Daily Democrat, Volume 1, Number 21, Decatur, Adams County, 4 February 1903 — Page 1

VOLUME 1

EGULAR MEETING ouncil Goes Over Regular Routine. ——————— isiness of Importance and Otherwise Taken Up. - The city dads met in regularsession uesday evening, all members were -eeent and with Mayor Coffee in the lair. A petition filed by Fred Sie*re, asking that he be granted an alwance for injuries sustained by fallg over a barrel of broken glass, was ■ferred to the judiciary committee, claim, simular to the above concerng the injury received by Mrs. Robt Polling through-a defective side alk. was also referred to the judici■y committee, the street committee tving investigated and found that le sidewalk was in good condition, imes P. Haefling, administrator of le estate of George M Haefling, jceased, asked that the council inude in the Elm street sewer asses ents. the sum due the late G. M. selling for serving as inspector of the orementioned sewer. The prayer as referred to the judiciary com littee which immediately reported to le council and the demands of the itition were denied. The Elm street >wer question was entirely omitted ive that the expense of the sewer immittee, recently appointed, be inuded in the assessments against the roperty holders affected by the )wer in question. "The next to be msidered was the matter of public uprovement. Calvin Miller conactor asked that he be released from le contract with the city for the pavig of Fourth street, for the reason lat he had hot been permitted to instruct the same when the contract as let, and the same was granted, he street committee was authorized > renew the contract with E. Woods company for the construction of the larshall street sewer and with W. P. bbinson for the macadamizing of iugg, Fornax and Thirteenth streets, he committee on buildings and im rovements reported unfavorably on te proposed construction of a one ;ory building by Loch & Linn on dot 148, and the council voted it own. William Baumann, a safe exert from Marion, Indiana, reported rat he had made an examination of te old city safe, has found it in gcsxl ondition and would open and place re same in first class condition for 60.00, a contract was agreed to and e will begin work at once. The re ort of George Steele, waterworks jperintendent was then heard and pproved of. The following bills ere allowed; Chicago Electric ppliancc Co., $19.02, J. W. Robjn on, rent $3.00, electric light emloyees 5145.00. street commissioners ay roll $5.55, Varney Electric Supply ’■O., supplies, $1.04, John Thomas aiding coal $57.85. J. G. Smith, ibor on streets $2.70, J. G. Smith ibor electric light SIO.BO, Jno. Coffee jrvices as street commissioner $45.83. larry Daniel, printing $49.90, Jacob fangold salary $40.00. Amos Fisher 'Alary $40.00, H. B. Knoff, salary 40.00, Erie R. R. freight, 857.58. 'he council then ad journed and deided to meet next Morning at 9 a. m. t the city hall. (ROUND THE CIRCUIT. earn From Hart's Barn Makes a Dash and Tear Up a Wagon. A handsome team of horses, the property of H. H. Hart, the west end ■very man, attrreu things up on Sec nd street today anil the result f damage is so small that it seems Imost miraculous. The team was ■itched to the coal wagon and were landing near the G. It. & I. tracks, 'he cola weather made them frisky nd they started down Monroe street < t a lively gait, almost going through he front of Ilholthouse, Schulte A; Jo’s, clothing store. They swerved ust in time, ran up Second street to lalison.ihen west to Seventh and ■ack to the barn. The coal wagon /as badly mashed and was scattered 11 along the line. ANOTHER NEW CASE. Julius Hougk vs Mary Brown ami idem Brown, her husband, was filed 1 circuit court today same being a artition suit. Mr. iTougk owns two hirda of the Brown farm in Union jwr>«hip, and Mrs. Brown owns one hird, the former having been granted deed by the United States court, 'he suit asks for an order for sale of rnd in question and was filed by attorney D. E. Smith.

The Daily Democrat.

