Daily Democrat, Volume 1, Number 138, Decatur, Adams County, 19 June 1903 — Page 1

VOLUME I

BURGLAR TEST BEING MADE

Novel Deal is on at Ohio City. EXPERTS ATTEMPT TO OPEN FARMERS' BANK VAULT. Sum of SSOO is Wagered That Safe Can Be Entered From Outside in Three Hours. It is doubtful if at any time or any place there lias been a more unique business transaction than the testing of a safe at Ohio City this afternoon. Several hundred strangers are there to witness the proceedure and the result will be heralded all over the country, making or losing thousand of dollars in the way of business for the firms concerned. It will be remembered that on the night of May 5, last, an attempt was made by professionals to burglarize the Farmers Bank at Ohio City, of which institution Mr. Sheller of this city is president. The attempt was unsuccessful as daylight came too quickly and the robbers were compelled to tlee. At the time there were more than 110,000 in cash in the bank vault and the loss would have been a severe one. This circumstance of course caused the bank directors to consider their safety and decided that a new bruglar and fire proof safe was a necessity for their institution. No sooner had they let it known that they were in the market for such property than they were besieged by numerous agents representing every safe coiiqxmy in the country. A few days ago the directors held a meeting and after consideration decided that from all they could learn, they rather favored the National screw door safe made in Cincinnati. Then the fun liegan in earnest. A representative of the Manganest* steel and lock company stepp'd forward and informed the directors that they were making a very serious mistake and had better reconsider as the National was anything but burglar proof. In order to support their statement he counted out |SOO and gave to the l>ank directors, then said. “Gentlemen, there is |SOO, you buy your national safe with a positive guarantee that it is burglar proof and with ]M*rmission to give a thorough test, set a date and I hereby agr»*e to enter the vault of that safe from the outside within three hours or forfeit that SSOO His pro]x>sition was accepted, the directors purchased tin* National safe on conditions mentioned and with the further agreement that if the Manganese man is successful they will remove the safe and stand all costs. The bank required a bond sufficient to cover their building in case of accident and same was given. This afternoon was decided upon as the date and a telephone message from Mr. Sheller to the Democrat said that the work of the test began about 3:30 this afternoon . The man enters the safe in burglarious fashion, battering in the out Hidedoor and gaining admitance to the vault by use of nitroglycerine, the most powerful explosive known. Such a test is said has never been made in this or any other country and the affair is being watched with interest by bankers, safe men and others from everywhere. If the expert representative succeeds in his task it certainly means the loss of manythousands of dollars to the National company and would lx* almost ruinous. On the other hand if he fails they could not have a ls*tter advertising modi urn. The Manganese js-ople claim their safe is burglar proof and offer the National the privilege of making the same test, but they have re-

The Daily Democrat.

I used. Opinion is divided as wheth|er or not the safe will be opened, most people believing that the fellow who put up his |SOO wil be successful and knows his business. Messrs. Sheller and Disher, R K. Allison, D. F. Quinn, C. A. Dugan, | Charles Colter and others from here went to Ohio City to witness the novel exhibition of an expert burglarizing a safe in day light. It the safe stands the test it will be 1 purchased, if not the bank will probably buy a rounddoor safe made i by the Manganese company. FATAL WRECK. Ten Were Killed in a Collision. Jury Fails to Agree in the Kentucky Murder Trial and Are Discharged. Special to the Dally Democrat. 2:30 p. tn. Waterloo, lowa, June 19.—Passenger train number two on the Illinois Central collided, head on, with a freight train this morning near Redmond lowa. The killed are Engineers Griffin and Stoneman, Fire, men Brantz and W. Wils. Mail Clerk Groom and E. R. Stickney, all of Waterloo, and one immigrant and I three tramps. The trains met on a [curve and the accident was due to a misunderstanding of orders. Jackson. Ky., June 19.—The jury in the Jett-White case disagreed and were discharged. Judge Redwine decided to transfer the cast* to Cyni thiana for new trial. WAS DELIGHTFUL. Porch Party Given for Miss Carlisle. The ladies who attended the j porch party by Miss Minnie Orvis yesterday in honor of Miss Anna Carlisle of Cincinnati, speak of it as one of the most delightful ever given in Decatur. Seventeen guests, including several fromout of the city j were present. The lieautiful home i was made even more attractive by i the decorations which consisted of pink roses and honey suckes. In the button hole contest Miss Grace Peterson was awarded high prize by the judges. At five o'clock an elaI borate two course luncheonwas serv i i*d and for an hour afterwards the i guests lingered, loath to depart from a scene when* pleasures and been so numerous. Miss Orvis is a charming hostess WAS BRILLIANT. Mr. and Mrs. Niblick Return From Weslvn Commencement. Mr. and Mrs. John Nibilck are at home from Deleware, Ohio, where they attended the commencement exlrciaes of the Ohio Wesleyan university, their daughter, Miss Josephine, lieing one of the graduates The exercises were brilliant and many hundred friends attended. There were 164 graduates.Mias b ah Beall of Wilshire also being a member of the class At the Alumni meeting Wednesday nearly SOO poopie were present. Miss Josephine went to London, Ohio, for a few days visit and will return here the first of next week The commencement exercises were held yesterday morning.

