Decatur Democrat, Volume 51, Number 36, Decatur, Adams County, 17 September 1908 — Page 1

«Lt THE NEWS ALL THE TIME

Volume LI

MADETHETAXRATE The City Rate is Reduced Thirty-Six Cents on the One Hundred Dollars A GOOD RECORD The Council Have Pulled the City Out of a Financial Rut At the short session of the city council Tuesday night the appropriation ordinance which comprises the total expenses of the city for the coming year was passed. The items comprising this municipal- expense follows: Operating electric light plant.sl6,ooo Operating water works 8000 Streets land sewers 1,890 Interest outstanding indebtedness 5,300 Mayor’s salary 500 Common council 500 Special police 800. Fire department 75 City marshal 600 City attorney 400 City clerk 450 City treasurer 500 Miscellaneous 11,000 Street commissioner 600 City electrician 1,080 Supt. water works 900 Sec’y board health 150 Library 1,300 Water works board and int... 4,800 The tax rate was then made from the totals of the above figures, compared with the valuation given the real and personal property of the city. The rate that will be in force is general purposes. 60c. on each. $100; water works and interest 25c.; water fire hydrants 30c.; special street and sewer 10c.; library 7c.; sinking fund 22c.; fire protection 10c.; electric lights 30c.; with 50c. poll, making a total tax rate of $1.94. The rate this year is $2.30, thus a reduction of 36c. ir the city rate of taxation will be on next year. The present council have and are well fulfilling their pledge of bringing the city cut from under the load of debt and discredit. They have managed the finances of the city and managed them well, and at the same time made worthy progress In the way of improvement.

VERY SAD MESSAGE Was That Received by J. F. Snow Announcing Death of Old Friend WAS OLD CITIZEN Lewis Long of Near Berne Called to Reward After • Long, Useful Life John F. Snow, the wen known real estate man, received a card yester-, day, announcing the sad news of the death of his old friend, Lewis Long, who for nearly half a century has resided on a farm south of Berne, Mr Long's death occurred Monday evening, but the card gave no information as to the cause, and Mr. Snow was not aware that his friend was sick. Lewis Long was born in Union county. Ohio, about seventy-five years ago, was reared and educated there, and came to Adams county in 1862, having received a 135 acre farm from his father, the latter having obtained it from the government. He was married the game year to Miss Mary Blair and eight children w-ere born to them, seven of whom survive. They are George, William, Eva, Russell, Alonzo, Daisy and Leona. Mr. Long was known as one of the best farmers in his section, having specialized In Shropshire sheep, Poland China hogs and Bronze turkeys. He served for seven years as a justice of the peace and has always been an earnest worker for the democratic principles in which he so firmly believed. The funeral services were held from the home at 2:30 yesterday. Interment at Bunker Hill cemetery.

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FRED BEITLER DROPPED DEAD Formerly Lived at Berne—Dred Near Huntertown. Relatives here have the sad new s of the death of Frederick Beitler, of near Huntertown. He is well remembered by some Berne people, having lived here a number of years ago. He dropped dead Friday afternoon while working i n a potato patch about halt a mile from his house. He had been suffering from a weak heart the past two years and within the last fortnight had sustained several attacks of heart failure. Shortly after eating a hearty dinner, Beitler, together with his two little daughters, repaired to the potato patch. After the man had bee n working for some time he suddenly became faint and told one of the girls to get him a drink of water from a jug which he had placed in a nearby fence corner. Before she could return with the jug her father had fallen to the ground dead. The decedent is fifty-two •years of age and is survived by a wife and five children.—Berne Witness. — o THEY WILL CAUCUS Republican Legislators to Count Noses Thurs- $ day THE LOG. ROLLER An Effort to Make County Local Option a Caucus Measure