MOVE TO MARION. Peterson & France, Law-1 yers, will Leave. A New Law Partnership Formed in the Gas Belt City. A new law firm has been formed at Marion and two of the best known lawyers of Decatur are included in the partnership, the same being the firm of Petsrson & France. The newfirm will be known as the firm of Kersey, Peterson & France and their offices will be located in the Wilson block at Marion. The firm is com posed of well known men. each member being an excellent lawyer. John i A. Kersey, senior member of the firm i is a .native born resident of Grant county snd one of the best attorneys of the state. •He has a large and lucrative practice and needs the assistance of good lawyers to handle his business. Robert S. Peterson and Carl (). France of this city who nowbecome members of tjie firm are well known to most of our readers. The former has practiced here for more than thirty years and is considered an able counselor and judge of law. His reputation has also spread to surrounding counties and he has already transacted considerable business in Marion. Mr. France is the oldest son of Hon. John T. Trance, deceased, and has a very premising future in the law practice. He will move to Marion next week and assume his duties at once. Mr. Peter son will not remove his family at once but will be in Marion most of the time. Their library and office fixtures will be moved to the newoffice as soon as possible. The newfirm of Kirsey. Peterson & France will be an exceptionally strong one. and will no doubt do the business they are deserving of. ‘While we regret to lose Messrs. Peterson A France as citizens, we wish them all possible success in their new field. The partnership was formed yesterday, Mr. IVterson going to Marion for that purpose and the contract was form ally closed this morning. ERIE WRECK. A Smash Up Near Bobo this Afternoon. A west bound freight train on the Erie was wrecked about one mile west of Rivare this afternoon The engineer left his train standing on the main track and came to Decatur for water. Being in a hurry to clear herefor No. 3, he sent his engine back at a terrific rate, and when within a short ’ distance of his train, the throttle refused to work and he applied the emergency brake, but liot in time to prevent the disaster. The tender was smashed to splinters, and several cars were telescoped There were no in- i juries received by any of the crew, which seems almost miraculous. Traffic lias been blockaded for several I hours, but will be resumed as soon as the wreck train ele its away the debri < KILT DEAD. Dirkson’s Bill For Listing Promisory Notes Voted Down. Representative Dirkson introduced a legislative bill which provided for | the listing with the assessor of all ! promisory notes, before they could fie collected in court. The bill did not last long, however, when the bankers and trust company lobbies got aft»r the majority statesmen. They promptly sat down on it and another law that would have benefitted the masses has did an early and premature death. The iutnxluction of the bill, however, shows that the Adams county representative is on the side of the people and lias in no way forgotten the early teachings of his party. STREET IMPROVEMENT. While no definite action has yet fieen taken by the city council, it is almost certain that the Fourth street improvement will lie made this summer. The contract of the city with , Calvin Miller has been rescinded, and it is possible that new specifications will lie drawn up before the work is , again sold to a contractor. Be that , as it may, the street will be improved liefore this time next year, as a number of councilman stated this after- ; noon.

DECATUR, INDIANA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 4, 1903.

A NEW WAY. Muncie Lawyer Finds the Law. Knows How to Force the Surrender of Taylor and Finley. Ralph Gregory, a lawyerof Muncie, has unearthed a statute which, if put in force, will compel Governor Durbin to surrender to the Kentucky authorities the persons of former Go ver - nor Taylor and former Secretary of State Finley. The statute is em bodied in Burns’ Revision of 1901; Sections 1674 bto 1674 f. In brief it is specified that whenever one who shall have been indicted for a criminal offense in any state of the union is within the borders of Indiana, any one may go before a justice of the peace or before the circuit court and swear out a warrant for the arrest of the person so charged.: that after the governor of the state <rf Indiana shall have been notified of such warrant he shall cause the arrest of such individual and then notify the governor of the commonwealth in which the crime has been committed, and surrender such individual to the accredited officers of said commonwealth. Under this statute' Governor Durbin would have no choice but to surrender to the Kentucky authorities the persons of Taylor and Finley. Mr. Gregory has called the attention of a number of leading lawyers of Muncie to the statute, and they all agree that it exactly fits the case of Taylor and Finley. The reason that this statute has hitherto escaped notice is that it is indexed improperly in the revision. DEMANDS SSOO. Fred Sievere Falls Down in an Alley and Wants Damages. The idea of collecting damages from the city whenever one falls down seems to be coming into fashion in Decatur, and the council are quite frequently called on to pay these bills. U sually only a sufficient amount is asked for to pay doctor bills and loss of time from one’s work, but now coihes Fred a bartender at Todd’s saloon, and says that he must i have the sum of SSOO for injuries he received in a fall last Saturday even--1 Ing. He sajs he was walking through the alley from Madison to Monroe street, and when just back of Smith. Yager and Falk’s drug store fell over a barrel whichcontaiued broken pieces of glass and other rubbish, and as a result cut his left hand very badly. His petition sets out the fact that the alley is paved with brick and is used considerably by pedestrians. and that the property owners along said alley should keep it clean and free from any rubbish of this kind. The barrel was standing close to the building ' occupied by the drug store. BERNE SUES. — Suit Filed for Payment of a Ctir.ent Sidewalk. Clark J. Lutz, attorney for the town 1 of Berne, this morWing filed a suit in -circuit court, entitled The Town of Berne vs. Margaret Stone and Stone, her husband, demanding the sum of seventy-five dollars. The I cause for the suit is the failure of i said defendants to build a cement walk in front of their property as or dered by an ordinance adopted in September, 1901. As a natural con city contracted and had said sidewalk built at a cost of $29.34, which amount the defendants also refused to pay, and the town was forced to resort to law. The summons was made returnable February 21. AT THE FAIR. Indiana to be Represented at the St. Louis Exposition. The joint committee of both branch es of the legislature have agreed on a bill appropriating SI2O,(XX) for the Indiana building at the St. Louis exposition. The bill will lx< introduced this week. Opinion among the leaders of lioth parties is di tided as to the figure named, or raising it to $200,000. A few favor a still larger amount.

