., left on the bushes, in grottoes, etc., by the faithful to bring j them good luck. On Ash Wednesday | there is a procession and the bones of the good old saint are brought down from the church and carried in procession. Tens or tnousauds of pilgrims come here then. I met a lady who said she was there and there were bands and merry go-rounds and pedlers and dancers —worse than any county fair. But 1 must stop. I will try and with another letter on Mexico before I leave. With love to all, Elizabeth S. Morrison. — — o . WANT A SHAVE Read Building May Be Revived in this Part of Indiana • Frequent inquiries are coming in to the county treasurer from bond buyers all over the United States, asking information concerning the threehjije gravel road bonds issued by the Wells county board of commissioners, and it is the opinion of the treasurer that it will not be long until the paper will be disposed of and the money for constructing the highways will be secured. This morning a letter was received from Breed & Harrison, bankers, of Cincinnati, O. It was brief and to the point and showed that the firm is ready to do business providing the townships and contractors will get together and shave the face value of the bonds. The bankers stated that they could not pay par for the bonds, because of the low rate of interest and the unsettled validity of the law, If the contractors, who bid in the building of the roads last fall, or the townships, wherein the highways are situated, will make a small concession the bankers claim they will take the bonds at once. Before replying County Treasurer Saurer will consult the trustees of the townships and the various contractors on the subject.— Bluffton Banner. Arthur Russell is busy moving his household effects to a flat on second street. Mrs. Oscar Fritzinger gave a delightful evening surprise party on her husband last Wednesday at their home on R. R. 7 to a party of friends and neighbors, in compliment to Mr. Fritzinger’s forty-sixth birthday anniver- ■ sary. After the guests had gathered and the greetings of the evening were exchanged, they went to the kitchen and had one of the old time taffy pullings, which all took part in and en- ■ joyed. It was so unexpected for Mr > I Fritzinger. yet he too joined bis guests in making the evening one that will long be remembered by those who .[Were so fortunate as to be included > on the invitation list. The guests of , the evening were: Messrs, and Mes- ■ dames Clem Forman. John Forman , £ al K " nkle - W - A - Conner and guest 1 Mrs. Fonner, of Indianapolis: S. S. i Magley, John Magley and daughter : Emma, Ed Christen, L. N. Grandstaff.

| TAKES AN EPILEPTIC He States That the Epileptic | Village is a Great Institution Deputy Sheriff Ed Green returned j Saturday from Newcastle where he | accompanied Joseph Snyder io the | Epileptic institution. He was agreeably surprised to see such an elegant, institution which is yet in its infancy and he takes pride in stating that it is the most promising of any like institutions that have ever come to his notice. Thirteen hundred acres of land embody the site upon which the management are authorized to erect buildings, and at the present time five strictures are complete to shelter the unfortunate ones who I have contracted epilepsy. Nothwith- | standing the fact that but twentynine patients have been admitted, two new buildings are to be erected in the very near future, the plans for same having been already prepared. The Newcastle Epileptic village bids fair to rank among the very best of its nature in the United States and i Indiana can well be proud of it. S. W. Hale, of Geneva, president of the; board of managers, to whom much credit falls due for the progress of the village, continues to work in its behalf. He is among the number who inspects the prospective patients before they are permitted to enter. Mr. Hale visited the county farm a few j months ago and he brought about the acceptance of Mr. Synder, whom he thinks can be cured. Mr. Green also mentions that the Maxwell automobile works at Newcastle is the largest concern of its nature in the world, eight hundred workmen drawing a salary therefrom. The main building is 760 feet in length and 370 feet in width. o —— FUNERAL OF CARL LUCKY TODAY Remains of Young Man Arrived at Noon. The remains oi Carl Lucky, accompanied by the relatives, arrived on the 12:25 Clover Leaf train Friday from Burlington, Indiana. The funeral oc curred at two o’clock that afternoon from the Salem church, east of the city, Rev. Stangle of the United Breth ren church officiating. A large numl ber of friends of the deceased wer® present to pay the last sad rites *<■ the young man. | o I A sensation was created at the cet® tral school bunding yesterday whe® some pulpils sounded the fire al in® and every student in the building file® out of the school and the drill was eM actly in accordance with the rules i® such a case. It is remarkable ho® rapidly such a large number of pupil® can make their exit even on an Aprfl fool joke. a Herman Campbell, of Steele, passaß through the city this morning for Wayne, where he will enter the Co® cordia college. m