Daily Democrat, Volume 1, Number 177, Decatur, Adams County, 5 August 1903 — Page 1

VOLUME 1

NITRO-GLYCERINE EXPLOSION factory Near Bluffton Goes Up—Four Men Blown to Atoms.

CAUSE UNKNOWN Men, Teams and Buildings Scattered Over Twenty Acres. I Terrible Accident Occurred at 12:34 I Today at Noon Shock Plainly Felt for Fifty Miles. I

The Empire and American Glycerine factory located two mlies east of Bluffton was blown to atoms at 12:34 today noon, killing »t least four people. The report was felt for fifty miles and was very audible here, everyone supposing that a terrible explosion had occurred at one of the factories in town. Word soon arrived from Bluffton telling the story and several hundred people from here

MOB SUCCESSFUL Tragic Case of an Officer’s Duty. A Father Protects the Murderer of His Daughter, but Mob Refused. Special to The Dally Democrat. Asotin Washington, Aug. 5— William Hamilton who assaulted and murdered Mabel Richards, daughter of Sheriff Richards! was hanged from a telegraph pole at this place early this morning. Sheriff Richards had sworn in twenty five deputies to protect the prisoner but they were powerless against the mob, the members of which did not cease their assaults against the jail until the murderer had been secured. J. 8. Bowers has received one car load of radiator parts as an advanced shipment on the Catholic heating plant. The car loud contained only the shells of two radiators one for she school house and one for the [church and the two together weigh I MjOo pounds. Several more car V- are expected to arrive within Jw days.

The Daily Democrat.

i 1 immediately drove over. Correct i report of the terrible accident is i i very difficult to obtain but a , ; telephone message at 2:30 this i afternoon said it is known that four i people have been killed and perhaps ' one or two more. Among those known to have met death was . Billy Hower, a mixer at the factory ; and teamsters Radabaugh and i Stiffy. It is impossible to state i ■ what caused the explosion as every- j

LEFT FOR THE WEST. a Arthur Hall Conducts Crowd of Eighteen. Arthur Hall left here last evening in charge of a party of eighteen people for Oklahoma, where they j will search for farming lands with a prospect of location and investment. Six of the crowd are from , I this vicinity three from Lima, ()., ; four from Willshire and five from ( Bluffton. This is the fourth excur- ( ' sion run by Hull, Son & Fulk and is the most successful of any. They , wil send another large party in a ( ’two weeks. It is a great trip and , nearly everyone who who goes ( either remains or comes home with a deed for a large bunch of land. ( Arthur will remain about two , weeks and will show his comrades about all of the territory worth seeing. Seven of the party purchased tickets one way and exi>ect to locate permanently. - I LAZY BEGGARS. The dagoes, four worthless lazy Italians, the scum of the earth i were in town this morning grinding 1 out mournful tunes from grind ' organs and bag pipes and with the < aid of a poor little monkey begging i dimes from the public. Some < people were innocent enough to 1 throw out and give them, these lazy i cusses, a penny. They were big i healthy looking fellows and we < see no reason why they shouldn’t be made to earn, a living by the i sweat of their brow. While it is right < to help the needy, such beggars as ; these should be allowed to go i hungry or go to work.

DECATUR, INDIANA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 5, 1903.

one about the factory was torn to pieces, fragments of the men and plant being scattered over a twenty acre field. Seven men were employed at the factory but it is thought only four were about at the time of the explosion. The plate glass of the Briggs hardware store at Geneva and the glass in Davenports drug store at Bluffton were shattered besides n: any sma 11 ones at a more or less distance from the scene. The factory was owned by an eastern company, J. D. Billard, jr. of New York City being president. The plant was valued at $2,000 and was to have been abandoned within a month, a new factory having been built at Hartford City. Telephone calls were received here from all over this part of the country inquiring of the explosion. The report was a peculiar one, two distinct explosions being heard almost instantly. The big plate glasses in the various business houses here were well shaken up and everyone was badly frightened. Every home in the city was jarred and some even thought an earthquake had happened.