Indianapolis, Sept. 16.—1 t was learned that the managers of the Republican party will seek to have the Republican members of the General Assembly caucus, Thursday night, on the county local option bill, to be introduced at the coming special session of the legislature and to induce them to accept it as a party measure. The outcome of this attempt will probably determine the fate of* the bill, inasmuch as the Republicans have enough votes, if they can control them, to enact the law without delay. If some of the Republican legislators refuse to attend the conference, however, or if some of those present refuse to be bound by caucus action, it will be evident that the measure is to have rough sledding. Every effort will be made by the managers to get their legislators to the meeting, which will start as a conference and end as a caucus, if plans develop. The meeting place has not been designated, but it is thought that the chamber of the house of representatives will be chosen. A large room will be required because of the great number of legislators and party leaders that will wish to participate. Republican leaders in charge cf the work of lining up members of the legislature for the enactment of a county option law at the special session to begin Friday morning. decline to make any statement relative to the prospective showing to be made. They expalin that the situation is too delicate to permit of authorized discussion in the public prints, inasmuch as it is subject to fluctuations. This is taken to mean that the managers are not yet sure o their men. The only comment obtainable yesterday was from Fr<*l Sims, acting state chairman, and all he would say was that he felt considerably encouraged with the progress being made. About headquarters, however, there seemed to be a feeling o depression. This may have been traceable, however, to late going ° bed Monday night. The candidates on the state ticket held a meeting which lasted long after midnight, was 2 o’clock yesterdaj- morning before some of the leaders sought sleep. It was said that nothing of importance took place, but that the situation throughout the state na s care fullv canvassed. All the cand.dates except James E. Watson, for governor, were present. He was prevented bv speaking engagements from participating. Democratic leaders are as reticent as the Republicans about showing their hand. They declare, however, • that enough votes to P®® 8 the proposed bill will not be or coming.

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, Sept. i7 1008.

REGULAR SESSION City Council Met Last Even- , ing—Julius Haugk Lands a Contract CEMENT SIDEWALKS Objections Heard on Sixth Street—Petition for Sidewalks Filed The regular semi monthly session of the city council was held Tuesday evening, meeting at six o’clock that the members might conclude their labors in time to attend the Sam Small speech, if they so desired. All the members were present and Mr. Christen acted as chairman pro tem, until Mayor France arrived. A resolution was adopted ordering the city clerk to give notice to the Ninth street property owners that objections will be heard at the next meeting of the council, October 6th, as to the extension of said street. Petitions for sidewalks on south Mercer, Elm and Grant streets were filed and referred to proper committees. The city clerk was authorized to draw warrants for the salaries of the various city officers. Objections were heard to the Sixth improvements and as several property owners were present with objections, it was decided that a special meeting be held next Monday evening to take up this matter. The street and sewer committees and the city engineer will meet this afternoon to compare the measurements on Sixth street. Bids for a cement sidewalk on Park street were then opened, bids being filed by Butler & Butler, Jacob Shaffer, Frank Snyder and Julius Haugk, the latter landing the job with his offer of 1014 cents per square foot. Ordinances were adopted appropriating the necessary funds for carrying on the city business and fixing the city tax at $1.94 with a 50 cent poll tax.

BEAT THEM TO IT Governor Hughes Nominated for Governor of New York IN SPITE OF THEM Nominated in Spite of the Politicians Who Were in Majority Saratoga, N. Y., Sept. 16. —Governor Hughes was renominated by the Republican state convention yesterday on the first ballot, receiving 827 votes. Wadsworth received 141 and Stewart 31. William Barnes Jr., of Albany moved to make the nomination unanimous, which was done. Mr. Barnes has been fighting Hughes from the start. The platform indorses Taft, Sherman, Hughes and Roosevelt. The fight against Hughes has been exceptionally bitter and the opposition had hopes of uniting and defeating him until an official indorsement of Hughes came from President Roosevelt yesterday. After an all-night conference, during which attempts were made to unite on Secretary of State Elihu Root and David Jayne Hill, ambassador to Berlin, but both positively declined to have their names considered. The anti-Hughes men then surrendered hours before the convention met in final session and Timothy Woodruff, state chairman and enemy of Hughes, announced that the “jig was up,” and it would be Hughes again. Twp names besides that of Governor Hughes were presented for the nominations—those of James W. Wadsworth Jr., speaker . of the assembly, and John K. Stewait of Amsterdam. —o —— ——- Miss Nellie Schrock will leave Thursday for Indianapolis to resume 1 her work as a teacher in the institute for the blind.

HAZE IS CAUSED FROM FIRES Many Thought it a Token of Rain But It Isn’t.