YOUR OWN FAULT. If Your Deed or Mortgage is Not Corrected in Five Years. A decision of the appellate court yesterday is to the effect that one who has a deed or mortgage recorded must ascertain whether it has been correctly transcribed and bring suit for damages in case it has not, within five years, or he cannot afterward sue the county recorder and his bondsmen for any loss he may sustain by reason of an incorrect record. The’case grew out of a mistake of the recorder of Cass county in 1889, by which the land covered by a mortgage was in correctly described in the record as being in the northeast quarter of a section instead of the northwest quarter. The land owner afterward mortgaged the land for all it was worth to another party and the first mortgagee being unable to collect anything from her debtor, lost bearly 81,(XX) by the I recorder’s mistake. A judgment in I favor of the defendant in a suit by ! the mortgagee for damages, which : was brought in 1900, was affirmed, although the mortgagee did not ac- ! tually know of the mistake for nearly ten years after it was made. . BIG GUSHER. Another Immense Well in Van Wert County. One day hut week a great oil well was struck on the Flager farm, in Liberty township, and hundreds of barrels went to waste before the well was placed under control. Since then the well has been averaging forty barrels |an hour. Monday evening the dritl- | ers struck what appears to be a great er gusher on Joseph Alger's farm, four miles from the Flager well and six miles frdm Van Wert. The oil i gushed forth in a solid stream high I above the derrick. A large force of men were immediately put to work digging cisterns, but' they had to abandon the project, as the well flowed faster than the cisterns could be made. Scores of farmers in the vicinity volunteered their ' services, and finally large embankments were thrown around the many cisterns to catch the overflow. For over fortyeight hours it has been flowing without any signs of abating. The owners are 1 Connecticut capitalists, and it is their first well in the field. They have a large number of acres in Van Wert and Mercer counties. DON'T LIKE IT. Farmers Object to Careless Handling of Nitro-Glycerine. Farmers living east and southeast of the city mi* complaining against 'a dangerous practice indulged in by j teamsters of the Empire Glycerine company. They say that the "men hauling the explosive to the oil field south of here load the wagons the . night before they are ready to start south, and take them to the Vera Cruz gravel road and allow them to ; stand on the road near its intersection with the Nottingham road until the next day. Should a runaway strike one of these wagons the ex plosion which would likely result would cause loss of life and would put an artificial lakeon the adjoining farms. Someof the wagons which stand there are empty, but fanners say that on sev»ral occasions they have seen the teamsters com» out the next morning and hitch to loaded wagons and start for the oil field. Bluffton News. GOOD SHOW. “Reuben in New York" Made the Crowd Laugh. Among the funniest farce comedies ever seen in Decatur was "Reuben in New York," which held the boards ! last night. It came near being as ad- * vertised, a laugh for every line and I the audience fully appreciated the funny situations. Reuben as the rural comedian was a star and unlike most characters of this role did not overdo his part. The singing and dancing ! and other specialties were up to date I and each act pleased. The cabman was a new character and was well done and Joseph Hearney made a great hit. Every member of the company was good and deserves mention. The crowd was small owing to the bad weather.