STRAW RIDE. Crowd of Young People Picnic in the Country. A crowd of young peope from this city enjoyed a straw ride last evening and picnic party to the home of Miss Ella Meyers south of this city. The usual out door amusements were indulged in and they were certainly thoroughly enjoyed. A straw ride through the country was followed by a lunch at the home of Miss Meyers, which seemed to touch thq spot. After another ride through the country the jolly crowd drove back to this city. The guests of honor were Misses May and Anna Oberman of Cincinnati, and Miss Tina Peterson of Marion. WILL PLAY BALL Strong Fort Wayne Team Here Sunday. Manager Marty this morning arranged for a Fort Wayne team to meet the Rosenthals here Sunday. The visiting team is a combination of Stars and Blues with two outside salaried players who are coming down especially to defeat the Decatur boys. The visitors will be one of the stronest teams here this season and good fast game is assured. They have heard of the Rosenthal’s numerous victories and have organized the best indejiendnet players in Fort Wayne to guarantee a victory. Come on boys and you will know you have been to a ball game.

HOLD NO SERVICE Bishop Alerding will Not Issue Official Notice. Says the World Already Knows That Pius X Has Been Chosen. I Under the custom and usages of the Roman Catholic church, it will I not be necessary for Rt. Rev. Bishop ' Alerding, as the head of the diocese : of Fort Wayne, to officially) announce the election of Pius X, ) as the successor of Leo XIII, as) pope, and while the greatest inter-1 est was manifested at the episcopal residence in the action of the sacred j' college, there will be no promulga-) tion of the result by the diocesan ) officers. Bishop Alerding is at his , summer home on Sylvan lake, and ) Rev. Father Bathe, the chancellor, was the only member of the bishop’s official family at the | episcopal residence when news of i the selection of Cardinal Sarto as) detailed by the press dispatches, I was transmitted there this morning.) To a reporter for the Sentinel Rev. Father Bathe stated that so far as he was aware, Bishop Alerding would not deem it necessary to issue an official notice of the election in as much as it could only confirm an announcement that had already been given the widest publicity. The chancellor said also that no special services in honor of the coronation were in contemplation. —Fort Wayne Sentinel. BILLS ALLOWED. Calvin Miller Gets Contract for Macadamizing Rugg Street. At last nights meeting of the city council bids were opened for the macadamizing of Fornax and ) Rugg streets and Calvin Miller was decided the lowest bidder. Mr. Miller’s bid was $1.61 per lineal foot for the strcet|s.O9 for tile, $15.00 for catch basins and sl2 for inlets and seemed so satisfactory to the council that he was awarded the contract. Mr. Miller states that he will begin work immediately. The following bills were awarded last evening. G. E. Steele pay roll $162.25, National Carbon Co. $14.50, W. H. Anderson books $lO, G. E. Steele pay roll $3.45, Geo. Kern hauling hose cart sl, Frank Dibble haulling hose cart sl, R. E. Bremerkamp hauling hose 1 cart $ 1 J. b. Bowers & Co., supplies sl7 79 Niblick & Co., supplies #f.6O Knapp Supply Co., $99.83 J. W. Robinson rent $9 Standard Oil Co., $16.29 St. Commissioners pay roll $27.45 W. H. Meyers salary as inspector to sewer ss22. SLUMBER PARTY. Breakfast and Slumber Party Given by Decatur Ladles. Norburt Hotlhouse celebrated his seventh birthday this after noon and about sixteen of his young friends to the occasion. Refreeshments were served and the boys indulged in base ball, bag punching, ten pins and other sports loved by ' young America. It was day a i the boys won't forget fora week or i two and they all wish Norburt's i birthdays would occur more ’ frequently. Here’s hoping his 1 seventieth bibrthday maybe just us 1 happy.

BRICK STREET BIDS Opened Last Night, and Monroe and Fourth will be Paved.