DECATUR, INDIANA, FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 19, 1903.

RETURNS HOME. Ivy Babcock Found at Winchester. Was Working in a Hotel When Her Brother Located Her and Brought Her Home. Ivy Babcock, sixteen year old daughter of Isaac Babcock of near Honduras, is agai i at home. She was found after a weeks' search working at a hotel in Winchester and apparently satisfied. Her brother, Melvin, located her and coaxed her to return with him. It is said she wished to have beaux, and because her parents objected she left home. In speaking of her disappearance the Portland Com-mercial-Review said: It now develops that t’ c girl whom an Adams county young man was here looking for last Saturday evening was Miss Iva Babcock of Honduras, that county. A stranger arrived in the city about 3:30 Saturday afternoon and enlisted the aid of City Marshal Stephens in search for a young lady from Adams county, who had been missing from her home for three days. The stranger was of the opinion that the girl would take the train east for Lima, and the officer accompanied him to the Lake Erie depot where they awaited the coming of the east bound train which goes at 4 o'clock. The girl did not appear at the depot and after the train departed officer Stephens asked the name and description of the missing girl which the young man refused to give and this officer declined to give any further assistance, as he did not care to break his neck groping in the dark looking for he knew not what. The stranger would not give his own name any more than that he was from Adams county. MILLERS MET. District Meeting Held at Anderson. Want Better Quality of Wheat Which Means Better Flour and Better Prices. Flour millers from Madison. Henry, Daleware, Randolph. Jay, Grant. Wayne and Adams counties met at Anderson yesterday and effected a temporary organization. It was announced that the object of the organization is to agree upon a uniform rate of prices on wheat that will grade better than No. 2. The idea is to encourage farmers toward producing better quality of wheat. The millers say that the farmers do not make an effort to produce a wheat that would grade a hove No. 2. and that better wheat would of course make better flour would bring better prices. Millers of the following towns signed the agreement to affiliate with the proposed organization: Anderson, Yorktown, Summitville, Daleville, Hagerstown, Bluffton, Springjxirt. Ridgeville. Alexandria, and Pendleton. Word was r<*eeived from seven millers, who could not lx- present, that they could not be present that they will attend the next meeting and join the organization Miss Anna Webb, of Summitville, represented the Webb flour mill of which che is man ager. She was the only woman at the meeting and she entered into the discussion of the object of the meeting.