For the past few days Fort Wayne people have been noticing a |haze which has been hovering over the city and there has been considerable speculation as to the cause for it. Fort Wayne is not the only city which has been afflicted in this manner. All the nearby town s have noticed the haze and t n some places it has been so I thick as to resemble a fog. Govern-1 ment weather officials, who keep a sharp eye on the physical peculiarities of the country, are authority for the statement that the haze is smoke from the big forest fires in the northwest which has been blown hundreds cf miles south. Today the atmosphere locally was clearer tha n it has been for some time. On several days the air has been so heavy with the smoke that the sun has appeared like a huge ball of fire and the vista of the streets has been obscured by a heavy pall. A peculiar condition noticeable in connection with the drought and the prevalence of dust and smoke in the air is a form of mild sickness which has attacked hundreds of Fort Wayne people, according to one physician. The features of the illness are an exceptional feeling of lassitude and a hacking cough. The illness is not at all dangerous, but in some localities of the city is almost epidemic. In Its more severe form patients are forced to take to their beds. The disease will probably disappear with the first rain. —Fort Wayne News.

CAMPAIGN OPENS With a Splendidly Stirring Speech by the Rev. Sam Small AT COURT HOUSE Big Hall Packed to the Doors and the Speaker Was Cheered Often The full capacity of the circuit court rocm describes the crowd which heard Rev. Samuel Small deliver a witty, masterful and pointed democratic ar- ■ gument Tuesday evening, marking the opening of the campaign in Adams county. Delegations from Berne, Monroe, Preble and other places over the county helped to swell the crowd and when at 7:30 county chairman, Thomas Gallogly, announced a song by the Decatur Glee Club as the first number on the program the big room was packed to the doors, every seat . occupied and a hundred or more standing. The Loch band furnished enlivening music and the crowd was a happy one, including a number of ladies. For two hours Rev. Small held his audience, scarcely a person leaving the room. His speech w'as full of that something which has proven his success on the platform and in the pulpit, an ability to mix convincing argument with good wholesome humor. He ppened by declaring JJhis rights to take an Interest in politics and to support the democratic platform. and that he owed an apology for doing so to no man. He compared Taft and Bryan, most decidedly in favor of the peerless leader, whose watchword is “Shall the people rule?" He asked the republicans what had become of that spale gold dollar of which we heard so much since 1896 and inquired for some explanation for the panic of last October. He touched on the republicans attitude on the injundtipn /plank, rubbed it in the bank guaranty and other issues, < and made the hit of the evening when 1 he compared the cost of living ten years ago and now, proving that the 1 average person must spend forty-nine i per cent more now to live than he did a decade ago, while his wages have increased but nineteen per cent or in ' other words he is thirty per cent i worse off than he was at that time, i He closed with a splendid appeal for s votes for Bryan and Kern and his < speech throughout was a rapid fire : < attack upon republican policies that t had a telling effect upon his audl- i ence. Rev. Small left at 9:45 Tuesday t night for Hartford City, where he f spoke. The campaign is fair- i ly on in Adams county and will be kept < moving from now on until November < 3rd, the day of battle. 1

MANY TO ATTEND I Decatur Masons Will Attend the Corner Stone Laying at Fort Wayne ON SEPTEMBER 29TH It Will Be One of the Biggest Lodge Affairs Ever Held in Indiana

Earl B. Adams, secretary cf the Decatur Masonic lodge, has been busy for a day or two soliciting the names of the Masons who will attend the laying of the cathedral cornerstone at Fcrt Wayne on September 29. Speaking of the affair the New s said last evening: Hundreds of lodges and commandery members of the Masonic orders are now being invited to the corner stone laying of the Scottish Rite Cathedral in this city on September 29. All the lodges and commanderies in this district as well as all organizations In the state will be favored with invitations to attend the notable event. D. L. Harding is sending out the invitations to the blue lodges and Clyde M. Gandy to the commanderies. Charles E. Reed is attending to the inviting of the local Masons. Preparations for the big affair are going on at a rapid pace. The program committee is now working on its part and an announcement will shortly be made of the exercises for the day. It Is expected to make the event a notable affair in the Masonic annals of the state. Few responses have yet been received from outside organizations, but this is due to the fact that the various commanderies and lodges must act upon the invitation first. It is thought that the gathering of Masons here will be eclipsed only by the gathering at Indianapolis recently and possibly will even go ahead cf that notable event. A big parade will probably be one of the features of the day.