CONTRACT IS PENDING Must be Completed by November 15th. Special Meeting of City Council to be Held Next Monday Evening to Decide. When the city council opened up for business last evening, seven bids for the paving of Monroe and Fourth streets were filed, and it was almost adjourning time before all of them had been opened and read. The council chamber was filled with bidders, property holders, representatives of stone and brick concerns, and it was evident that something important was on. After the bids had been opened it was found that the Logan Brick Manufacturing Company and H. P. Striecher of Toledo Ohio were the lowest bidders. The total bid of Striecher for Fourth street was $17,503.20 while the bid of the Logan Company figured $17,820.50. On Monroe street Striechers bid was $23,111.)40 and the Logan Company’s $23,370. After the bids were all in, Teeple moved that the council meet the next morning to consider and award the contract and at 9:00 this morning they went into executive i session. An hour later they announced a decision and it was decided to award the contract for both streets to H. P. Striecher. They further specified that Logan brick be used on Fourth street and that Monroe street be paved with the Metropolitan brick and further that the work on both A SURPRISE PARTY Social Event Held Last Evening. Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Lower and Miss Nan Peterson of Albion, the Victims. Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Lower and their guest, Miss Nan Peterson of Albion, Ind., were agreeably surprised last evening and at the same occasion about twenty five or thirty friends were nicely entertained. The affair was superin tended by Misses Rost' Christen, Grace and Lizzie Peterson, and was a complete success. The victims wore allured to the homo of R. S. Peter I son on the pretext that they were to have supper there, hi the) meantime the guests arrived and took possession of the Lower homo. Word was sent that callers had

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streets should be completed by Nov. 15. The contractor then hesitated and stated to the council that he was unwilling to enter into such contract until he could find when the brick shipments could be made. He made good his proposition stating that it was to his interests as well as the city’s to have the work complteed as soon as possible but that he could not agree to a time limit until some arrangement could be made with the brick companies whose product the council had adopted. It was finally agreed to allow him until Monday to determine whether or not the brick could be furnished in reasonable time for the completion of the streets this fall. So it cannot be told as to whether Mr. Striecher will be awarded the contracrt until next Monday evening when the city council will meet in etxra coni tinued session. In the event that Mr. Striecher fails to be able to i build the streets by Nov. 15 it is to be presumed that the contract will lie given to the Logan brick Company who are the next lowest bidi ders and who have on file with the city clerk a certified check for SIOOO which says that they will complete ■ both jobs by November Ist. The hid ! of Mr. Striecher is as follows; 1 Paving with Logan block per square ‘.yard $1.75; with Metropolitan, • block, per square yard $1.75; with : 20th century block $1.71; Retaining ■ stone $.44 per lineal foot; Berea ) curb per lineal foot $.56; Catch ■ basins $29; inlets $27.50; sewer tile ■ $.35 per foot. In the grand total Mr. Striecher’s bid is $1319.30 lower than Miller’s former bid on , Monroe street for the same material and $1565.30 lower than Woods I bid on Fourth street. The sewer ■ bidders were R. A. Bollman of ■ Tipton, Neil Paving Co., of Montpelier, H. P. Striecher of Toledo. W. i W. Hatch and Sons of Goshen, • Logan Brick Company of Logan | Ohio, E. Woods & Co., and Calvin i Miller of this city and prices were ; quoted on Culver, Wassel, . Trumble, Hocking Valley, Logan, Metropolitan, Boston and Twentieth Century Blocks and several others. ’ arrived and the victims came walking in apparently very much out. of humor that they were to be delayed at the supper. All three boasted of the fact that a surprise upon them would be an impossibility but anyone who saw their faces ' when they beheld the company ) cannot doubt that the feat had ) actually lieen accomplished. A big snpjier was soon prepared and ‘devoured with magic like rapidity. I The guests included Messrs, and I Mesdames D. E. Smtih., C. A. ! Dugan, C. K. Bell, J. W. Tyndall 1 Fred Linn, C. O. France, J. 11. Heller, Mrs. T. M. Reid, Misses Jennie and Bessie Congleton and Messrs H. .1 Yager. George Maddy, H. B. Heller, Will Shrock, W. P. Edmondson and Earl Coverdale. G. A. R. DAY. Many Will Go to Rome City August 13th. An excursion over the G R. &1. to Rome City will be run Thursday August 13. The occasion is Grand Army Day and a special prorgam ! has boon arranged to please the I old veterans. A grand public reception and an address by Rev. | Frank C. Bruner of Chicago, post 'grand Chaplain chief, G. A. R are a part of the program . Several from hen* are arranging to attend.