COMMENCEMENT. Seventh Annual Commencement of the St. Josephs High School. Tonight at Bosse’s opera house occurs the seventh annual commencement of the St. Joseph high school. Although comparatively in its infancy, the St. Joseph high school has shown remarkable progress in the last few years. The parochial school of the St. Mary’s congregation is one of the few schools of its kind that offers an advanced course to its students. Each year the facilities are increased and the courses enlarged, until it bids fair to grow as the proverbial mus turd seed. This year’s class, though small, has made a good record, and will doubtless uphold the reputation of its school. After commencement exercise tonight, the children of the lower grades will hold forth and entertain the audience with various recitations and songs. Following is the program which will begin promptly at 8 o'clock: Muisc, Greeting Song. Graduate Exercises, Salutatory and “Selfishness,” Miss Rose Voglewede; “Self Cullture", Miss May Rudamacher; and Valedictory, Master Bernard Coffee. Awarding of diplomas, Rev. H. Theo. Wikins. The Farmer, motion song, The Old Clock on the Stairs, recitation, Queen Flora's Day Dream, (fperetta. The Star Spangled Banner, Pantoniine, Down You Go, comedy. SERIOUS ACCIDENT. A Physicians Who Left Here Wednesday Evening the Victims. Drs. F. F. Tu tie and R. J. Morgan of Van, Wert Ohio, were quite badly injured yesterday afternoon in an automobile accident near Marion, Indiana. They were on their way to Indianapolis to attend a state meeting of the Association of Railway surgeons and ran into an open bridge at the Monroe tracks. The machine and its occupants dropped over fifteen feet anil as they were running at full speed the shock was something awful. Dr. Morgan had one leg broken in two places and was injured internally, while his less fortunate conqianion, Dr. Tuttle, had his skull fractured and was more or less bruised. Both men claim they were unconscious of the condition of the bridge as there were no lights out or any obstructions to warn them of their danger. Mr. Tuttle and Mr. Morgan are well known in Decatur, the former being a schoolmate of Dr. Clark and a brother of Mrs. S. C. Neiman, a former resident of this city. They reached this town Wed nesday evening on their way to Indianapoils and were here for an hour or so adjusting a part of the automobile which needed some fixing before the journey could be continued. WILL INITIATE. Decatur Knights of Columbus Will Send Large Crowd to Peru. A large number of Decatur Knights of Columbus will assist the various initiating teams at Peru Sunday. The following members of the Decatur lodge will leave over the Erie Sunday morning: Martin Mylott, Dr. D. Clark, Thomas Haefling. E. X. Ehinger, John Moran Nick Miller, Herman Yager. Ben Smith, John Smith, Dave Coffee. Patrick Kinney. Loe Martin, Jim* Mason, John Mason. Charles Voglewede, John Mougey, Ed Myers, Lew Voglewede. Dr. Costello, Albean Smith, Charles Niblick, Sim Hines, Will Knobler Dyonis Schmidt, and Dan Niblick. The Indianapolis team will confer th'* first degree, the Jjafayette team the second degree, and the Fort Wayne and South Bend teams will handle t hint degree aspirants. The crowd promises to Im* ii record breaker, and the day will Im* a memorable one in Catholic liMlge circles.

AN OPINION. Francis E. Patton Speaks His Mind. Opposes the Anti-Saloon Movement at Berne and Quotes His Reasons. Berne, Ind., June 16. 1903. The town of Berne is in the throes of a temi>erance spasm and it seems as if it will be of a lengthy duration . The parties on both sides are loaded to the muzzle and a fierce battle is inveitable. Why this heretofore quite German town should attire itself in the costume of war upon the question that now confronts it, is not thoroughly understood. For years it has prospered wonderfully with the saloon in its midst and why it should now attempt to evict the saloon, no fairminded man or woman can say. The saloon has wrought considerable destruction throughout the land it is said, but we ask, have not fanatic religionists done the same? There is nowhere on record an instance where any saloon keeper went forth to seek, to entice patrons to his place and failing in his efforts to get them to comply with his demands placed them on the rack, burned them at the stake, flayed them alive or gouged out their eyes; j but the pages of the history of the Christian church are led with inj stances of such torture because men and women who were sought out by ■ its representatives failed to comI ply with their demands. We do not write this as one who is opposed to I the Christian faith but as one who endeavors to emulate the example of the Nazarene who said "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also the same unto them.'' The sum and substance of the Christian church is the Golden Rule, and who would not adhere to it and obey it. is as devoid of common sense as an oyster. From the days of Noah until the present time, men | have drank intoxiicants and they I will continue to do so as long as this [ old world stands. Then why waste I time and ammunition shooting at a knot? We have tn the person of Jesus Christ, one who minded his own business and endeavored to get other people to do the same. At the marriage feast of Caanana of Galliee, He did not hesitate for a moment when notified that the wine was gone, to make more for the assembled guests. I present this one instance upon this occasion for the simple reason that, under the circumstances it is paramount to all others when you notice who and what the leading party to the trans action was. We believe that all battles should be fought in a fair and square manner, but somehow, things at Berne on 'the temperance side do not .'.emus they ought to. Many things have happened in the past few weeks that were not what they ought to be; one instance in particular, a man (?) who is a resi dent of Berne and who is recognized as an ambassador of Christ so far forgot his dignity and standing that he was found nosing around the rear entrance of a club room for a purpose better known to himself, but to such a degree does he believe in the first law of nature, that he forsook his purpose and took to his heels when his hiding place was discovered. There will never be a time in Berne when it will Im* imjxissible to get a drink of liquor. It is one thing to talk about making a town “dry" and quite another thing to keep it “dry." There is just us much success in that work as in teaching geometry to n kitten. There is only one solution to the saloon question and that is to stop th" manufacture of liquor. It will Im* made ns long as there are jwople who will drink it. You cannot prevent the sale of liquor in a town