FLATTERING OFFER Decatur Man Tendered a Fine Position. Dick Townsend Tells of a Week in Louisiana and His Royal Treatment. Col. Dick Townsend of the Burt, is at home from an important ten days trip to New Orleans, during which time he attended to some very important business and as a result has under <_ nsideration a proposition of large proportions. Dick has a reputation for general business ability that covers half the states and has proven that whatever he undertakes ho will carry out in a thorough and business like manner. Some two weeks ago a rich cotton plantation owner of the south came here and asked Mr. Townsend if he was in a positi n to take hold of his business, offering a hand some salary. As a consequence the popular landlord of the Burt left ten days ago for New Orleans for the purpose of viewing the situation The plantation is situated a short distance from New Orleans and consists of 3. W 0 acres under cultivation and 2.1 KX) that can be made ready for use in a short time. Dick spent several days ou the farm and while attending to business also enjoyed life to the limit. He was entertained a day or so at the palatial country home of Governor Estopenal, whose plantation is located close to the onejn which Mr. Townsend may become interested. He says the governor is a pleasant, affable and genial gentleman and with whom as a neighbor be could get along admirably. He says the only objection he can see to the proposition is that life there during the summer months might be a great hardship to a north erner, though as manager he would not necessarily have to expose himself a great deal. He has considered the proposition very seriously and has not yet given a final answer, though he seems to think that the chance- anthat he will refuse to leave Decatur at present at least. He says the south is a great and coming section of the country. ANOTHER SURPRISE. Mrs. Joshua Parrish, of Jefferson Street, the Happy Victim. About fifty members of the W. R. C. and G. A. R. fell into line and proceeded to march to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Parrish on Jefferson street last night, to tell Mrs. Parrish that she had reached the sixty fourth year of her life. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather Mr. Parrish himself was surprised to see such a large number present. Everybody enjoyed themselves to the fullest extent, and at the proper time a delicious lunch and coffee was served. Games, music and songs were indulged in and especial praise is due Mesdames Doak, Mayer and Louthan iu the rendition of some patriotic and soul-inspiring songs. Mrs. Z. (). Lewellen of Monroe, was the out of town guest. Mrs. Parrish was the recipient of several nice presents, among which is one from the Woman’s Relief Corps. This crowd of not-afraid-of-rain inthe-face have another victim booked for the near future. CCMING SOON. Sixty-five Machines Will Soon Be Running at Mitten Factory. A representative of a Chicago factory was in the city yesterday, his business being to measure and locate positions for the mitten machines at the Waring Mitten factory. The im provements to the Ark building are going on rapidly and it is hoped will lie completed this week, and if such is the case, operation will lie started within two or three weeks at least. The exact measurement of the rooms showed that sixty-five machines could ■be placed on the second floor, thus allowing the ground room for the cut- ; ting machine, stock and other necessary articles. While this is only about half the size building desired, scarcely that, Mr. Waring desires to begin work at once is proving himself a I thorough business man. ArrangeI tnents are being made and negotiating 1 for a larger building are going on now, though nothing definite has been made public. The mitten factory will soon prove itself a great industry for Decatur.

NUMBER 21

SALARY BILL. The Legislature Adfusting the Salaries of County Officers. There is a new fee and salary bill now up in the legislature. Under the new bill the county sheriffs, clerks, auditors, treasurers and recorders will receive a straight salary out of the public funds in the following proper tion: Clerks, $l2O on every thousand population upto 10,000 and 90 cents on every additional thousand with 10 percent of all fees; auditor, $l2O per thousand up to 10,000 and $1 for each thousand above, with S3OO to pay him for services to county councils and township advisory boards; sheriffs, $l2O up to 10,000 and 75 cents additional per thousand and 10 per cent, of all fees including jail and foreign fees; treasurers, $l2O for the first 10.000 with 60 cents additional and 10 per cent, of the delinquent taxes: re : corders, $l2O up to 10,(XX)and 60cents additional. They will also be allow ed to keep 50 per cent, of fees collected in excess of the amount of their salaries as fixed in the bill on the basis of population. WAGES RAISED. Employes of the Clover Leaf Are Happy Over Increased Pay. A meeting of Clover Leaf railroaders was held at Frankfort, Saturday, for the purpose of securing a raise in the prevailing wage scale. The rail road men were successful, and Sunday , the company granted them the follow"ing schedule of rates: Freight con-’ ductors, 83 per one hundred miles, raised from $2.80. Freight brake men, $2 per hundred miles, raised from $1.90. All local crews on Toledo division advanced ten cents a dav. Passenger conductors raised $5 a month. All freight crews to receive overtime twelve hours after being called, provided a schedule of ten miles an hour has been maintained. One half pay for all freight crews when "dead heading:" all yard men raised five per cent. This schedule, together with the raise recently granted engineers and firemen, went into , effect Sunday. MORE MONEY. Graduated Salaries for the School Teachers. If a bill just presented in the house passes, the older teachers in Indiana will be glad. It has always been the sentiment among school officials that teachers who had spent their life in the study of pedagogy should receive more pay than the young graduate. To this end a bill has been presented fixing the percentage scale of wages. Any instructor will rt« eive 2'; times his average percent. A teacher who has one year’s experience will receive 2*| times his average percent and ill >se wh i have thought three years or more will receive 2j. A NEW STAR. Montague is the Name of a New Proposed State. The people of eastern Montana and western North Dakota are arranging with the authorities to form a new state and call it Montague. As it is somewhat difficult to successfully bring about such a segregation, it is doubtful whether it will ever culminate. The proposed new state extends from the Belt mountains in Montana to the Missouri river iu North Dakota. A UNIQUE SERVICE. A large number of jiersons braved the storm yesterday afternoon carry ing a butter dish and a Bible to the Christian church. The evangelist told the people that the Bible discussed three great themes, sin, salvation and sacred promises of God' Each person was supplied with paste to but in the butter dish and a set of colored dots and strips of cloth of various colors to index the Bible. References about sin were marked black, those about salvation red, while the promises were white. It was a busy and a most en joynble hour. Tonight is the moth ers’ meeting. Bring along your mem oirs of mother. Tomorrow night the evangelist will discuss the subject, “A Warrior’s Conversion.’’