HAD TO BACK UP Fort Wayne Fair Association to Double Cross the Conter Company BUT GOT FOOLED Judge Erwin Employed and a Restraining Order Was Issued Some time ago H. L. Conter of this city bought the exclusive privilege for selling ice cream as a wholesale deal- > er. He bought it in good faith and 1 was given a written contract to bind ] the bargain, but when his general j salesman, C. O .France arrived on < the grounds Monday morning with < the Fort Wayne agent. John S. ARe- < man. they found another firm was ( there selling goods. “Bones’’ appeal- f ed to Secretary Meyer, who said that t exclusive privilege was only a bluff, i but Bones didn’t look at it that way c and immediately sought the services t cf Judge Erwin, who filed a petition j for an injunction to prevent the fair t association from violating the con- q tract and demanding S2OO damages 0 for what they had done. Judge p O’Rourke granted a temporary re- p straining order, which not only kept c every dealer off the ground, but made c those who had sold cream take up g what was left. The case will be tried e later unless the fair association com- a promises the matter in some way. p

Ves Smith, the Keystone young man who was arrested last spring charged with stealing corn from a field located near a power house where he was engaged as an oil pumper, entered a plea of guilty to petit larceny in circuit court this morning. Owing to the fact that he has always borne a good reputation in the past and the lightness of the offense, taking a little corn for feeding purposes, he escaped lightly with a fine of one dollar and costs, and one day in jail. He paid his fine today and tomorrow will be released from jail.—Bluffton News.

CIRCULATION 2800 WEEKLY

Number 36

HAD BIG MEETING Candidate Marshall Believes in Upholding Laws NOT A DICTATOR Legislature Makes the Laws and the Governor Executes Them Petersburg. Ind., September 16.— Pike county turned out yesterday in force to hear Thomas R. Marshall, democratic candidate for governor, make two speeches. His Invasion of old Pike terminated with a big night meeting at Petersburg that was attended by more people than live in Petersburg. This little city has a population cf 3,500 and it was estimated that fully 4,000 persons were packed around the speakers’ stand in Main street. It was the largest crowd of the campaign thus far. Long by ore night teams and carriages filled the streets around the public square, farmers having braved the plague of smothering dust to be present. And the crowd was enthusiastic, even though Washington township, in which Petersburg is located, is strictly Repubjican. When Mr. Marshall declared that if elected governor he will ask the legislature to enact a law giving the governor power to remove any officer who fails to do his duty, there was a roar of applause. When he told the crowd that he believed the governor had no right to dictate to the legislature what laws it shall pass or not pass he was applauded. And when he said “It is the duty of ■ the governor to sign any constitutional 1 bill that the legislature may in its ' wisdom see fit to pass,’’ here was loud • applause for this was taken to mean ' that a local option bill passed by the legislature and found to be constitutional would be signed by him.

A NOON WEDDING Miss Emma Hoffman Becomes the Bride of Mr. Walter L. Plew LEFT FOR CHICAGO Wedding Was a Quiet One With Only Immediate Relatives Present Miss Emma Hoffman, one of the most charming and beautiful young ladies of Decatur, became the bride of Mr. Walter L. Plew, of Gary, Ind., at high noon Tuesday when in midst of the immediate family circle, Rev. Spetnagle, of the First Presbyterian church, performed the simple wedding oerempny which united their* future lives. The ring service was used and the happy young couple left immediately afterward over the Chicago & Erie for Chicago. From there they will go o n a lake trip returning in about two weeks to Gary, where they will make their future home. The wedding occurred at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hoffman, corner of Madison and Fourth streets and wa s witnessed by only the immediate relatives of the contracting parties. The out-of-town guests present were Mrs. Plew. mother of the groom, from Leesburg. Ind.. and Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Vanderlip, of Elkhart, Ind. The bride has for several years been a favorite in Decatur society and church circles and has an untold number of friends who wish her every happiness in the world. Mr. Plew is a splendid young man of pleasing personality and many good qualities. He is a teller in a bank at Gary, Indiana, the new and thriving city, built by the steel trust. The Democrat most sincerely expresses their good wishes for the future of Mr. and Mrs. Plew. — o Judge Richard K. Erwin, of Fort Wayne, was a business visitor here this afternoon.