NUMBER 138

where preachers will carry it away from the saloons in an oil can and get men who frequent the saloons to bring it to their houses in grocery baskets and boxes. The saloons in Berne have done no harm to it and they never will. If a man drinks enough “booze" to get in a condition where it is impossible for him to navigate properly the saloon keeper is not to blame, even though the temperance element declare to the contrary. If a man goes into a saloon and gets a drink the saloon keeper is not to blame. He does not stand out in front of his place of business nor hire anyone to stand there to drag, beg or in any way entice men into his place and consequently if a man goes into such a place he and he alone is to blame. Some will say if the saloons were not there the men would not go into them. We concede that point, but they would get it from the drug store in a hair oil bottle, have a continuale derangement of the I body that would compel them to buy “bitters” from their favorite druggist. Such things have occured in the past and will continue | to occur in the future in spite of remonstrances and the glaring and blot out statements o fmen who are so narrow and prejudiced, who are so devoid of that principle of manhood—“live and let live"- -that they woulld strangle their best friend to 1 gain the end that they might be after. It pays to be a man under any and ail circumstances and if a man cannot gain a point without eoerceing and threatening his neighbors business interests, he had better close his “valve" and attempt something better. I write this with malice toward none and with charity for all. Right is right, and it j never wronged anyone. Francis E Patton. FAREWELL DANCE. Columbian Club Gives its Last Informal Dance. The Columbian club concluded 'this season's series of entertaini ments by an informal dance at their club rooms last evening. I Thirty couple enjoyed the dance and that the Columbian boys are royal entertainers is beyond dispute. The rooms were appropriately decorated in the club colors, purple and gold, electric fans at either end of I the dance hall created a delightful breeze during the evening. Daneling began promptly at 8:30 and at eleven o’clock a short intermission was given, after which dancing 'continued ’till early morn. The I club rooms will Im* open to members j and guests during the summer, but i the club will not be formally opened I until fall. During the summer a new fl<xir will lx* put in and the partition at the rear end removed, it is the largest hall in the city. The commendable push shown by the Columbian boys liespeak for them I greater success in the future. Th** I out of town guests at last evening's dance were Miss Florence Smith and Herman Smith of Richmond, and Miss Bertha Gast of Wauseon. O. , Piano and drum music was furnished by True Fristoe and Fred . Bell. ARE LIBERAL. Express Company Carries Packages Free. Agents of the United States Express company have been notified that, the United States company would carry free of charge all donations to the flood sufferers in the west. This action bus been taken by the other express conqmnies, and is affording one of the sjieediest means of relief to the homeless and needy at St. Louis, Kansas City, Topeka and other places. Donations placed in the local office of the Unitial States express company in north High sti will be forwarded free of charge. The act shows that even the managers of the big corporations cun sympathize with the distressed in time of need.